A playoff Idea (1 Viewer)

[CBower4545]

I want to move my home league to 12 teams. I have been torn between having 6 or 4 playoff teams. I think 4 teams is a little low for playoffs spots. 6 teams means 2 teams have byes and they get to watch their fantasy production be waisted for a week. Also with six teams I don't think it rewards the regular season enough. Here is my idea, give a "Home field advantage" to the #3 and #4 seed in round 1, and #1 and #2 seed in round two. No advantage for the championship obviously! Two things:

1) Make each team earn their "Home field advantage"

2) Make the "Home field advantage" comparable to that of the NFL

NFL Home field Advantage:

Home field advantage has been stated as worth 2.5 - 3pts. I calculated the 2006 average points per game by doing the following:

(total points scored for + total points scored against) / # of games played = average combined points scored per game

06'

(10577 PF + 10577 PA)/ 512 games = 41.3 per game

Home field % = 3/41.3 = .07 or 7%

Home field % = 2.5/41.3 = .061 6.1%

So it seem like home field should be worth something in the around 6-7% of your league average combined score. My League is 10 teams, 6 pts all tds, .1 per rush/rec, .05 per pass.

(total points scored for + total points scored against) / # of games played = average combined points scored per game

My league 06'

(13625 + 13625) / 150 = 181.7

181.7 * 7% = 12.7 pts

181.7 * 6.1% = 11.08 pts

For the number #3 & #4 seed in round one I would this:

total points scored #3 - #6 * .04 = points given to #3 seed (negative numbers don't apply)

total points scored #4 - #5 * .04 = points given to #3 seed (negative numbers don't apply)

In our league the number 1 score was 1485 and the lowest score 1106. So even in the biggest of difference it would be worth 15.16 points. I would say the difference likely to be from 50 - 250 points, or 2 to 10 points. (I do feel like I would need to get more data to fine tune this, basically I would be shooting for the 2-10 range though)

For the #1 and #2 seed in round two I would do something like this:

team #1 points scored in round one(wk14) * .07 = Points given to #1 seed

team #2 points scored in round one(wk14) * .07 = Points given to #2 seed

Our Average score was 90.83, low score 42, high score 142. So points given would be from 2.94 to 9.94, with the average being 6.35.

This makes winning the division and obtaining a top seed important. Less clinching that playoff spot early and having nothing to play for. More fun for the top seed in wk 14, they get to root for their teams to amass their advantage points. It rewards the regular season. Wild card teams that sneak into the playoffs have a much tougher road to the championship(like the NFL). Still the advantages are kept even at the most within the real NFL "Home field Advantage".

Tell me what you guys think? Anyone do something like this before, how did it work out?

 

[Hagger]

You've put a lot of thought into this, which is good. However, if I was in your league it would be a tough sell to make. Generally I don't want things to become overcomplicated and feel like I'm winning/losing due to factors other than how my players perform.

 

[zed2283]

Why not put 5 teams in the playoffs, just like it used to be in the NFL (per conference)? The two wildcard teams could play in the first week and the winner goes to the semi-final round with the three division winners.

 

[pheagles]

what if the higher seed scored less points (but had more wins)...happens all the time

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

You could make it easier by keeping the byes but giving the bye teams the option of either

a) averaging their two weeks of production or

b) going with their actual week's results

They get the higher number. That way great performances aren't wasted and it gives a real incentive to earn that bye. You can still root for your team because a great performance can help you, but a bad one doesn't really hurt you. It's an advantage, but their opponent can easily still win.

I also think the highest seeded team should be allowed to choose their opponent. It gives you more incentive to earn the bye, and lets you use a little strategy (which could backfire-- part of the fun).

 

[Milwalkeysbeast]

While I do like the idea of a home field advantage, I would find it hard pitching it to people in the league and getting it passed. At least with that amount of points - I would think a more fair assessment "fantasy wise" would only 2-3% total average points. I think it should play a small role in what happens.

However, I also see the points of those who wouldn't vote it in...the BYE teams aren't wasting a week of play - they are automatically advancing to the 2nd round while the other teams have to chance having a bad week and getting knocked out. the BYE itself isn't as important as an automatic advance to round 2.

 

[Family Matters]

It's always fun to be creative with ideas and you put a lot into this. As far as I'm concerned, there is no "home field" advantage in FF. The home-away stuff is just fodder mimiking football in theory only, not real application. The reality is that giving the 1 & 2 seeds a bye they in fact are being rewarded for their regular season successes. Additionally, they get to play lower seeds which may or may not be an advantage.

I do have suggestion that might be helpful. Use of floating brakets continues to reward the higher seeds. IOW-the higher seeds always play the lower seeds regardless of what bracket they came from. That way upsets are not going to ruin the brakets for the higher seeds.

This doesn't always ensure the best match ups but if you buy into the notion that better teams have better records (and I do for the most part) then the two best are most likely going to the SB. At the very least you ensure your top 2 seeds are rewarded for their regular season accomplishments.

 

[KnowledgeReignsSupreme]

I will always vehemently oppose any "home field advantage" rules in FF. The matchup is settled by how many points your starters get vs his starters plus tie breakers. Period.

If you want to add in bye weeks fine. If you want to give another team a 5 point advantage going in, no.

It's just a sour grapes rule people try to put in because they think they had the best team and ended up losing in the playoffs to a lower ranked team.

 

[Lash]

we do a home field advantage but it is simply the tiebreaker in case of a tie ... a tie score goes to higher seed ... that way it is still your players deciding the game but you basically get a slight advantage as higher seed in case of tie ...

in seventeen years it has never been used hehe

 

[roadkill1292]

You could make it easier by keeping the byes but giving the bye teams the option of either

a) averaging their two weeks of production or

b) going with their actual week's results

They get the higher number. That way great performances aren't wasted and it gives a real incentive to earn that bye. You can still root for your team because a great performance can help you, but a bad one doesn't really hurt you. It's an advantage, but their opponent can easily still win.

I also think the highest seeded team should be allowed to choose their opponent. It gives you more incentive to earn the bye, and lets you use a little strategy (which could backfire-- part of the fun).

We tried this for the first time last year and it was great. More decision making = more fun.We also use a 3 point home field advantage throughout the playoffs to help keep the pressure on in the regular season.

 

[TheLastDispatch]

I will always vehemently oppose any "home field advantage" rules in FF. The matchup is settled by how many points your starters get vs his starters plus tie breakers. Period. If you want to add in bye weeks fine. If you want to give another team a 5 point advantage going in, no.

 

[CBower4545]

Thanks for the input guys. You guys are probably right, it won't fly. IMO, you have to come up with some bad ideas before you eventually come up with the good ones.Milwalkeysbeast

Posted Today, 08:00 AM While I do like the idea of a home field advantage, I would find it hard pitching it to people in the league and getting it passed. At least with that amount of points - I would think a more fair assessment "fantasy wise" would only 2-3% total average points. I think it should play a small role in what happens.

Yeah the points seem to work out a little high. I was just trying to base my numbers from somewhere instead of just pulling out some arbitrary number. Still 10 pts seems to be a big advantage! I want to go back through and calculate the average margin of victory.Family Matters

I do have suggestion that might be helpful. Use of floating brakets continues to reward the higher seeds. IOW-the higher seeds always play the lower seeds regardless of what bracket they came from. That way upsets are not going to ruin the brakets for the higher seeds.This doesn't always ensure the best match ups but if you buy into the notion that better teams have better records (and I do for the most part) then the two best are most likely going to the SB. At the very least you ensure your top 2 seeds are rewarded for their regular season accomplishments.

This just sounds like fun.zed2283

Why not put 5 teams in the playoffs, just like it used to be in the NFL (per conference)? The two wildcard teams could play in the first week and the winner goes to the semi-final round with the three division winners.

Very good point. I never considered a 5 team playoff.

 

[MrJimiT]

My long term league does it's 6-team playoff this way...with a twist. First of all, we select our 6 playoff teams. They are always the 2 division winners, the next 3 best win/loss records, and the 6th team is the team with the most points scored regardless of record. The 2 division winners ALWAYS get the bye into the next round of the playoffs, but they may not be the higher seeded teams. Explanation - once we have all 6 teams selected for the playoffs by the above format, we seed the 6 playoff teams based on the season point scoring ability in an attempt to most accurately reflect the strongest teams. So while the division winners get rewarded with a bye week, they are not necessarily the highest seeded teams. Hence, each round in the playoffs, it is always the highest remaining seed versus the lowest remaining seed.