Who is the favorite for Southern?
NJ has a potential problem. All three of their three best 4.0s were bumped. I'm not sure, but I don't think those guys can compete at the lower level at sectionals now that it's after the new year. If they can, then they will be formidable. Their existing 4.5s are all hammers, and if those 4.0 bumps can keep playing 4.0, then they will have legit 4.5s at 4.0, too. If not, they will have a hole in the middle of the lineup.
The players who got bumped up one level can compete at their prior rating if it was a C rating. If they had any S- or A-rated 4.0 guys who got bumped up, only those will be forced to play at the new C- rating.
Middle States always follows nationals, so that's how it will be. At least 2 of the 3 were C rated. The other only had 3 matches before the 2022 ratings cutoff, and I think he was still S-rated, but I'm not sure.
Philly's since-bumped 4.0s are way out of level, too (the two guys who played both flight playoff matches), so it's not exactly a lock. They were both C rated.
PA had one of the two ringers. The other played in the 5.0 tri-level instead of 4.5, where they got smoked by a CPD team on the 5.0 and 4.5 courts. They probably should have concentrated their power in one or the other.
