LAS VEGAS (AFLWA) – The San Jose SaberCats maintained their position atop the latest Arena Football League Writers Association poll, which was announced Tuesday. The AFLWA will rank the top eight teams in the Arena Football League each week throughout the regular season.

San Jose (1-0) opened its season with a 58-43 victory over the Detroit Fury. The SaberCats are off this weekend.

The Tampa Bay Storm (1-0) was No. 2 for the second consecutive week following its 52-41 victory over the Orlando Predators.

Two teams moved up from their previous standings and two others moved into the polls. The Los Angeles Avengers (1-0) went up a spot to No. 3 after beating the Arizona Rattlers 51-32, and the New York Dragons (1-0) went from a tie for eighth to No. 4 after a 54-28 drubbing of the Georgia Force.

New to the poll were the No. 5 Chicago Rush (1-0) and the No. 7 Carolina Cobras (1-0). Chicago defeated the Grand Rapids Rampage 50-30, and Carolina was an easy 67-41 winner over the Dallas Desperados. Carolina ended a 17-game losing streak.

Two teams moved down but stayed in the polls. Orlando (0-1) went from No. 5 to No. 6, and Arizona dropped from No. 3 to No. 8.

The Las Vegas Gladiators (0-1), Desperados (0-1) and Force (0-1) dropped out of the poll.

Two ranked teams play this week – Chicago at New York. In other games involving ranked teams, Tampa Bay hosts Georgia, Los Angeles is at Las Vegas, Orlando hosts the Austin Wranglers, Carolina is at the Columbus Destroyers, and Arizona hosts the Detroit Fury.

The AFLWA, founded at the start of the 2004 season, is a national organization made up of media members who cover the Arena Football League. Mark Anderson of the Las Vegas Review-Journal is the AFLWA's founder and executive director.