Preview: #23 Kansas City @ #18 Atlanta

By Justice Feelgood Marshall, Last updated Sat May 22 2010 2:42pm

ATLANTA, GA -- A critical South Central rankings clash goes down in Atlanta this evening as the Kansas City Roller Warriors (officially #2 in the WFTDA South Central division, #23 nationally via DNN) take on Atlanta (officially #3 in the WFTDA SC, #18 nationally via DNN).

This bout will be streamed live on DNN courtesy of the Atlanta Rollergirls. Action starts at 5pm Eastern.

2010 has seen some serious upheaval in the South Central power structure. Last year the region finished with Texas, Kansas City, Houston, Dallas and Atlanta holding the top five slots, but since then, Houston has significantly weakened, Nashville has fully entered the fray, Tampa Bay looks like they might have the potential to challenge, Atlanta has leapfrogged their immediate competition, and Kansas City appears more vulnerable than they were going through the Regionals.

KCRW only has one bout thus far in 2010, a surprisingly close win over Omaha (125-114). With Omaha's previous record not suggesting that they would be a threat to a tournament-level team, it still remains to be seen whether that result was an outlier, an indication of new strength on Omaha's part, or a reflection of a slip on Kansas City's part.

Atlanta has had a pretty good 2010 thus far. Though they started with a 108-73 loss to Nashville in February, they then went on a six-game winning streak -- including two over regional rival Dallas. Non-WFTDA San Diego brought that to a screeching halt in early April with a 153-61 blowout win, though Atlanta was working from a bit of a disadvantage as it was the second game in a doubleheader for ATL and a standalone game for San Diego.

Since WFTDA split into 4 regions at the beginning of the 2009 season, Kansas City has historically been pretty solidly locked into #2 in the South Central, with Texas far above them and the rest of the field far below them. Atlanta has a golden head-to-head opportunity here, if they can take it. Kansas City only has one more regional bout (against #10 Northwest Arkansas) and Atlanta has none before the tournament seedings will be voted on, so this game will likely determine the 2 seed in September's South Central tournament.

(The listed Atlanta roster is full 20-skater charter; Kansas City roster is 14-skater.)

1973 Alassin Sane // B52 Amelia Scareheart // 2BFC Canna Whoopass // .410 Chopper Bleed // 000 Dark Crystal // 8 Deathskull // 1428 Demi Gore // 1650 InSINerator // B1 Juju // 5 Killy Wabbit // 99 Nora Gretz // 1905 Regreta Garbo // 3 Shannihilator // 49 Sissy Splaysek // 111 Spazz Attaque // 8979 Switchblade Siouxsie // 1lb The Merchant of Menace // 2L8 Wheelin' Jennings

111 Annie Maul // 244 Bruz-Her // 84 Tuff Noogies // 911 Patti Wackin // 0 Eclipse // 44 Damsel of D'Tension // D13 DeMentia // 98 PDQ // 319 Headless Highness // 69 Track Rat // 26 Bella Fire // 22th Ruth Canal // 30 Hall Balls // 20 Dominant Jean