Shock hang on to top spot

Spokane, which dropped its regular-season finale to Jacksonville, barely hung on to the top spot in the latest AFL coaches poll. The Shock (13-3), who open the playoffs at home against Arizona at 8 p.m. Friday, received nine first-place votes and 123 points. Jacksonville (12-4) moved up one spot to No. 2. The Sharks had six first-place votes and 121 points.

Arizona (10-6) is No. 7. Friday’s game will be televised live on SWX.

—The league handed down suspensions to a pair of Orlando players who went into the crowd during a victory over Tampa Bay. More here . The Predators will be heavy underdogs against the top-seeded Sharks on Friday.

FROM AFL OFFICE …

TULSA – Spokane finishes up the regular season retaining their spot on top of the Coaches Poll. Jacksonville narrowly misses that top spot despite a 64-49 win over the Shock. The two conference champions are separated by only three first place votes and two points this week in the poll. In the first round of playoffs, Spokane will play Arizona while Jacksonville will host Orlando on the NFL Network.

WEEK 18 RK	Team (1st place votes)	W-L	Pts	Last Week
1	Spokane Shock(9)	13-3	123	1
2	Jacksonville Sharks(6)	11-4	121	3
3	Tampa Bay Storm	11-5	113	2
4	Milwaukee Iron	11-5	108	6
5	Chicago Rush	10-6	102	5
6	Tulsa Talons	10-6	94	7
7	Arizona Rattlers	10-6	88	4
8	Orlando Predators	8-8	79	8
9	Cleveland Gladiators	7-9	49	11
10	Iowa Barnstormers	7-9	44	12
11	Alabama Vipers	7-9	36	10
12	Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz	6-10	28	9
13	Bossier-Shreveport BW	3-13	22	13
14	Dallas Vigilantes	3-13	18	14
15	Utah Blaze	2-14	15	15

Within the playoff teams, Arizona fell the most this week, dropping three spots to No. 7 after a loss to Iowa. Milwaukee jumps the most to No. 4 and will host Chicago in the first round. The Southwest Division Champion Tulsa Talons move up one spot to No. 6, hosting No. 3 Tampa Bay this Saturday.

Cleveland and Iowa end their season by shooting up two spots to No. 9 and No. 10, while Oklahoma City drops three seeds to No. 12.