OK, some preview time here.
We have a lot of new faces.

AC
AC East
Strike Team
The favorite for the win in the division title and more. Last season the won the division but went out of the playoffs in the first game in the divisional playoffs.
Sedalia Slugs
New team from the 2.1, will battle for 2nd place in the division. They went to the conference championship of 2.1 last season, but lost.
P-Town Red Raiders
New team from the BOT empty 2.2, won the 2.2, no choaches on the payroll at the moment, means no bonus on any training and no YA-points. Still probably a bit stronger than the 4th team.
They are on my BOT watch list, last logged in 3rd of November.
Versailles Knights
Last season they went 2nd, because 3rd and 4th team went BOT early. If the Raiders do fall BOT again, they will not have problems to stay in the league.
If the Raiders do stay, the Knights will probably finish 4th and battle relegation.

AC North
Berinsfield Hornets
The Hornates won the Division last season and there is no reason they will do it again. Hardest test will be the Killers.
Benik Cowboys
They finished 3rd last season and they might do that again. I'm not 100% sure yet what to do with the Killers.
I pick the Cowboys 2nd because of that.
Spawn City Killers
The Killers are a bit odd here. Once a quite strong team did they fall to 2nd in that division last season and I think they might even fall deeper this season.
I pick them 3rd at the moment.
Florida Gators
They will have a tough time here. as a new team they will have the benefit of being off the radar so far, but I don't think that will be enough. I pick the 4th.

AC South
Panteras Assassinas
The Assassinas are primed for the division title and some more. They should win here easily.
Muppet Liberation Army
Tough to s e l e c t the team, but I think the Army will do it. Why? They made it last season and as long a I don't see the wins of Neptuna against the Army, the Army will stay ahead.
Neptunes Bologna
That leaves this team as 3rd. They will be in the hunt for the 2nd place, but they need to win against the Army.
srib_bdx
They are not strong enough at the moment to be in a real competition, but they might spoil the fun a bit. I see them 4th, but they might be good enough to avoid relegation.

AC West
St. George's Dynamo Patriots
The Patriots are again in the prime postion to win the Division, the Conference and the league. It will probably depend on Nogards time and effort to guide the team. At the moment they are 1st on my list.
Skyzo Shenkos
Welcome back from the big house and you might have to settle for 2nd or even 3rd in the division. I think they will make the playoffs.
Paxtang Black Panthers
They could beat every team, we will see if that happens. At the moment I pick them 3rd with a playoff spot.
River City Ice
They will finish 4th and will probably not relegate.


NC
NC East
Winds of Erytheia
Everything can happen in this division. There were 3 spots to fill and I think at least the Steelers will challenge this team for the division title.
I still pick them first here.
Silesian Steelers
They will have a tough time winning the division, but it is possible. I pick the 2nd.
Last season the lost in the divisional playoffs of 2.1.
White Reapers
It's hard to pick the 3rd and the 4th. Both teams are almost equal in strength but totally different in wages and coaches.
We will see. I pick the Reapers 3nd, but I'm not 100% sure.
Sentinels
They have to settle for 4th. Easily they could end 3rd here. Both teams will battle against relegation.

NC North
Adelaide Crows
Welcome back from the Elite league. They will win the division and will probably fight for more. Picked 1st here of cause.
Hot Pigs
They should end 2nd, but we will see. They don't have the strength to compete, but should be strong enough to hold the other 2 in distance.
Newhouse Eagles
They finished 3rd last season because of a BOT, now they have a quite weak team, so 3rd place should be easy.
Chicago Cougars
Sorry to say, but you will get hammered and will play for 4th spot here and will fight against relegation. or for relegation, depends on you.
The team lost the wildcard game last season in 2.1.

NC South
Leverkusen Leopards
I'm confident my team wil finish 1st again, but we will see. One of the tougher divisions, but some teams did lose a bit of strength.
Blood Kings
They are primed to win 2nd place and might even challenge my team for 1st.
Vilbler Wasserbube
They did not grow as expected, we will see, if that's a problem. At the moment 3rd place pick.
Porto Slackers
They Slackers are a bit weak at the moment and also on my BOT watch list. Last logged in 10th of November.
At the moment 4th place pick.

NC West
SG Speed Merchants
As last season, this division is a total guess. I pick the Merchants 1st, since they did almost win last season, if not for the last second BOT-dome of an Bruisers opponent.
Burnaby Bruisers
I pick them 2nd, since it seems they might have a tough competition, but also luck. We will see, if that's enough.
Drunken Sailors Borshow
If only strength would count, they would win the division. But since it counts at least a bit, they might finish 3rd.
Harrisburg Fire
The winner of last season 2.1. They will have every chance in that division, but they might not be strong enough.
We will see.

Playoff contenders:
I see in the AC:

St. George's Dynamo Patriots
Panteras Assassinas
Strike Team
Berinsfield Hornets

Skyzo Shenkos
Muppet Liberation Army

Neptunes Bologna
Paxtang Black Panthers
Benik Cowboys
Sedalia Slugs
River City Ice


I see in the AC:

Leverkusen Leopards
Winds of Erytheia
Adelaide Crows
SG Speed Merchants

Blood Kings
Vilbler Wasserbube

Hot Pigs
Porto Slackers
Burnaby Bruisers


Good luck for the upcoming draft and the season.

Nice team by team breakdown, I like that 1.1 is actually active on a forum, unlike 2.1. That being said, I am looking forward to a new season, though I am not expecting a lot of wins, I will be happy to finish 8-8, but who knows, maybe I will pull off some surprise wins!

Excellent analysis as always!

This will probably be my last season in Red Zone Action. Pete has put together a good game, but there are a few things that have gotten to me over the seasons (This will be my 9th season).

So I going to give it one more season and give it my best. But unless Pete unveils some significant changes, I am probably going to ride my charger out of town after the playoffs.

This is not a reflection on anyone in the Monarchs, but it is all related to game/website issues.

Hammy

Nice! I have been playing since season 7, so that gives me hope that my team will continue to improve!

Hopefully you don't end up leaving, we need good teams to represent Monarchs league!

I hope to be there next season. Maybe I should have accepted promotion this season. At least 1.1 seems to be active - 2.1 is dead.

Monarchs 2.1 may be "tight-lipped", but it seems like there may be some tight competition in the AC this season.

The NC...not so much.

Raiders went BOT, so it will be:

AC East
Strike Team
The favorite for the win in the division title and more. Last season the won the division but went out of the playoffs in the first game in the divisional playoffs.
Sedalia Slugs
New team from the 2.1, will battle for 2nd place in the division. They went to the conference championship of 2.1 last season, but lost.
Versailles Knights
Last season they went 2nd, because 3rd and 4th team went BOT early. The Raiders did fall BOT so they will at least be 3rd in the division.
P-Town Red Raiders
BOT team, will relegate.

Quite concerning is the development with Nogards Patriots.
They did not sign several players on contracts, which normally should have been renewed.
Hopefully that's only a temporarly issue.
However, the Patriots might be not that strong as expected, since they lost 20 players, many of them probably starters or potent backups.

That's cool - if the AC competition is good enough to keep me out of the promotion race then that means I would not survive in 1.1 So I'm happier to find that out before promotion rather than get promoted and come straight back down again.

On the other hand if I do qualify for promotion again then it will probably indicate my team's suitability for 1.1

I shall also be keeping a close eye on the Florida Gators and will use them as my benchmark. We have played each other a few times so I have a good idea of the strength of their team and it's comparison to mine.

Yeah, looks like a lot of competition from AC, but I looked at the team ratings, the only AC teams over 50% are the Marines and the Torchwood Aliens, so you should have no problems this season.

Which means you should qualify for promotion hands down!

glad to be your guinea pig, lol. Hopefully I can do well, at least 8-8 would make me happy. Yeah, I think we have played something like 4-5 times?

Yeah - thanks for getting promoted first - lol.

Maybe we can get a few friendlies down the line but that's probably of more benefit to me (playing a superstar now).