Part of every sports season is the pre-season previews and predictions. Unfortunately, I don’t have much information to share from a preview stand point, but I can certainly make my guesses as to how the WFTDA 2008 season will go. And, as the title says, “Your Guess Is As Good As Mine.”

The 2008 WFTDA season will culminate in the Eastern and Western Regional in October and the Nationals in November. The top four teams from each region, eight teams total, will bout for the championship. For each region, I’ll guess the teams and order of finish and also two possible “wild cards” or teams that might upset the apple cart and make into the top four.

Let’s start with the West. On my Access TV show, I listed AZRD and Rose City Rollers as my wild card picks. This will be the one difference from the show. I’m changing it to Houston Roller Derby and the Rose City Rollers as my wild cards. This is primarily driven by both teams continuing to have good inter-league results, and as hosts of the Western and Nationals, respectively, there could be some extra motivation. However, with the crazy strong teams in the West, it will be very impressive for either of these two teams to break into the top four.

So, my guess for the four teams out of the West Region are:

4. Texas Roller Girls (TXRG) Texecutioners
3. Tucson Roller Derby (TRD) Saddletramps
2. Kansas City Roller Warriors (KCRW)
1. Rat City Roller Girls (RCRG)

This is the class of the WFTDA. You could argue for any combination of these four teams and have a good case for it. It was very tough to have TXRG this low, but I just could not put TRD below the third spot. KCRW and RCRG are in the top spots due to their incredible performances from 2007, and I expect them to stay the top candidates for the 2008 championship.

The impending bout between TXRG and TRD on Feb. 16 will start to give some clue as to how these two teams will get back to the top of the WFTDA. Don’t miss it.

The Eastern Region has many teams that have a shot at making it to the Nationals. As “wild cards”, look for the Philly Roller Girls (PRG) and the Detroit Derby Girls (DDG) to be potential upsets. The PRG have been improving over the last two years, and continue to make strong showings in inter-league bouts. The DDG was a upset team in the 2007 Eastern Regionals before being lambasted in the Nationals. The good teams seem to take these losses as learning experiences and come back stronger. So, the DDG could be a surprise again in 2008.

My guess for the four teams out the East are:

4. Windy City Rollers (WCR)
3. Madison Mad Rollin’ Dolls (MRD)
2. Gotham Girls Roller Derby (GGRD)
1. Carolina Roller Girls (CRG)

Except for the Mad Rollin’ Dolls, these are the same teams that won the East in 2007. The MRD were knocked out in their first bout in the Eastern Regionals, but as this year’s host and a generally strong inter-league performer, they could bounce back into the running. The placing of CRG over GGRD is a tough call. I’m just thinking that the order of finish can’t be the same as 2007, and I think CRG played a little stronger in the 2007 Nationals.

Out of these eight teams, the 1st Annual “Your Guess Is As Good As Mine” prediction for 2008 WFTDA Champion is:

The Rat City Roller Girls (RCRG)

This team went into the 2007 Nationals with a mission and were denied. It is hard to see them being denied a second time. Certainly, this could go any number of ways, and the joy of Derby is that it will. But RCRG will be more on a mission than in 2007 and that will make for some awesome Derby.

What are your guesses?