World Bowl XXX

New Orleans VooDoo (15-4) vs Portland Storm (16-3)

Point Spread: New Orleans -1

New Orleans: Offense 3rd Defense 8th
Portland: Offense 7th Defense 3rd

Playoff Records:New Orleans 20-19 Portland 27-18

World Bowl Records:New Orleans 0-4 (Lost: III, VII, XVIII, XXVII) Portland 3-2 (Won: XVI, XVIII, XX Lost: XXIV, XXV)

Head to Head: New Orleans is 5-3 all time vs Portland, 5-2 during the regular season and 0-1 in World Bowl XVIII. New Orleans won the first 5 regular season games in 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, and 1992 while Portland won in 1996 and 2000. World Bowl XVIII took place at the end of the 1991 season.

Injuries:New Orleans 8 probable Portland 5 probable, 2 questionable

Prediction:Portland 23 New Orleans 20

Team stats are close, injury situations are similar, so I looked at QB play. Our 2 time defending Offensive POY Willie Graham is having a mediocre post season, completing just 53.9% with 4 TDs/4 INTs. Raymond Oswalt has completed 61.1% with a 6/2 TD/INT ratio. I'll pick the QB with the hot hand while hoping I'm wrong because the National Conference needs more titles after so many years of American Conference domination.