THE INDOOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE'S WILD...WILD...WEST

With three weeks remaining in the Indoor Football League's regular season, jockeying for playoff spots and seeding in both the Eastern Conference and Western Conference continues and it's possible that not everything will be decided until the final clock reaches zero at the end of July. 

But in the Western Conference, a lot could be decided this weekend as the top four teams will be in action against a divisional foe.

On Saturday night, the fourth-place Tucson Sugar Skulls visit the third-place Arizona Rattlers and then on Sunday night, the first-place Vegas Knight Hawks will host the second-place San Diego Strike Force.

The Western Conference has won four straight IFL National Championships and this year's champion could very well come from the IFL's Wild…Wild…West.

IS THE WEST THE BEST?

The Eastern Conference has some outstanding teams with the Green Bay Blizzard currently holding the top spot at 12-2, the best record in the Indoor Football League. If the playoffs started this week, the Jacksonville Sharks (9-4), the Tulsa Oilers (8-5) and the Orlando Pirates (8-6) would join Green Bay in the playoffs.

In the Western Conference, Vegas (11-3) has regained the top spot after a 50-16 win at New Mexico last weekend coupled with San Diego (10-3) falling at home to Arizona (9-5) 65-36. Tucson (6-7) sits in fourth place and is coming off of a bye week following their 51-49 loss at Northern Arizona back on June 28th.

There are certainly some beasts in the East, but could the West be best?

"The Western Conference is tough," said Arizona Rattlers Head Coach Kevin Guy. "Those top four teams are tough. I thought at the beginning of the year that the East had gotten a lot better but as the season has played out, I would put the top four in the West against anybody. I would make an argument right now that the West is starting to position themselves to make another run at the championship." 

When the playoffs start, the top four teams in the Western Conference will all feel that they have a chance to hoist the trophy.

Home field advantage could certainly play a huge role in the road to the National Championship in Tucson.

"The number one goal is to get a home playoff game and to hopefully try to have that number one seed," said San Diego Strike Force Head Coach Taylor Genuser. "We just have to figure out how to win out the best we can while staying healthy. I remind our guys that we're 10-3 so let's remember all the things we did to clinch a playoff spot and clean up the things we know that we've been struggling with." 

All of the teams will be trying to play their best football down the stretch, but at the same time, they're trying to either stay healthy or get healthy before the postseason begins.

In the case of the defending National Champion Vegas Knight Hawks, they are trending in that direction after dealing with the injury bug including starting quarterback Jayden DeLaura. 

"We're finally getting healthy," said Vegas Head Coach Mike Davis. "That's the biggest thing we were dealing with. We had an opportunity to rest some guys against San Antonio and New Mexico and we did. It allowed us to get healthy which we are. We'll play San Diego and we'll be 100% healthy. We have a bye week and then we play Northern Arizona." 

One of the hottest teams in the IFL has been the Tucson Sugar Skulls. They used a bye week earlier this season to re-tool their roster including the acquisition of quarterback and former IFL Most Valuable Player Ja'Rome Johnson. Tucson vaulted into a playoff spot with four straight wins but they stubbed their toe in their last game losing to Northern Arizona.

After a bye week, they hope to get back on track.

"We're looking to redeem ourselves," said Sugar Skulls Head Coach Rayshaun Kizer. "We're all very upset about the game in Northern Arizona. I just feel like we underestimated that game. I think we took them a little too lightly. Playoff mode starts now. We're coming off a bye week. We have three games to finish the season so we're in full playoff mode. We feel like we need to win all three of these games to get in the playoffs."

And now…the scene is set for a showdown weekend in the Western Conference.

TUCSON VS ARIZONA

A huge crowd will be on hand Saturday night at Desert Diamond Arena as the Arizona Rattlers host the Tucson Sugar Skulls (9pm ET Yahoo Sports). As of earlier this week, over 10,000 tickets had already been sold and that will make for quite an atmosphere in Glendale.

"We're going to have a great crowd," said Guy. "We've had to open up two more sections already because we've been moving so many tickets. We're excited about the environment that we're going to be playing in this weekend."

During their recent four-game winning streak, Tucson scored a 35-28 home victory over Arizona and now they'll look to continue their playoff push with another win over the Rattlers. 

The Sugar Skulls want to take care of their own business on their way to the IFL playoffs. 

"That's our mindset," said Kizer. "We're not trying to look for anybody to help us out along the way. We're just controlling what we can control and taking this one game at a time. Arizona is on the clock right now and we're looking forward to the weekend." 

The Sugar Skulls have been a different team since their roster turnover and it all starts with Johnson who has lifted the team into a playoff spot. 

"This is a quarterback-driven league and getting the quarterback has solidified them," said Guy. "If you look at why they're going to get into the playoffs, it's quarterback play. They got him in there and now they're a different team. 

We need to come to play. We have to get over this win (over San Diego) and we have to move on." 

You may want to think of Tucson vs Arizona as the Western Conference appetizer with the main course being served on Sunday. 

SAN DIEGO VS VEGAS

It's another chapter in a riveting novel. 

In last year's playoffs, Vegas knocked off San Diego in the Western Conference Final to earn a spot in the IFL National Championship Game. Back on June 19th, the Strike Force took over the top spot in the Western Conference when they defeated Vegas 43-39 at Frontwave Arena. This Sunday, San Diego will have a chance to regain the Western Conference penthouse when they meet the Knight Hawks again, this time on the road at Lee's Family Forum (730pm ET Yahoo Sports). 

The Strike Force is well aware of the hostile environment they're about to enter. 

"It's always very loud," said Genuser. "It's a place where we've had some false starts because of the atmosphere. Our biggest thing is we just don't want pre-snap penalties and we have to make sure we stay in front of the chains."

San Diego is coming off a home loss to Arizona on Monday night, they'll look to turn the page and regain the blueprint for success, especially the one they followed a few weeks ago against the Knight Hawks.

And that's what Vegas expects from the Strike Force coming off of that loss. 

"San Diego came out a little flat (against Arizona)," said Davis. "If you give a good team a chance to jump on you, they're going to jump on you. It's a wakeup call for them. They'll be motivated when they come here this weekend and we don't expect anything less. It's a battle for first place. It's going to be a great game." 

Vegas and San Diego have certainly created a rivalry over the last few years. The emotions can be felt from the top of the organizations to the coaches to the players and down to the support staff.

The stakes were high when they met a few weeks ago and they're even higher now. 

"It truly is a rivalry," said Genuser. "We've watched each other grow. We've watched them win a championship. It's just one of those games where it's going to come down to who has the ball last. I'm excited for this one."

And it looks like the Strike Force's defense will have to contend with Knight Hawks starting quarterback Jayden DeLaura who is expected to return to the starting lineup. 

"He's 100%," said Davis. "He could have played last week (against New Mexico).

DeLaura didn't make the trip to Albuquerque, but he's expected to be back in action against San Diego which means…

…another quarterback showdown between DeLaura and Nate Davis.

TIME TO TURN IT UP A NOTCH

At any level of football, a team wants to be at their best heading down the stretch of the regular season heading into the playoffs. Momentum and health are so important getting ready for the postseason and those two things are on the minds of Vegas, San Diego, Arizona, and Tucson heading into what will be a huge weekend of Western Conference action.

It's crunch time. 

"I think anybody who plays football wants to play their best football at the end of the year and we still feel like we are," said Kizer who's Sugar Skulls have won four of their last five games. "We're in good position. We like where we're at as a team and we're just looking to build and grow in the final three games of the season." 

And while the story of any IFL game is told inside the boards on the field, so much of what goes into the preparation is not just about X's and O's.

You also need to be mentally prepared to play, especially with the playoffs three weeks away.

"It's about the mindset that your team is in this time of the year," said Guy. "We're getting into playoff mode and we're having to play with a little bit of a sense of urgency because we dropped some games early in the season that we shouldn't have and we had to learn from those lessons." 

Last season, Vegas won their final two regular season games before going on a run to winning the IFL National Championship. They know full well what it takes to win and what the landscape is like down the stretch of the regular season.

They want to be ready for the playoffs.

"If we get a couple of guys banged up against San Diego, because it will be physical, we'll have a chance to rest a few guys coming down the stretch," said Davis. "And we'll be ready to hit the ground running for the first round of the playoffs."

It's been a wild ride in the Western Conference this season and this weekend shapes up as a good old fashioned Wild…Wild…West shootout!