With four weekends left in the Midwest DI club season, the hierarchy is becoming clear.

Cincinnati won their latest match, against the Detroit Tradesmen, dropping Detroit to 3-2 and giving the Wolfhounds a three-point cushion over fellow 4-1 club Buffalo. Cincy looks good for at least two wins in their final three, and so does Buffalo. Both will have to travel to the Detroit Tradesmen this month, and those matches will prove critical.

The top three from each conference make the playoffs in the Midwest, but only the first-place teams can play for the #1 seed in the territory. Columbus is not out of playoff contention yet, but will have to pick it up to get there.

In the Midwest-West, Palmer is on command at 5-0, and face Metropolis, Chicago Lions and the Milwaukee Westside Harlequins in their closing weeks. Of those, the visit to a resurgent Lions outfit in Chicago will be the toughest, but next should week’s clash with Metropolis fall for Palmer, the Iowa club will have essentially sewn up 1^st.

Second and third look set to be Metropolis and Chicago, or Chicago and Metropolis. The Minneapolis club is two points ahead of the Lions and has a game in hand. Those teams play October 22 in a game that will have all sorts of consequences.

So right now, the standings look like this:

If nothing changes, Palmer and Cincinnati will play November 5 for the #1 seed in the Midwest.

The loser of that match will then face off with the winner of Metropolis v. Buffalo for the #2 seed, with the loser of that game the #3 seed.

The loser of Metropolis v. Buffalo will face off with the winner of the Lions v. Detroit for the #4 seed, with the loser not advancing any further.