By Annie Hays, Staff Writer
The 2012-13 playoff season has been full of upsets and amazing victories, including the Atlanta Falcons nearly losing to the Seattle Seahawks, and the San Francisco 49ers defeating the highly favored Green Bay Packers. On Jan. 17, a few days before the San Francisco 49ers competed against the Atlanta Falcons for the NFC divisional title, and the Baltimore Ravens went against the New England Patriots and fought for the AFC division, several members of the community were asked who they thought would survive the final round of playoffs and go to Super Bowl XLVII. Here is what they had to say:
Freshman Brady Brooks had no opinion on the NFC, but he had high hopes the Ravens would win because “Ray Lewis (linebacker) is an experienced team leader.”
However, according to Freshman Marie Ryan, Ray Lewis may be “an experienced team leader” but “the Patriots have a solid team all around.”
Tony Guzzardo, a returning student, agreed with Marie. “Tom Brady (quarterback) and Bill Belichick (coach) are a winning combination for the Patriots.”
This solid combination has worked well for the Patriots this season as they finished with a 12-4 record, whereas the Ravens had a 10-6 record.
Freshman Craig Graves did not have a strong opinion on the NFC, but he said, “The Falcons will win because they have had a better season than the 49ers.”
The Falcons did in fact have a better regular season record at 13-3 than the 11-4 49ers.
In regards to the AFC, Craig said,“My mother is a huge Browns fan, so while I don’t like the Patriots, I hope the Ravens will lose.”
Junior Ravin Forde concurred, “I don’t want to root for the Patriots, but they will probably win, unfortunately.”
While these all seem like plausible outcomes, Dr. Woodard of the Theology Department may have been right after all. He said,“The Ravens and San Fran will win because they both have a solid team. But the Saskatchewan Rough Riders may still make a comeback.”
At the time of this printing, there was no way to predict who won the playoffs, but one thing was certain: the Saskatchewan Rough Riders were certainly an unknown force to be reckoned with.
