2016 Indoor Football League season

2016 IFL season
League	Indoor Football League
Sport	Indoor Football
Duration	February 20, 2016 – July 23, 2016
Number of teams	10
Regular season
Season MVP	Charles McCullum (Wichita Falls)
Playoffs
Intense champions	Spokane Empire
Intense runners-up	Nebraska Danger
United champions	Sioux Falls Storm
United runners-up	Cedar Rapids Titans
2016 United Bowl
Champions	Sioux Falls Storm
Runners-up	Spokane Empire
IFL seasons
← 2015 2017 →

The 2016 Indoor Football League season was the eighth season of the Indoor Football League (IFL). Playing with ten teams in two conferences located primarily in mid-level cities in the central United States, the league's regular season kicked off on February 20, 2016 and ended on June 24, 2016. The playoffs were held in three rounds, with the top seed in each conference receiving a first-round bye as the second and third seeds facing each other in the conference semifinal (both division winners had automatic bids, and the third seed was a wild card), with the winner of that game facing the top seed in a conference championship game followed by the winners of those games meeting in the United Bowl. ^[1]

Teams

All ten teams from the previous season were scheduled to return, and a new team called the Spokane Empire joined the IFL. The team was originally going to be called the Spokane Shock after the owner of the franchise decided to leave the Arena Football League on September 1, 2015, for the IFL due to easier regional travel. However, on October 12, 2015, the AFL released a statement saying that the franchise and the AFL could not come to terms over the purchase and use of the Shock identity (name, logos, colors, etc.) and that the AFL has retained the rights to the identity. ^[2] In addition, the IFL accepted the expansion franchise of the Minnesota Havok. Two teams retained their locations but changed their team name; the former Colorado Ice changed its name to the Colorado Crush, ^[3] and the former Bemidji Axemen changed their name to the Minnesota Axemen. ^[4]

The IFL originally announced that it would continue with a two-conference format, but would return to having two divisions in each conference, with each of the 12 teams playing 16 games during the 18-week regular season. This was two more teams, games, and weeks than the numbers as played in the 2015 IFL season. ^[5] However, prior to the season, the league terminated the two Minnesota teams and returned to a division-less two conference format.

Team	Location	Arena	Capacity	Founded	Joined
United Conference
Cedar Rapids Titans	Cedar Rapids, Iowa	U.S. Cellular Center	6,900	2012	2012
Green Bay Blizzard	Green Bay, Wisconsin	Resch Center	8,600	2003	2010
Iowa Barnstormers	Des Moines, Iowa	Wells Fargo Arena	15,181	1995	2015
Sioux Falls Storm	Sioux Falls, South Dakota	Denny Sanford Premier Center	10,678	2000	2009
Wichita Falls Nighthawks	Wichita Falls, Texas	Kay Yeager Coliseum	7,380	2013	2015
Intense Conference
Billings Wolves	Billings, Montana	Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark	7,000	2015	2015
Colorado Crush	Loveland, Colorado	Budweiser Events Center	5,289	2007	2009
Nebraska Danger	Grand Island, Nebraska	Eihusen Arena	6,000	2011	2011
Spokane Empire	Spokane, Washington	Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena	10,771	2015	2016
Tri-Cities Fever	Kennewick, Washington	Toyota Center	6,000	2005	2010

Expansion/Contraction

On September 9, 2015, the IFL announced the Minnesota Havok would join the league for the 2016 season. The Havok were to play their home games at Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato, Minnesota, ^[6] however, the league terminated the franchise prior to the start of the season for failing to meet league obligations. ^{[7] [8]}

On November 25, 2015, the Minnesota Axemen franchise was terminated by the league for failing to meet the league's operational standards and commitments. ^[9]

Standings

2016 Intense Conference view talk edit W L T PCT PF PA GB STK y-Spokane Empire 12 4 0 .750 815 709 -- L2 x-Billings Wolves 8 8 0 .500 643 647 4.0 W2 x-Nebraska Danger 6 10 0 .375 765 794 6.0 W1 Colorado Crush 4 12 0 .250 849 914 8.0 W2 Tri-Cities Fever 3 13 0 .188 577 758 9.0 L9

2016 United Conference view talk edit W L T PCT PF PA GB STK y–Sioux Falls Storm 15 1 0 .938 951 720 -- W11 x–Cedar Rapids Titans 12 4 0 .750 781 628 3.0 W7 x–Wichita Falls Nighthawks 11 5 0 .688 1001 861 4.0 W2 Green Bay Blizzard 5 11 0 .313 682 932 10.0 L1 Iowa Barnstormers 4 12 0 .250 737 838 11.0 L7

Playoffs

	Wild Card Round					Conference Championships					2016 United Bowl
						3	Nebraska	44
	United Conference
						1	Spokane	55
	3	Nebraska	64
	2	Billings	52
											I1	Spokane	34
											U1	Sioux Falls	55
						2	Cedar Rapids	28
	Intense Conference
						1	Sioux Falls	54
	3	Wichita Falls	36
	2	Cedar Rapids	66

Awards

Individual season awards

Award	Winner	Position	Team
Most Valuable Player	Charles McCullum	Quarterback	Wichita Falls Nighthawks
Offensive Player of the Year	Demarius Washington	Wide receiver	Colorado Crush
Defensive Player of the Year	Jeremiah Price	Defensive lineman	Cedar Rapids Titans
Special Teams Player of the Year	Korey Williams	Wide receiver	Sioux Falls Storm
Offensive Rookie of the Year	Trevor Kennedy	Running back	Spokane Empire
Defensive Rookie of the Year	Jabari Gorman	Defensive back	Nebraska Danger
Most Improved Award	Markeith Summers	Wide receiver	Green Bay Blizzard
Adam Pringle Award	Peter Evans	Offensive lineman	Iowa Barnstormers
Coach of the Year	Billy Back	Head Coach	Wichita Falls Nighthawks

1st Team All-IFL

Offense Quarterback Charles McCullum, Wichita Falls Running back Trevor Kennedy, Spokane Wide receiver Demarius Washington, Colorado Brady Roland, Iowa Jordan Jolly, Wichita Falls Offensive tackle Myniya Smith, Sioux Falls Dave Lefotu, Spokane Center Charlie Sanders, Sioux Falls

Defense Defensive line Jeremiah Price, Cedar Rapids Brandon Peguese, Sioux Falls Xzavie Jackson, Cedar Rapids Linebacker Tyler Knight, Sioux Falls Defensive back Michael Green, Billings Rashard Smith, Colorado Jabari Gorman, Nebraska Robert Brown, Spokane

Special teams
Kicker	Rockne Belmonte, Wichita Falls
Kick returner	Korey Williams, Sioux Falls

2nd Team All-IFL

Offense Quarterback Charles Dowdell, Spokane Running back Tyler Williams, Wichita Falls Wide receiver Markeith Summers, Green Bay O. J. Simpson, Nebraska Bryan Pray, Iowa Offensive tackle James Atoe, Colorado A. J. Harmon, Cedar Rapids Center Nathaniel Ryan, Billings

Defense Defensive end Benjamin Perry, Spokane Walter Thomas, Wichita Falls Claude Davis, Sioux Falls Linebacker Nikolas Sierra, Cedar Rapids Nick Haag, Spokane Defensive back Boubacar Cissoko, Tri-Cities Elijah Fields, Sioux Falls Dee Maggitt, Jr., Tri-Cities

Special teams
Kicker	Nicholas Belcher, Cedar Rapids
Kick returner	Chevelle Buie, Green Bay

^[10]

References

1. "IFL Concludes Annual Meetings - Indoor Football League". Archived from the original on 2015-11-24.
2. AFL Issues Statement on Spokane Shock Archived 2015-12-17 at the Wayback Machine , ArenaFootball.com, October 12, 2015
3. "Introducing the Colorado Crush - Indoor Football League". Archived from the original on 2015-07-16.
4. "INDOOR FOOTBALL: It's official: Hello 'Minnesota' Axemen". Bemidji Pioneer. September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
5. "IFL Announces 2016 Schedule - Indoor Football League". Archived from the original on 2015-10-09.
6. "Minnesota Havok Join IFL". Indoor Football League. September 9, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
7. "Minnesota Havok Fold Before Season Starts". Mankato Free Press. January 29, 2016. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
8. "Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report". OurSportsCentral. February 1, 2016.
9. IFL Issues Statement on Minnesota Axemen, IFL website, November 25, 2015
10. "2016 All-IFL Teams Announced". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. June 30, 2016. Retrieved July 5, 2016.