Welcome to the NLL Power Rankings for Week 17.
There were four games this past weekend, evenly split across the coasts with two games out West and two in the East. Although most went according to plan (i.e. Saskatchewan’s 12-9 win over Vancouver at home), the most surprising result of the weekend might have been No. 9 Rochester’s 13-8 handling of No. 7 New England. Although the two sit closely in the rankings, Rochester is four games out of the playoff spot that the Black Wolves occupy with four games left on the schedule and the season series tiebreaker between the two squads to be played on April 27, the final night of the regular season. Rochester has been known to get hot at the right time, and if they can make a late season run, it’d just add to the drama already surrounding the last playoff spots in both the West and the East.
Otherwise, the there wasn’t much movement in the NLL Power Rankings this week, as both No. 1 Buffalo and No. 2 Georgia had the weekend off. No. 3 San Diego destroyed Calgary in a heated match-up 16-9, and No. 4 Toronto escaped an upset at the hands of No. 11 Philadelphia by pulling off the one-goal winner 12-11. Colorado also had a break.
Looking ahead, the Bandits take the QEW up to Toronto on Friday night in a battle of top-five ranked clubs in our NLL Power Rankings, while Toronto hops on the I-90 the next night to visit Rochester. San Diego visits the east coast for a doubleheader against the No. 2 team in our standings, the Georgia Swarm, and Black Wolves Friday and Saturday night, while the Rush visit the Pepsi Center to take on a Mammoth team looking to solidify their playoff spot even further with Vancouver off this weekend. And lastly, Calgary is in Philadelphia Saturday night. Check back next week as we get even closer to the best time of the year: PLAYOFFS.
NLL Power Rankings: Week 17
| # | Team | Votes (1st) | +/- | Results | Next |
| 1 | Buffalo | 55 (5) | _ | Bye | Fri @ TOR |
| 2 | Georgia | 50 | _ | Bye | Fri v SD |
| 3 | San Diego | 43 | _ | W 16-9 @ CAL | Fri @ GA Sat @ NE |
| 4 | Toronto | 41 | _ | W 12-11 v PHI | Fri v BUF Sat @ ROC |
| 5 | Saskatchewan | 34 | +1 | W 12-9 v VAN | Sat @ COL |
| 6 | Calgary | 31 | -1 | L 9-16 v SD | Sat @ PHI |
| 7 | New England | 25 | _ | L 8-13 v ROC | Sat v SD |
| 8 | Colorado | 18 | _ | Bye | Sat v SASK |
| 9* | Rochester | 13 | +2 | W 13-8 @ NE | Sat v TOR |
| 10* | Vancouver | 13 | -1 | L 9-12 @ SASK | Bye |
| 11 | Philadelphia | 7 | -1 | L 11-12 @ TOR | Sat v PHI |
* TIE
