Better League
League Content

Season 45 Better League Preseason Poll

bos

As the dawn of a new season approaches, anticipation and speculation fill the air in the world of Better League. From rookies eager to make their mark, to seasoned athletes vying to fortify their legacies, the preseason buzz is palpable. Welcome to our much-awaited preseason poll article, a platform where we collate expert opinions, run detailed analyses, and project the highs and lows of the upcoming season.

 

A huge thank you to Dan, Warren, Cam, Cmass, Connor, Ben, Lucky, Allen, Justin, Kiing, Ptown, Tim, Alex and Steel for taking the time to fill out this poll to help create some content.

I was going to offer a giveaway of a player from the Panthers but that’s been shot down by our glorious, humble and definitely not balding leader. Instead, I’ll do like a $20 giveaway or something tomorrow unless I can think of a better idea.

 

Let’s get into the questions! 

 

Question 1) Who do you think will win the NFC? 

 

Warren/Lions – 11

Cody/Saints – 1

Dan/Cowboys – 1 

Allen/Cards -1 

 

It’s not surprising to see Warren topping this list. He’s won his conference 4 out of 5 attempts in M23, with 2 Superbowl wins. He’s been winning in Madden for over 20 years and doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon!

 

Cody and Dan slide in next, and we know how well they can play when fully locked in. Anyone remember the 20-0 season? Allen rounds out the list. With his experience of playing Warren, he might be the one to break Warren’s control of the league.

 

Question 2) Who do you think will win the AFC?

 

Duhooty/Browns – 9

Austin/Patriots – 3

Chase/Bills –  2

 

God, you boys love chalk. Duhooty, with 2 conference wins this cycle and consistent excellence cycle after cycle, is your favorite. Now that he’s got EZ mode + HRM, good luck. Austin could be 90 years old, blind, with no use in his left hand, and would still get votes. And guess what, he deserves them because he has the mentality of a winner.

 

Chase rounds out the votes here. He’s lost to the eventual AFC champion 3 seasons in a row. Let’s see if he can change it this year. My only issue here is: where are my Lucky votes??

 

3) Who do you think will be the Season 45 Superbowl champion

 

Duhooty/Browns – 6

Warren/Lions – 6

Dan/Cowboys – 1 

Austin/Patriots – 1 

 

The votes are split right down the middle between Warren and Duhooty. We’ve seen this matchup before in SB43, with Warren coming out on top 34-18. Will Duhooty’s upgrades be enough to close the gap?

 

No Madden cycle would be complete without a Rhody SB. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to see this matchup again this season. They last met in SB39, the final SB of Madden 22, with Austin winning 52-49. Don’t forget this matchup also closed out Madden 21 in SB33, where we witnessed Dan beat Austin 38-35. Could we see it three times in a row?

 

4) Who do you think will be the MVP of S45?

 

QB Frank McDaniels Warren/Lions – 4

QB Kyler Murray Duhooty/Browns – 4

HB Jonathan Taylor Lucky/Jaguars – 2 

QB Justin Herbert Austin/Patriots – 2

HB Nick Chubb Warren/Lions – 1 

QB Josh Allen Chase/Bills – 1 

 

Now we’ve got a little bit of variety! SB champion Frank McDaniel is joint-favorite to win his very first MVP.

S42 MVP Kyler Murray joins Frank at the top after his upgrades in the offseason. Justin Herbert could be the second QB to win an MVP in this reboot with the Patriots, following Trevor Lawrence in S43.

Josh Allen rounds out the QBs, but why no votes for reigning MVP Damon Chambers?

The RBs sneak in a few votes after Lucky unleashed Jonathan Taylor on the AFC last postseason. Warren is the only user with two players voted in.

 

5) Which user are you most worried about playing?

 

Warren – 4 

Duhooty – 3 

Hero – 1 

Niko – 1 

Connor – 1 

Alex – 1 

Lucky – 1 

God – 1 

Cmass – 1 

 

Another question, another list of answers dominated by Warren and Duhooty. There are definitely a few interesting answers here. I can only think the person voting for God misspelled Bos – it’s easily done.

 

6) Which user do you think will overachieve the most in S45 and why?

 

A chance to give a fellow user their flowers 

 

  • Phil, .500 player in a weaker conference
  • Matt, he’ll make playoffs and knock off at least one contender
  • Bos because of the OP AI
  • Tim. His offense is just insane. He’ll make playoffs
  • Cody – from refocusing to refocused in the super Bowl
  • I don’t like the word overachieve because it feels too negative but I think ptown is gonna have a resurgence
  • Phil
  • Ben his team is really good.
  • Matt, he’s been on the up and up but he hasn’t really figured it out, but his team being that juiced, and him getting a lot better as a user I think he will make a deep playoff run
  • Ben – 2nd season with Trevor Lawrence and a lot of weapons around him
  • Ben – locked back in with all his new toys
  • cam cuz he’ll get a ton of fw
  • Austin – has lots to prove this season
  • Ptown (he’s better than he’s been)

 

A couple of folks riding the Ben train, there are some lovely words for Matt, and, of course, Phil gets a mention with no explanation.

 

7) Which player on your team are you most excited to play with for one last season? 

 

Take a moment to think about the squad you’ve built and pick out one of your favourites. It could be an IRL player, a player with some juicy abilities, or just start that HoF case a little bit early.

 

  • Kyle Pitts
  • Erik Gaines
  • Lamar
  • Idk man this has been a really bad AI cycle for me. TJ Watt’s been fun! Let’s go with him
  • Wendell Bynes (Mister 99 speed himself) 
  • Carl “The Walking HOF Ballot” Gore
  • Kenneth Walker
  • Beckham (Tyler, not David) 
  • got this 6’4 superstar from Florida that I’m excited to see what he can do (Go Gators, also his name is Manny Jackson, Ptown) 
  • Julian Rhodes – future HOF’er
  • Very excited for one last hurrah with Graham Hill. Wish I would have had him in the 1st draft
  • Jameson Williams
  • Chambers
  • Waller

 

8) If you could add one thing to BL, what would it be?

 

Better League is great but can it be even Betterer! This could be a user, a rule change, or just a general comment on the league. And hey, maybe one of you reading this might think, “Hey, I can do that,” and we can all work together to improve the league we all love so dearly.

 

  • better interpretation of non in game rules, IE better re roll options, betting lines, polls, more activity.
  • I would add an emphasis on it being ok to take time to care for yourself and play other games and not get burnt out on madden. With the cycle being 8-10 months long, there needs to be something for people to do outside of just the league. Whether that be side games or just enjoying life, there shouldn’t be a negative stigma for wanting to do something other than playing madden all the time.
  • Discord lol
  • MORE CONTENT
  • I want our Twitter integrations back
  • #oneballforall we’ve gotten to a point with user stability and tenure where I think we could do this with no issues. Too many whiners in the league tho
  • Promoton/relegation
  • AP system for abilities
  • Heart
  • Connors old podcasts
  • regression committee
  • adjustment to trade approval process
  • 10 minute quarters
  • a bl fantasy football for in game players

 

Some great ideas here, and I love the talk about mental health. I definitely want to jump in and make some content myself, but if any of you out there are also looking to create, let’s get on with it! I’m happy to help out where I can.

 

I anticipate a fantastic final season and look forward to brainstorming ideas on how we can make M24 the best cycle yet.