Alternatives to H2H (1 Viewer)

[faux_bear]

We've all had the experience where having an unfortunate fantasy schedule results in certain teams having better records than they should have, while others with good teams suffer unfortunate losses.

For example, last week in one of my leagues, the second lowest team managed to pull out a win because they happened to play the lowest scoring team. This week, the second highest scoring team will suffer a loss.

Are any of you involved in any leagues that don't exclusively use H2H play to determine who "wins" each week? If so, do you like it better?

I know a lot of you will simply say, "that's life. that's luck. that's fantasy football." But the fact of the matter is, if there's any way to reduce the luck that goes into scheduling, it should make things more fair.

At the same time, I know that a rotisserie style fantasy football league takes out a lot of the fun of head to head play.

Is there a tried and true way of implementing a system that still somehow rewards that unlucky team that puts up the second highest score for the week and loses?

 

[BroadwayG]

We have a split prize pool for most points and the H2H playoff winner.

 

[GridironMenace]

There is no better way to do it AND keep the fun factor of H2H.

1) You can play everyone each week.

2) You can do rotisserie style with total points.

3) You can play 2 teams each week, so at least if you are second highest points you will at least win one.

 

[Marc Levin]

Overall points leaders - top half get "wins" bottom half get "losses"

H2H v. rest of the league - but, then you end up with records that are, like 654 wins and 123 losses. Tihs works such that, in week one, the highest scorer in a 12-team league would be 11-0, next highest 10-1, next highest 9-2, etc. and then you play each week as if you had played against each of the 11 other teams in your league,

 

[dmac37]

Use victory point scoring. Each team gets 2 points for a head to head win, also in 12 team league the top 4 scoring teams (total points) get 2 points, the next 4 scoring teams get 1 point and the lowest 4 get 0 points. So each week a team can score between 0-8 points by HTH and total points.

Also you can have doubleheaders (play 2 teams each week).

 

[Squinting Cyclops]

Use victory point scoring. Each team gets 2 points for a head to head win, also in 12 team league the top 4 scoring teams (total points) get 2 points, the next 4 scoring teams get 1 point and the lowest 4 get 0 points. So each week a team can score between 0-8 points by HTH and total points. Also you can have doubleheaders (play 2 teams each week).

myfantasyleague.com allows victory point scoringdmac37 are you in my league???

 

[GregR_2]

My dynasty league has triple headers for in-division games and double-headers for out of division games. Luck still plays a role but it's lessened compared to leagues where you play a single game each week. I also like that doing it this way means you play each division opponent 4 times, and all of them happen when there aren't NFL byes going on, so that aspect of luck is diminished for the games that matter most

 

[lfh3]

We have a split prize pool for most points and the H2H playoff winner.

Ditto.

 

[Lambert]

Overall points leaders - top half get "wins" bottom half get "losses"H2H v. rest of the league - but, then you end up with records that are, like 654 wins and 123 losses. Tihs works such that, in week one, the highest scorer in a 12-team league would be 11-0, next highest 10-1, next highest 9-2, etc. and then you play each week as if you had played against each of the 11 other teams in your league,

Nothing wrong with this idea at all, but it seems to me that, on the spectrum between HTH and total points leagues, this idea is about 90% of the way toward the total points end of the spectrum. That can be a good thing or a bad thing, since this idea loses much of the HTH excitement, but also gets rid of much of the HTH luck factor. I personally prefer total points over HTH, so this type of league doesn't bother me at all, but most of the "you against me this week" HTH excitement is gone in this setup, at least in my opinion.I think the question for everyone is, which is more important to you, excitement or minimizing the luck factor?1) HTH gives you the excitement, but adds a lot of luck to a competition that inherently has a significant degree of luck involved even without HTH.OR2) Total points league means much less luck involved than HTH, but also less HTH excitement.It would be great if someone had a way to get the best of both worlds, where we give up NONE of the HTH excitement, but at the same time eliminate ALL of the added luck involved in HTH scoring. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any system that gives you the best of both worlds -- instead, it's just a matter of how much excitement you're willing to give up in order to eliminate some of the luck ... 20%? 50%? 80%?I've been in 100% HTH leagues and 100% total points leagues. I enjoy them both, but personally, I prefer the total points league. I'm willing to sacrifice the HTH excitement to get rid of the additional HTH luck factor. But that's just me.

 

[Squinting Cyclops]

Overall points leaders - top half get "wins" bottom half get "losses"H2H v. rest of the league - but, then you end up with records that are, like 654 wins and 123 losses. Tihs works such that, in week one, the highest scorer in a 12-team league would be 11-0, next highest 10-1, next highest 9-2, etc. and then you play each week as if you had played against each of the 11 other teams in your league,

Nothing wrong with this idea at all, but it seems to me that, on the spectrum between HTH and total points leagues, this idea is about 90% of the way toward the total points end of the spectrum. That can be a good thing or a bad thing, since this idea loses much of the HTH excitement, but also gets rid of much of the HTH luck factor. I personally prefer total points over HTH, so this type of league doesn't bother me at all, but most of the "you against me this week" HTH excitement is gone in this setup, at least in my opinion.I think the question for everyone is, which is more important to you, excitement or minimizing the luck factor?1) HTH gives you the excitement, but adds a lot of luck to a competition that inherently has a significant degree of luck involved even without HTH.OR2) Total points league means much less luck involved than HTH, but also less HTH excitement.It would be great if someone had a way to get the best of both worlds, where we give up NONE of the HTH excitement, but at the same time eliminate ALL of the added luck involved in HTH scoring. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any system that gives you the best of both worlds -- instead, it's just a matter of how much excitement you're willing to give up in order to eliminate some of the luck ... 20%? 50%? 80%?I've been in 100% HTH leagues and 100% total points leagues. I enjoy them both, but personally, I prefer the total points league. I'm willing to sacrifice the HTH excitement to get rid of the additional HTH luck factor. But that's just me.

victory points is the best compromise I have seen : doubleheaders each worth 2 points for a win AND in a 12 team league top 4 scorers get 4 points middle 4 get 2 points and bottom 4 get nothingso maximum score for winning both games and being in the top 4 scores is 8 per week

 

[Lupe]

Victory Points is the most reasonable and fair scoring system

 

[Lupe]

victory points is the best compromise I have seen : doubleheaders each worth 2 points for a win AND in a 12 team league top 4 scorers get 4 points middle 4 get 2 points and bottom 4 get nothingso maximum score for winning both games and being in the top 4 scores is 8 per week

We use 2 pts for a win, and 0 pts for a loss.In a 12-team league, if you have one of top 4 point totals, you get 2 more points, 1 if middle 4, and 0 if bottom 4.I've seen teams win a game, but fall in bottom 4, so only get 2 pts. On other side, a team who loses and has 2nd most total points, will still salvage 2 pts.

 

[GoBears84]

We have a split prize pool for most points and the H2H playoff winner.

I do something similar.$100 buy in.$40 goes to high score each week. Top H2H regular season champion gets $120; top 4 go to playoffs to play for additional $200.We had one team last year win more than 2 of the playoff teams...

 

[daveR]

I heard of (but wasn't in) a league where you get paid $1 per point scored by every team in the league. That is, if you score 50, everybody sends you $50. You also send everyone else $1 per point they score!

 

[kensat30]

If you win, you win. If you lose, you lose. That's life. That's how it is and that's how it should be. H2H is what makes fantasy football a great game. Rivalries form due to the coulda, should, and wouldas. You want a league that no one cares about come mid-season? Do a total points league.

 

[Giant Wooden Badger]

We use the power rankings on CBS so it's sort of a Rotisserie style system. Seems to work well.

 

[Jersey35]

The format that we've used, to great success is very simple:

Each team can earn up to 2 wins per week. One is the head-to-head matchup. The second win or loss is given based on total points scored for the week. The top half of the league scores a win, the bottom half scores a loss. Each team can go 2-0, 1-1, or 0-2 each week.

This keeps the competitiveness and fun by making the head-to-head matchups important, but no more important than fielding a solid team. Both are weighted equally.

 

[Squinting Cyclops]

If you win, you win. If you lose, you lose. That's life. That's how it is and that's how it should be. H2H is what makes fantasy football a great game. Rivalries form due to the coulda, should, and wouldas. You want a league that no one cares about come mid-season? Do a total points league.

In the leagues I manage we do 50% to total points and 50% to playoff winnerI may switch to the victory points model with double headers next year though....

 

[ChuckLiddell]

We do the spilt h2h and total points as well.

Additionally, we give a wildcard playoff entry to the team with the highest point total that does not make the playoffs. This ensures that if a team is victimized by a tough schedule that they will still have a shot in the post season.

 

[Kai's Hero]

If you win, you win. If you lose, you lose. That's life. That's how it is and that's how it should be. H2H is what makes fantasy football a great game. Rivalries form due to the coulda, should, and wouldas. You want a league that no one cares about come mid-season? Do a total points league.

Wrong. The only guys that don't care are the teams that aren't competitive. My league is weighted towards Total Points. It's the "true" measure of who's best. We pay out $200.00 for the H2H Super Bowl Champion and $700 to the Total Points Champion along with $5 for weekly H2H wins, $125 for division Champions, $50 per week for the highest score and $10.00 for each playoff win. I would NEVER play in a H2H only league. The best team doesn't always win. In fact, my experience shows, rarely wins.

 

[Kai's Hero]

The format that we've used, to great success is very simple:Each team can earn up to 2 wins per week. One is the head-to-head matchup. The second win or loss is given based on total points scored for the week. The top half of the league scores a win, the bottom half scores a loss. Each team can go 2-0, 1-1, or 0-2 each week.This keeps the competitiveness and fun by making the head-to-head matchups important, but no more important than fielding a solid team. Both are weighted equally.

What website do you use that will manage this scoring system?

 

[Cookiemonster]

After having the season points leader miss the playoffs in one leage, we went to 3 division winners, best record team left w/ 1st wild-card spot, and the next two highest point totals not already in being the 2nd and 3rd wild-card teams.

 

[Limp Ditka]

I have one league were we play the same season 2 ways

Most of the money is put in the points pool.

Basic fantasy scoring: You score the most points in week one, you get 10 points, score second most, get 9, etc. Top 3 point totals for the year cashes

Then we split the team into two divisons and have a regular H2H going on at the same time to keep the competitive vibe going. After 17 weeks the two division winner win a little something too boot.

 

[Fizzelps]

The format that we've used, to great success is very simple:Each team can earn up to 2 wins per week. One is the head-to-head matchup. The second win or loss is given based on total points scored for the week. The top half of the league scores a win, the bottom half scores a loss. Each team can go 2-0, 1-1, or 0-2 each week.This keeps the competitiveness and fun by making the head-to-head matchups important, but no more important than fielding a solid team. Both are weighted equally.

What website do you use that will manage this scoring system?

I was wondering the exact same thing. What online sites do you all use with these non-standard standing systems?

 

[Challenge Everything]

H2H is the only way to go. It works in the NFL just fine.

 

[Squinting Cyclops]

The format that we've used, to great success is very simple:Each team can earn up to 2 wins per week. One is the head-to-head matchup. The second win or loss is given based on total points scored for the week. The top half of the league scores a win, the bottom half scores a loss. Each team can go 2-0, 1-1, or 0-2 each week.This keeps the competitiveness and fun by making the head-to-head matchups important, but no more important than fielding a solid team. Both are weighted equally.

What website do you use that will manage this scoring system?

I was wondering the exact same thing. What online sites do you all use with these non-standard standing systems?

myfantasyleague.com

 

[AcerFC]

 

[faux_bear]

H2H is the only way to go. It works in the NFL just fine.

NFL teams play defense. The Bengals scored a ton of points this week, but their own defense allowed 51 to the Browns, so they lose. In fantasy, you can't control how much your opponent scores. Pure head to head adds a lot of random error and variability to a game that already has enough luck built into it. If you can negotiate a system that rewards the best teams and penalizes the worst ones, that's the way to go, IMO.To illustrate, in my big money and favorite league, two weeks into the season, one team has a breakdown record of 1-21. Another team is 20-2. Both have 1-1 records. That seems a little unfair to me, and "too bad, tough shizzle" doesn't seem to convince me otherwise.I like the victory points method that has been described in this thread, but my problem is that our league has a bunch of traditionalists that are resistant to any change. Every year when I bring this issue up, they say "oh, there you go again with your annual rant about the luck of the schedule", and any change I suggest gets rejected... nonetheless, I will continue my annual rants!!