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THE NBBO AT THE MIDWAY POINT
ONLY QUAKER ST. LEADS THEIR REGION BY MORE THAN 2 GAMES

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (June 17, 1872) – The NBBO has finished seven weeks of play, meaning that teams are at the midway point of the 1872 season.

Here are the leaders of the six regions:

BROOKLYN: Star at 21-14 (Marathon 1 GB, Eckford 2 GB, Atlantic 3 GB, all others within 6 GB)
NEW YORK CITY: Union at 23-12 (Mercury 2 GB, Metropolitan 3 GB, Mutual 5 GB)
UPSTATE NY.: Syracuse at 22-13 (Frontier 2 GB, Minuteman 2.5 GB, Utica 3 GB)

COASTAL: Quaker State at 28-7 (Maryland 8 GB, Trenton Utd. 9 GB, Tiger SC 11 GB)
INLAND: Susquehanna at 22-13 (Lancastra & Reading 2 GB, Lake Erie & Pioneer 4 GB)
NEW ENGLAND: Portland & Salem at 21-14 (Oceanic 1 GB, Granite & S.o.t.O. 3 GB)

Now that the twelve new teams have had a season of experience behind them they have helped bring more parity to the NBBO. Of the twelve, eight are currently in the top half of their regional standings, with just one – Baltic – in last place.

Overall, only Quaker State leads their region by more than two games. There is a tie for 1st place in New England, Star is leading Brooklyn by one game, and in three regions – Inland, NYC, & Upstate – the leaders are in front by two games.

Brooklyn is currently the tightest region of the six, as each of the other seven clubs are within six games of leaders Star. Marathon is a game back, Eckford is two, Atlantic is three, Continental is four, and the trio of Bedford, Empire, & Nassau Co. are all six games behind Star.

The biggest surprise at midseason is New England co-leaders Salem. The surprise isn’t that they’re 21-14 – they were projected to finish 2nd with a 40-30 record by the Writers Pool – but that they’re 21-14 having played only 10/35 games at their famous home venue: The Crucible.

The most notable disappointment at the halfway mark is Sportsman’s in the Inland Championship. Having finished last season 33-37 they were projected to finish in the 4th in Inland with a 37-33 record. Instead, they’re 13-22 and sitting in last place, a position they’ve never been in.

Given how close most of the regions are, it looks like anything could happen in the second half of the NBBO season.