Flag football playoffs began last night and will continue throughout the month. This season, every team that registered to participate received a spot to play in the playoffs — something that has not happened in past years as teams have been ruled ineligible due to lack of sportsmanship.

The playoffs consist of a single elimination tournament in which teams are seeded based on their record. According to Jason Spivey, assistant director of intramural sports, it has been a smooth regular season.

“It’s been a great season so far,” Spivey said. “We had some inclement weather, but we have managed to reschedule. One of the biggest things is that we did not have as many issues with sportsmanship as in the past. No one was eliminated based on sportsmanship.”

There are six flag football league’s in all — fraternity, grad/faculty/staff, men’s open, men’s residence, sorority and co-rec — and each one competes in a separate playoff tournament.

With 90 teams, men’s open is the largest division. The top-seeded teams in men’s open are the No. 1 Silver Snakes and No. 2 Torture Fest.  This is the second year for the Silver Snakes, and they have had their eyes on the championship since day one according to captain Robby Callis, a sophomore in meteorology.

“We knew we were going to be number one that was never a question, it was just a matter of putting forth the effort,” Callis said.

The inspiration behind the undefeated team comes from Raj Patel. Patel was the coach of the Silver Snakes last year and suffered a severe accident at the beginning of this semester. He has been in the hospital working hard to recover. According to Callis, the Silver Snakes dedicate each win to him and credit him for their success.

“Everything we do, we do it for him, and hopefully he will get better,” Callis said. “We have a common goal, and we’re all playing for Raj.” 

In the fraternity division, Kappa Sigma Green and Pi Kappa Phi Gold enter the playoffs as the two top-seeded teams. Pi Kappa Phi credits their success to their defense. According to David Ragan, a senior in civil engineering, PKP is very driven to win.

“We have a lock-down defense with a little mix of zone and man-to-man coverage with a mix of blitz packages,” Ragan said. “We scored 100 points in the regular season and only gave up 6, so we score early and we score often.”

Spivey said the men’s open and fraternity league have the highest quality of play and are the most fun to watch.

“They have the best teams,” Spivey said. “They seem to rise to the top and have a little more experience. Both divisions are very competitive.”

Thomas Jacobsen, a junior in biological engineering, plays for Theta Chi’s flag football team. He agrees with Spivey on the competitiveness of the fraternity league.

“We have a lot of All-State football players on our team, and so do a lot of other fraternities,” Jacobsen said. “So it gets really competitive out there.”

The final regular season sorority and women’s open games will be played tonight, and the seeds will be finalized after the game. Currently in the sorority division, Pi Beta Phi is ranked No. 1 followed by Zeta Tau Alpha.

In the co-rec division, Team Hoss is first followed by Pineapple Express.  According to Spivey, the Co-Rec league does not have the depth of competitiveness seen in the men’s open or fraternity divisions.

“In Co-Rec, there is a greater difference between the top teams and the rest,” Spivey said. “Later in the playoffs, we’ll get some good games going.”

The week of Oct. 20 is when the flag football games start narrowing down, according to Spivey.

“We will be getting some good matchups towards the end of October,” Spivey said.

Following the playoffs, the champions will move on to compete in a regional tournament held in Wilmington in November.

Technician’s picks for most creative flag football team names

1. Abusement Park

2. My Vick in a Box

3. ContinentalBreakfast

4. O’Brien’s loss

5. MeanSTDError

6. If You’re Scared Go To Church

7. Balls N Dolls

8. 9th year seniors

9. Testament

10. 336 Mafia

Top 5 men’s open teams

1. Silver Snakes

2. Torture Fest

3. High Octane

4. Raw Dawg

5. The Lawnmowers

Top 5 fraternity teams

1. Kappa Sigma Green

2. Pi Kappa Phi Gold

3. Sigma Chi Gold

4. Gold

5. Sigma Chi Blue

Top 5 co-rec teams

1. Team HOSS

2. Pineapple Express

3. The Juggernauts

4. Smellycats

5. Unofficial

Top 5 men’s residence teams

1. Dan Allen Stree Elite

2. Syme Time Ballers

3. Crazy Squirrels

4. Got Wood

5. Super Heros In Training

grad/faculty/staff teams seeds

1. Football Knurds

2. Kutta Condition

3. Sigmoid Flexors

4. Chicken and Biscuits

Top 5 sorority teams

1. Pi Phi

2. Zeta Tau Alpha

3. Delta Gamma

4. Tri Delta

5. Sigma Kappa

*Final regular season sorority games will be played tonight.