BDWL Power Index
Pre-Season Prediction - 1975
Current Ranking Final 1974 Pre-Season Prediction Power
Rank# offense pitching Rank# + / - Division W - L Win% Index
1 2 2 1 0 Burbank Barnstormers Martin 99 - 55 0.640 98.43 - should finish unchallenged for #1 spot becoming 1st tm to repeat, would prefer a WS win!
2 10 1 9 7 Oregon Pioneers Anderson 87 - 67 0.564 86.78 - Koos & Holtz anchor best pch staff, if bats heat up could be tough tm to beat.
3 5 6 3 0 San Diego Conquistadors Martin 86 - 68 0.560 86.22 - at #6 their Pch has upside if realized they have bats to get it done this yr.
4 7 7 5 1 Dallas Hilltoppers Alston 85 - 69 0.552 84.85 - solid franchise that seems to always be in the mix. Will challenge for best in WJL again.
5 3 15 17 12 Pittsburgh Crawfords Anderson 83 - 71 0.539 82.89 - will be very dangerous in playoffs with their off & Gullett, Candyman & Rau as their SP.
6 6 11 13 7 Asbury Park Rockers Martin 81 - 73 0.525 80.81 - didn’t expect such a high showing but got better than expected SP & Luz is healthy.
7 13 4 6 (1) St. Louis Shrikes Anderson 80 - 74 0.520 80.01 -Off hurt by loss of Bonds, but SP very happy to have Trillo behind them. 
8 8 9 4 (4) Sleepytown Dukes Anderson 80 - 74 0.519 79.83 - Blue underperformed in sims, so there Pch could be underrated making them dangerous.
9 14 3 7 (2) Wellington Boots Weaver 80 - 74 0.518 79.66 - should finally get playoff appearance, but question is still their Off. Fisk p/t will hurt.
10 1 20 11 1 Fremont Indians Martin 79 - 75 0.515 79.29 - best Off but worst Pch! Andrew's dealmaking ability makes them impossible to write off.
11 4 17 15 4 Hunnefield Flyers Alston 79 - 75 0.511 78.63 - Off with Rose & Lynn is solid.  Pch inconsistant need Matlack & Rogers to perform
12 15 5 10 (2) Atlanta Crackers Alston 79 - 75 0.510 78.52 - Off better w/Garvey & Orta but not good. If they hit, they will be in WC race.
13 9 13 12 (1) Texas Fire Ants Weaver 76 - 78 0.494 75.95 - still rebuilding but in weak div so if things fall right could make run at division crown.
14 10 11 2 (12) Cincinnati Chilis Weaver 75 - 79 0.486 74.83 - we predicted them at #11 last yr & they won it all. Ry could surprise again in this division.
15 17 10 8 (7) Northern Great Whites Weaver 70 - 84 0.457 70.27 - Parker nice addition but just not enough Off this yr. Don’t expect them to be down for long.
16 20 8 19 3 Florida Elks Anderson 66 - 88 0.428 65.78 - imprv'd but stuck in tough div. Now has Pch of a playoff tm but Off is still weak.
17 16 16 16 (1) Cooperstown Double Days Weaver 66 - 88 0.426 65.56 - they could win some gms in this div if they gt better than expected Pch or Off.
18 19 14 20 2 Toronto Crown Royals Martin 65 - 89 0.423 65.14 - Rice, Kingman, R.Jones & Nolan should have great yrs. Tough div kept them down here.
19 17 18 18 (1) Wisconsin Snow Goblins Alston 64 - 90 0.413 63.58 - Just waiting on Carter & JR Richard to mature & this tm will start climbing the charts.
20 10 19 14 (6) Savannah Shoeless Joes Alston 62 - 92 0.400 61.49 - Off has pop with Boog & Madlock but still hasn’t answered the lack of arms question.
click here for History of Power Index
Top 5 Recap
Burbank sits atop the preseason power index for the 2nd time (was #1 in 1972) as they hold a very comfortable lead over the rest of the pack.
History has been unkind for the preseason #1 teams: 1970 Cincinnati was knocked off in LC series by a wildcard team, 1971 Texas lost in World Series.
1972 Burbank was beaten in playoffs by a sub.500 wildcard team, 1973 Cincinnati lost in the World Series and in 1974 San Diego lost in 1st round of playoffs.
Basically, the preseason #1 ranked teams have won a combined 2 world series games (not series) after 5 years! 
Oregon is at #2 just narrowly ahead of #3 San Diego who is at #3 exactly where they finished 1974. Perennial top 5 team, Dallas, who is the highest ranked
WJL team sits at #4 not far behind Oregon and San Diego. At #5 is Pittsburgh who traveled the most ground from 1974 to get into the top 5.
Only 4.37 pts separate #5 Pittsburgh from #12 Atlanta, so it should be another very interesting season!
Other Items of Interest
* Oregon has the #1 ranked pitching staff while Fremont has the #1 ranked offense.
* Cincinnati in 1974 who were ranked #11 became the lowest ranked preseason team to win the Championship.
* Dallas in 1972 who were ranked #4 are the highest ranked preseason team to win the Championship.
* Florida won it in 1970 ranked at #6, Fremont won it in 1971 at #6, Dallas won it in 1972 at #4, Fremont won it in 1973 at #5 and Cincinnati won it in 1974 at #11.
* In the WJL, Dallas (Alston) is predicted to win their division for the unprecidented 5th straight year. Oregon (Anderson) is predicted to win their 1st Anderson Division title but 
they have won the Martin Division twice.
* In the BRL, Burbank is predicted to win their 4th Martin Division title (2nd time in a row), while Wellington to predicted to win their 1st Weaver Division title.
* Burbank is predicted to finish above .500 for the 6th consecutive time making them the only team to never finish under .500.
* Pittsburgh and Wellington are both predicted to make the playoffs for the 1st time this season which would mean every non-expansion team will have made a playoff appearance.
* Dallas is predicted to finish in the top 5 for a 5th straight time which is unmatched by any other team.
* Atlanta and St. Louis are the only non-expansion teams to not have a top 5 finish.
* The team predicted to drop the furthest off their 1974 finish are Cincinnati falling 12 spots (from #2 to #14).
* Pittsburgh is the biggest gainer as they are predicted to finish 12 spots better than their 1974 finish (from #17 to #5).
Notes:
Predicted Division Winners: 
Martin - Burbank Barnstormers
Weaver - Wellington Boots
Alston - Dallas Hilltoppers
Anderson - Oregon Pioneers
Predicted Wildcard Teams:
BRL #1 WC - San Diego Conquistadors 
BRL #2 WC - Asbury Park Rockers
WJL #1 WC - Pittsburgh Crawfords
WJL #2 WC - St. Louis Shrikes & Sleepytown Dukes (tied)
CLICK HERE for Summary & Explanation of Calculations.
Prior BDWL Power Index's
Final 1974
Final 1973
Final 1972
Final 1971
Final 1970