LAS VEGAS (AFLWA) – After rallying to beat the San Jose SaberCats for the second time and securing the No. 1 seed for the playoffs, the Arizona Rattlers received all but one first-place vote in the final Top 8 Poll, which was conducted by the Arena Football League Writers Association (AFLWA).

Arizona (11-5) picked up 16 first-place votes and 135 points following its 50-43 defeat of San Jose to move up two places. However, one voter remained unconvinced, giving San Jose the remaining first-place vote. The SaberCats (11-5) had 101 points overall to stay at No. 2.

The Chicago Rush (11-5) fell two spots to No. 3 after a 56-47 loss to the Colorado Crush (11-5). Even so, the Crush did not overtake Chicago in the voting, remaining No. 4.

Tied for sixth last week, the Orlando Predators (10-6) moved to No. 5 after beating the Los Angeles Avengers 52-50. Los Angeles (9-7) remained No. 8.

A 38-21 victory over the Austin Wranglers did not help the New Orleans VooDoo (11-5), which fell one spot to No. 6. The other ranked team, the Tampa Bay Storm (9-7), dropped from a tie for sixth to No. 7 after its 59-57 victory over the Dallas Desperados.

In this week's first round of the playoffs, Los Angeles is at Arizona, Tampa Bay is at San Jose, Orlando is Chicago, and Colorado is at New Orleans.

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.