Winless, Undefeated Teams Battle In Week 3

Week three of the World Series of Pool is set up like any good boxing or wrestling pay-per-view event. At the start of it all you have a rather uninteresting matchup between a pair of 0-2 teams (Break and Run and Pool Dragonz). The week steadily gets more interesting before finishing with the far more compelling battle between unbeaten Simply Pool Souls and MisCues.

BREAK AND RUN @ POOL DRAGONZ - Monday, 7:00

Both teams may be 0-2 but it's hard to go against Break and Run. Two players (Pesadilla and Jordy) have won each of the first two weeks and while BNR may be suffering from some internal disagreements after losing to Simply Pool Souls last week I don't believe Pool Dragonz will be too much of a threat. I will say, however, that BNR will do itself a huge favor by putting Jordan in for those big games. Admittedly I didn't see the end of BNR-SPS so I don't know if he was available for the seventh game. If Pool Dragonz want a win they'll need to follow the path SPS took last week: win early and often. I don't think they have the personnel to do it. BNR wins 5-1

Actual Result: BNR wins 4-2 ( http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/12537732 )

XTREME POOL LEGENDZ @ STRAIGHTSHOTS - Tuesday, 7:00

Interconference action between two contenders makes for a pretty interesting matchup. XPL has been dodging bullets for the past week and a half in my opinion. The league has been chaotic with the absence of its Head Admin and the team has played "good enough" in recent matches. This will be a real eye-opener for Brian, Kalpz and company as they take on a solid Straightshots team. XPL did beat SS in last Sunday's CIP season opener. But they have to come in with the mentality of "we are playing pretty good, but we know we can be better and we NEED to be better." Straightshots is better than they played that Sunday evening and you can bet they'll be looking to reach the plus side of .500 this week. XPL wins 4-3

Actual Result: SS wins 4-2

DEADSTROKES @ EXTREME POOL COMPETITORS - Wednesday, 6:00

The opening act for Wednesday night's double-header is essentially a coin flip. You never really know how prepared EPC will be for a match nor do you know what to expect from Deadstrokes. On paper EPC is vastly more talented and all-around better. But Deadstrokes has to be due for a breakout performance at some point. After a pair of 1-5 losses the potential is certainly there. But everyone needs to be on the same page and I don't know how likely that is in DS right now. I think because it's early on and EPC has a strong team on paper and a chance to make a run you'll see a more organized team and they'll take care of business. EPC wins 4-2

Actual Result: EPC wins 4-2

SEXY POOLERZ @ FREEDOM - Wednesday, 7:00

Freedom, like EPC, has a reputation of not being the most reliable team in the game. But they've managed a 2-0 record while their opponents this week have managed the exact opposite. FR will ultimately go as far as their Captain Pete can take them. There are other players who contribute and can pick up the slack on occasion but none with the consistency of Pete. Sexy Poolerz put up a real fight against XPL last week, losing in the seventh game. They are capable of hanging with Freedom but I don't think they have the depth necessary to beat FR at its best. FR wins 4-2

Actual Result: FR wins 4-2

MATCH OF THE WEEK: MISCUES @ SIMPLY POOL SOULS - Thursday, 7:00

One of these teams will lose a match for the first time this season. Miscues is led by the usual suspects - Ant, Safdar, Ben, all talented players. MC has done it without any help from James who's 0-2. He's usually much better and I would suspect this week he'll pick up his first win of season 3.

Right beside MC at the top is an SPS team that has received strong contributions from b.soccer and the league's leader Monte. Soccer picked up the tie-breaking win last week against BNR as part of a 3-0 start for the season. SPS will need more of the same and more big shots from Monte and others if they want to win this week.

While both teams are 2-0 it's important to note that SPS has beaten a pair of teams that are still currently winless. While BNR is generally a quality win, last week I don't think they had it together at the top and it created an ugly ripple effect. MisCues is going to be a very difficult team to beat this season and especially for SPS this week. MC wins 4-2

Actual Result: MC wins 4-2

That's week 3 of season 3 in a nutshell. As we come closer to the weekend I'll have a preview of CIP as that interleague also approaches its third week of matches.