GregR_2
Footballguy
I've got a thread on things that your league's rules should cover that was pinned up above. Unfortunately, I didn't think of doing it until after the season started, which makes it hard to incorporate them for this year. But it's not too late for dealing with some playoff issues.
There are a class of playoff-specific issues that frequently arise in leagues, and now is about the time to make sure your league knows in advance how they will be handled. I'm making this a new thread so it will stand out for the time being, and will put a link to it in the pinned thread. But maybe later if it's worth it we could have this one merged with the other?
I normally mail the answers to these questions out to my league a few weeks in advance of the playoffs, even when the rules already are clear on them, just to make sure everyone knows what to expect. Again, it doesn't matter what flavor of a rule you go with, you just need to be clear how it will be handled, and preferably before possible ties shape up.
1) If you don't already have a rule as to when results are final, at least set one for determination of the playoff seedings.
-- Let's say in the second week of the playoffs Elias says a tackle was instead a sack, which changes a week 10 game result and changes who should make the playoffs. Our goal is to have it be known in advance that stat changes after the playoff seeding is established will be ignored. You should have a rule for when game results are final anyway, but even if you didn't put one in for this year, do put one in for the playoffs.
2) Be sure to have some sort of coin flip/random number/draw from a hat or other method that will definitely have a winner, at the end of your tiebreak rules.
-- The reason for this should be obvious. Even if you have decimal scoring to thousandths of a point, you still could have a tie. If you do, the only fair way is to end up using something like this anyway, so just specify it in advance to avoid any complaints.
3) For leagues with "head to head" as a tiebreak, how do you handle multi-team ties if number of games played is not even for all teams in the tie?
-- This one seems to come up a lot. Take for example a 3-way tie in a league where you play some opponents more than others. Team 3 played Teams 1 and 2 once each. But Teams 1 and 2 played each other twice. So Team 3 has 2 games, and Teams 1 and 2 have 3 games of head to head. Do you just ignore head to head entirely then, or do you go with winning percentage even if # of games is uneven?
4) Does the bracket stay "locked" as it was originally set, or does the top seed always get the worst seeded opponent? Or does the top seed get to choose their opponent?
-- In the NFL playoffs, the top seed always gets the worst seeded opponent. In the NCAA basketball bracket, it is "locked" in place and if #1 loses, then #16 has the easiest schedule in his bracket the rest of the way. There is no "right" answer, you just need to be clear which your league will use, especially if your website has an actual bracket that some may look at and think the opponents are set in stone like the NCAA bracket.
5) How does your league handle multi-team tiebreakers when one team is eliminated? Do they use the NFL-style system and restart the tiebreak at step 1 with remaining teams, or do you just go on to the next step with the remaining teams?
-- The NFL's policy on multi-team tiebreakers is that if any elimination of a team occurs in a tiebreak, but remaining teams are tied, the tiebreak starts again with the remaining teams back at step 1. Let's say you have a 3 team tie, and your first category is "head to head between all tied teams". Teams 1 and 2 have the same head to head record, but Team 3 has a worse h2h record and is eliminated. The NFL would not proceed to step 2 (perhaps total points) with Teams 1 and 2. It would start over again with step 1 and now find Head to Head only counting the remaining Teams 1 and 2. The results of a tiebreaker can change depending whether you follow the NFL's lead or not. I have friends in a local league who had a major fight over this last season, because it wasn't made clear in advance.
6) How does your league handle a situation like a 3-way tie for 2 playoff spots? Do you follow the NFL way and have a 3-way tiebreak for the first spot, then start over from scratch at step 1 in a new 2-team tiebreak for the second spot? Or do you find the top 2 teams in the first tiebreak and just give them the spots?
-- Here's an example of where this can be a problem. 3 way tie, with 2 wildcard spots left. 1st tiebreak is head to head. Team 1 has best head to head, followed by Team 2, followed by Team 3. Some people will expect this means that Team 1 and Team 2 get the two remaining spots. However, in the NFL, Team 1 would get the first wildcard. Then a tiebreaker starts fresh between Team 2 and Team 3 for the second wildcard spot. At step 1 when head-to-head is computed, it does not include games against Team 1 like the previous tiebreaker did. This means Team 3 could win the tiebreak and get the last wildcard spot, even though they came in "third" in the previous tiebreaker.
7) Do you break ties between divisional foes before including non-division teams?
-- This is another one that comes up mainly because of how the NFL does its tiebreak. Some expect it to be done the same, others don't see this as the intuitive way to do it. So state in advance which it will be. In the NFL in a wildcard tiebreaker, if there are tied teams from the same division, they have the tie broken using the division tiebreak before teams from other divisions are considered. So if the Texans, Titans, and Browns are tied for a wildcard, the division tiebreaker rules get used to resolve the Texans and Titans. Whoever wins that tiebreak then has a non-division tiebreak used between them and the Browns. Some fantasy leagues would just have all 3 teams in the tiebreak, so just be clear how your league does it.
8) What is the status of waivers during the playoffs? Can only teams still in the playoffs make waiver claims?
-- One incident that seems to get posted every year, is that some team who was already eliminated goes in and makes a waiver claim for a player that a team in the super bowl put in a claim for. Avoid the possible argument and establish in advance whether everyone can do waivers, regardless of playoff status, or if only teams still having a game (including or not including consolation games) can do them.
9) If your league includes divisional record, is it used when teams are not in the same division?
-- I'd have never thought this was an issue, but I watched an argument over it this preseason so figured I'd add it. Some people think division record matters even when teams are not in the same division. So if you included it your tiebreak rules, but did not intend it to be used in all cases, such as when not in the same division, you need to be clear on it.
There are a class of playoff-specific issues that frequently arise in leagues, and now is about the time to make sure your league knows in advance how they will be handled. I'm making this a new thread so it will stand out for the time being, and will put a link to it in the pinned thread. But maybe later if it's worth it we could have this one merged with the other?
I normally mail the answers to these questions out to my league a few weeks in advance of the playoffs, even when the rules already are clear on them, just to make sure everyone knows what to expect. Again, it doesn't matter what flavor of a rule you go with, you just need to be clear how it will be handled, and preferably before possible ties shape up.
1) If you don't already have a rule as to when results are final, at least set one for determination of the playoff seedings.
-- Let's say in the second week of the playoffs Elias says a tackle was instead a sack, which changes a week 10 game result and changes who should make the playoffs. Our goal is to have it be known in advance that stat changes after the playoff seeding is established will be ignored. You should have a rule for when game results are final anyway, but even if you didn't put one in for this year, do put one in for the playoffs.
2) Be sure to have some sort of coin flip/random number/draw from a hat or other method that will definitely have a winner, at the end of your tiebreak rules.
-- The reason for this should be obvious. Even if you have decimal scoring to thousandths of a point, you still could have a tie. If you do, the only fair way is to end up using something like this anyway, so just specify it in advance to avoid any complaints.
3) For leagues with "head to head" as a tiebreak, how do you handle multi-team ties if number of games played is not even for all teams in the tie?
-- This one seems to come up a lot. Take for example a 3-way tie in a league where you play some opponents more than others. Team 3 played Teams 1 and 2 once each. But Teams 1 and 2 played each other twice. So Team 3 has 2 games, and Teams 1 and 2 have 3 games of head to head. Do you just ignore head to head entirely then, or do you go with winning percentage even if # of games is uneven?
4) Does the bracket stay "locked" as it was originally set, or does the top seed always get the worst seeded opponent? Or does the top seed get to choose their opponent?
-- In the NFL playoffs, the top seed always gets the worst seeded opponent. In the NCAA basketball bracket, it is "locked" in place and if #1 loses, then #16 has the easiest schedule in his bracket the rest of the way. There is no "right" answer, you just need to be clear which your league will use, especially if your website has an actual bracket that some may look at and think the opponents are set in stone like the NCAA bracket.
5) How does your league handle multi-team tiebreakers when one team is eliminated? Do they use the NFL-style system and restart the tiebreak at step 1 with remaining teams, or do you just go on to the next step with the remaining teams?
-- The NFL's policy on multi-team tiebreakers is that if any elimination of a team occurs in a tiebreak, but remaining teams are tied, the tiebreak starts again with the remaining teams back at step 1. Let's say you have a 3 team tie, and your first category is "head to head between all tied teams". Teams 1 and 2 have the same head to head record, but Team 3 has a worse h2h record and is eliminated. The NFL would not proceed to step 2 (perhaps total points) with Teams 1 and 2. It would start over again with step 1 and now find Head to Head only counting the remaining Teams 1 and 2. The results of a tiebreaker can change depending whether you follow the NFL's lead or not. I have friends in a local league who had a major fight over this last season, because it wasn't made clear in advance.
6) How does your league handle a situation like a 3-way tie for 2 playoff spots? Do you follow the NFL way and have a 3-way tiebreak for the first spot, then start over from scratch at step 1 in a new 2-team tiebreak for the second spot? Or do you find the top 2 teams in the first tiebreak and just give them the spots?
-- Here's an example of where this can be a problem. 3 way tie, with 2 wildcard spots left. 1st tiebreak is head to head. Team 1 has best head to head, followed by Team 2, followed by Team 3. Some people will expect this means that Team 1 and Team 2 get the two remaining spots. However, in the NFL, Team 1 would get the first wildcard. Then a tiebreaker starts fresh between Team 2 and Team 3 for the second wildcard spot. At step 1 when head-to-head is computed, it does not include games against Team 1 like the previous tiebreaker did. This means Team 3 could win the tiebreak and get the last wildcard spot, even though they came in "third" in the previous tiebreaker.
7) Do you break ties between divisional foes before including non-division teams?
-- This is another one that comes up mainly because of how the NFL does its tiebreak. Some expect it to be done the same, others don't see this as the intuitive way to do it. So state in advance which it will be. In the NFL in a wildcard tiebreaker, if there are tied teams from the same division, they have the tie broken using the division tiebreak before teams from other divisions are considered. So if the Texans, Titans, and Browns are tied for a wildcard, the division tiebreaker rules get used to resolve the Texans and Titans. Whoever wins that tiebreak then has a non-division tiebreak used between them and the Browns. Some fantasy leagues would just have all 3 teams in the tiebreak, so just be clear how your league does it.
8) What is the status of waivers during the playoffs? Can only teams still in the playoffs make waiver claims?
-- One incident that seems to get posted every year, is that some team who was already eliminated goes in and makes a waiver claim for a player that a team in the super bowl put in a claim for. Avoid the possible argument and establish in advance whether everyone can do waivers, regardless of playoff status, or if only teams still having a game (including or not including consolation games) can do them.
9) If your league includes divisional record, is it used when teams are not in the same division?
-- I'd have never thought this was an issue, but I watched an argument over it this preseason so figured I'd add it. Some people think division record matters even when teams are not in the same division. So if you included it your tiebreak rules, but did not intend it to be used in all cases, such as when not in the same division, you need to be clear on it.
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