The regular season's penultimate week kicks off with a significant bout between the two basement dwellers of the Eastern Division, The Pimps and the Sims Stereco. These two met in last season's Draft Bowl, and at least one – and possibly both – are destined to reappear in this year's installment. Interestingly enough, this week's winner will not be guaranteed salvation from another DB berth, but the game's outcome will indeed punch one Draft Bowl ticket; a Stereco victory will send The Pimps back to the lesser bowl, while a Pimps' victory would send the Piana Raze, regardless of what Piana does to close out the season.

The Pimps, after seemingly taking the first half of the season off, have come on of late to win three of their past five games. The Stereco have also shown improvement in the second half, winning two of their past four. Sadly, both will still need to win out in order to improve on last year's 4-8-1 mark. Besides featuring Draft Bowl implications, this game also showcases the league's top two quarterbacks, as The Pimps' resurgent Kurt Warner looks to outscore the Stereco's dangerous Drew Brees.

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The Anderson Brewmeisters hope to build some momentum heading into the postseason as they host the dismal Piana Raze. These two clubs met in each of the past two playoffs – with Piana winning in Super Bowl X and Anderson winning in Wild Card Week last year – but a third straight encounter is not be. While the Brewmeisters have already punched their 2008 playoff ticket, the Raze are out of the playoff hunt for the first time since 2004.

Piana heads into their final interdivisional contest having lost five straight games, including last week's 28-25 decision to The Pimps. The offense played reasonably well in the loss, but the Raze's Vikings defense was crushed 17-4 by The Pimps' Dolphins squad. That loss is particularly damaging in that it gives The Pimps – one of three candidates for the upcoming Draft Bowl – a game advantage and tiebreaker over the Raze. Anderson is coming off a big win over the third DB candidate (the Stereco), and is in position to host a Wild Card game with another win or two. At 7-4, they've already matched their regular season win total from a year ago and are assured their fifth consecutive winning season.

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There are only two weeks left to decide the Western Division champion, and four teams (sorry, Raze) still have a shot. Luckily for viewers, those four are paired off in Week 12, beginning with Thomas' Bock Boys hosting the Irwin Hellions in a battle of first and second place. The Boys return home after having their five-game wining streak snapped by the Abstract Machines, but they retain their one-game lead in the division thanks to the Figs topping the W.O.P.. Irwin comes in having won its last two to break back over .500 for the first time since Week 7.

At 6-5, the Hellions have surpassed their win total from each of the past two seasons and are playoff eligible once again. Their spot in the tournament is far from assured, however, as the Machines hold a 2-0 tiebreaker over the Hellions and sit a mere one game back. The Hellions will likely need at least one more win (and maybe even two). Despite last week's loss, the Bock Boys remain in the catbird seat with a good shot at becoming the first repeat division champion since the '04-'05 Irwin Hellions. They best not look past their Bockville guests, however, as second consecutive loss could be enough to put their division title defense aspirations out to pasture.

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The other key Western Division title features Pirk's backsliding Wicked Oil Profiteer$ and the Abstract Machines. Five weeks ago, P.W.O.P. sat atop the Western standings with a 5-1 record, but a slew of losses have sent them back to the pack. The Machines, meanwhile, are doing their best to overcome a five-game losing streak from earlier in the year and make the playoffs.

Having wasting their promising start the season, the Profiteer$ are left grasping for any sign of sure footing. Electing to not use any of their six transactions, the onus of stopping the current slide falls squarely on the shoulders of the non-injured Profiteer$, few they may be. To be fair, the Machines spent all six (plus one) of their transactions and sit a game worse of the Profiteer$. And while they've won their last three divisional games, the AMs haven't downed P.W.O.P. since 2006 and have lost four straight against the men from Oiltown. One more here, coupled with an Irwin win over Thomas, would kick the Mechanical Ones to the playoff curb.

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"How you like me now?" You can't blame Jay Cutler or the Naughty Figs for not being overly modest as they venture into the Vortex to take on Jody's Colossal Waste of Time. The Figs are, after all, the 2008 Eastern Division champs and No. 1 overall seed for the forthcoming playoffs. Cutler, a C.W.O.T. cast-off and subsequent fourth-round pick of the FIgs, is a big reason why. His former team – last year's Eastern champ and longtime Fig-crusher – now sits a full four games back of the first-time champs and has yet to clinch a playoff berth.

With two games still to play before the postseason, the Figs have already clinched everything they could, leaving only history to chase. At 10-1, they're already just the fifth team to ever post ten or more regular season wins. They also make this the third straight season for such a feat, following Anderson going 11-2 in 2006 and Thomas going 10-3 in 2007. One more win will tie them with Anderson for most regular season wins ever, and two more will of course break it.

The C.W.O.T. really need to avoid being the Figs' win No. 11. They've dropped two straight and three of their past four to fall into postseason limbo. Although playoff eligible, they – like the Hellions – are not guaranteed a thing just yet. So they need a win, but that may be a tall order seeing how they close out their season against the only two teams to have already been awarded playoff berths, the FIgs and Brewmeisters. ON the plus side, both of these games are at home, where the Pewter & Black are a perfect 4-0 this season.

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