Best Ball Format (1 Viewer)

[PsychoMan]

I've never tried this format so I'm looking for opinions on it. Fantasy Football drives me crazy every year because 1) all of the time wasted trying to decide who to play every week and 2) I'm always picking the wrong players anyway and losing because of it.

I'm thinking it could be a nice format to get rid of a lot of the headaches during the fantasy season, but I'm sure there are disadvantages as well.

Who does this? Do you like it? What are the pros/cons?

 

[PsychoMan]

Also, what other changes (lineup requirements/roster sizes/draft changes?) help make this format more successful?

 

[shadyridr]

I think making those lineup decisions is part of the fun

 

[Wrigley]

I'm a little slow this morning.......but what is "best ball format"?

 

[Sweet Love]

If it is your main league (or one of them), it may take the fun out of it. To me, analyzing the match ups is half the fun (and of course frustration), but it is what keeps you following the hobby throughout the season.

To answer your question on best practices for setting it up, it seems that if you set it up like the FBG contest where you draft a team and the system automatically records the best scores, you will be good to go (not sure what packages have that ability). As far as roster sizes go, I think it depends how involved you want to be when the draft is over. If you just want to get rid of the player matchup headaches and having good players on your bench, I would set it up as follows so that you can allow a lot of WW pickups throughout the season:

Assuming 10 or 12 team league I would go with:

2 QB

4 RB

4 WR/TE

2 Def

2 Kickers

This will allow for a lot of movement by the teams from week-to-week. If you are going for a draft and let it sit approach, I would increase each position by one or two. Hope that helps!

 

[Prof. Chaos]

I did 6 survivor leagues this year. All the fun of drafting and none of the line up,injury reports etc. hassel. Also you can root for your entire roster, not just your starters. Only thing I would do different is to allow waivers.

 

[Anarchy99]

I'm a little slow this morning.......but what is "best ball format"?

All the players on your roster are capable of scoring each week and only the highest at each spot counts toward your total score.If you had 4 QBs rostered that week, whichever one had the highest score that week would count if the league was a start 1 QB league. And so on and so forth down the line.I play mostly best ball leagues now, and there is a lot of different strategies on how to win . . . IMO moreso than in "traditional" leagues. There is nothing worse than in a "standard" league having a guy get hurt on the second play of the game for a big fat zero while someone went off for 150 yards and 3 TD was left on your bench. This format does away with that issue.Be assured, league scoring will be WAY higher than in traditional leagues. IMO, it gives a decided advantage to people that have in depth knowledge of players say 300 deep as opposed to most leagues where someone with less knowledge could have LT and Tom Brady and be cruising with very little knowledge beyond the top 50-60 players.

 

[PsychoMan]

I think making those lineup decisions is part of the fun

It's fun ... If I'm only in one or two leagues ... and I don't get screwed with 1st quarter injuries or consistently lose games because I make a bad choice in a starter when my team good and deep. Then it just becomes too time consuming and a big pain. But I can see how a lot of people might enjoy picking their starters. Just not sure if I do anymore.

 

[PsychoMan]

I'm a little slow this morning.......but what is "best ball format"?

All the players on your roster are capable of scoring each week and only the highest at each spot counts toward your total score.If you had 4 QBs rostered that week, whichever one had the highest score that week would count if the league was a start 1 QB league. And so on and so forth down the line.

I play mostly best ball leagues now, and there is a lot of different strategies on how to win . . . IMO moreso than in "traditional" leagues. There is nothing worse than in a "standard" league having a guy get hurt on the second play of the game for a big fat zero while someone went off for 150 yards and 3 TD was left on your bench. This format does away with that issue.

Be assured, league scoring will be WAY higher than in traditional leagues. IMO, it gives a decided advantage to people that have in depth knowledge of players say 300 deep as opposed to most leagues where someone with less knowledge could have LT and Tom Brady and be cruising with very little knowledge beyond the top 50-60 players.

I think the bolded is key. Having depth on your roster and knowing a lot about the top 300 or so players means nothing when you are stacked at WR and can't pick the right guys each week that go off.

 

[Monty Burns]

I'm in a best ball dynasty which started prior to this year. I came here also, and asked for input. Here is the thread:

http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index...p;#entry6408390

With year 1 almost complete I've found I love this format as I hate the WDIS and GTD's and would rather concentrate on overall roster building thru trades and waivers. Its a great option for those who have limited time, especially on Sunday mornings.

 

[PsychoMan]

I'm in a best ball dynasty which started prior to this year. I came here also, and asked for input. Here is the thread:

http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index...p;#entry6408390

With year 1 almost complete I've found I love this format as I hate the WDIS and GTD's and would rather concentrate on overall roster building thru trades and waivers. Its a great option for those who have limited time, especially on Sunday mornings.

Good links. Thanks.

 

[jbird]

I play in 5 leagues and one is best ball. I like that it's different than the others. I agree that knowledge of depth is a key factor with being successful in this type of league. I too like that you can root for every player and not be pst when someone blows up that otherwise would be on your bench but the same goes for your opponent.

It's a 14 team league and we draft:

2 QB

3 RB

5 WR

2 TE

2 D

2 K

We count the best player at each position except for two WR. One waiver move per week in random order. Everyone plays each other once in the regular season and the top 4 play a 3 week round robin playoff to determine the champion.

Would I want this to be my only league? No, as it takes a lot of the regular season strategy out of the equation. However, I do like the fact that it's one less league that I have to struggle with staters.

 

[crush304]

any sites that will run this for free?

 

[Family Matters]

Here is a thread in the Mock Forum about a bestball league: http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index...howtopic=367722

Here is the link to the websites that host the two leagues: http://football34.myfantasyleague.com/2007/home/43585 http://football36.myfantasyleague.com/2007/home/26191

One is a dynasty and the other is a redraft. Same owners in both leagues.

I agree about the greatest disadvantage being that you do not get to set your lineups. If you enjoy that then stay with setting line ups. OTOH-if you enjoy the flexibility that bestball provides then you will really enjoy not having to sit by your computer tracking last minute injury reports.

Here are the best points:

+No line up worries.

+Emphasis is on the draft and waivers process.

+Best team truely wins.

+Trades are important as in other formats.

+Luck factor is reduced. You won't get burned by starters getting injured early in games.

+Your wife/better half will enjoy the fact you don't have to be on the computer at noon Sunday tracking injury reports.

So it's less of a hassell and you can manage multiple teams much easier. About the only drawback is the line ups issues.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

over inthe mocks draft forum we do several survivor style, which is draft and done, no waivers no trading. Your best qb,2rb,3wr etc. are scored each week.

 

[BoltBacker]

I think making those lineup decisions is part of the fun

I've never really understood this take.Guessing which guy who's listed as "doubtful" will get a majority of looks that week vs guys listed as "questionable" and turn out to be game day inactives. The quotes all week long from the player saying "Oh yeah, I'll go". The coaches spinning in one sentence that he thinks his starter should be alright and there shouldn't be any negative effects, while spinning three sentences later that there isn't much of a drop-off with his backup and the team expects him to get more action this week.Most of all I just like Best Ball because I think it takes a lot of dumb luck out of the equation. It takes more skill to assemble a team of good players than it does to guess which of your good players is going to play best that particular week or guess which one is healthy enough to contribute or not.

 

[BoltBacker]

Here are the best points:+No line up worries.+Emphasis is on the draft and waivers process.+Best team truely wins.+Trades are important as in other formats.+Luck factor is reduced. You won't get burned by starters getting injured early in games.+Your wife/better half will enjoy the fact you don't have to be on the computer at noon Sunday tracking injury reports.So it's less of a hassell and you can manage multiple teams much easier. About the only drawback is the line ups issues.

Well said.Some weekends I can't(or more importantly don't want to be) near a computer. A pda-phone can get your through SOMETIMES but I hate the idea your entire FF season can be effected for the simple reason you made the mistake of having a life a few weekends out of the season. It's a hobby, something for me to do in my free time. It shouldn't feel like a job.

 

[DocNiner52]

I too have been interested in this type of format and glad to see it being discussed. I'll be looking to join this type of league next year. If anyone starts a best ball league and needs members send me an e-mail. I'd prefer a money league but free would be okay.

While I still play in the traditional 10-12 teams, 16-18 player rosters, set your lineup league I enjoy leagues with other types of formats. This year I joined an 8 team money league where your roster was limited to 2 QBs,4RBs,4WRs,2TEs,2PKs and 2 DEF.Made it very competitive and hard to win every week. With the roster limits it made the waiver wire chock full of decent players available with injuries abounding this year. Just having different choices of leagues to chose from,outside of the 12 team large roster leagues, makes FF more enjoyable for me. I can't speak for anyone else but there have been times when FF had gotten boring, tedious, mundane or just not fun and exploring other ways to play the game has made me enjoy football more.

 

[Squinting Cyclops]

I am also interested in joining a best ball league...I know this comment is a "looking for leagues" comment but it still applies here as the merits of "best ball" are still being discussed.

 

[King of the Wolfies]

are best ball usually still head to head? After 4 years of FF, I've found that 90% of my success or lack thereof is due to my schedule. I'm wondering what a bestball/all play format would be like.

 

[Liquid Tension]

Good thread...

I don't like setting lineups either. One other issue that I hate with setting a lineup is when a player is banged up and you don't know if he is going to play and you have to wait until game time to decide...some people have a "rule" that you can pick a alternate player to play for a player that either gets hurt in pregame warmups that you weren't aware of or an injured player doesn't play AT ALL. It doesn't stop the issue if a player gets hurt on the 2nd play of the game, but it is a good rule because the league is about fun and it isn't fair if you happened to miss that someone tweaked their hammy in pregame and you don't sit down in front of your 5 TV's until 1:05....yes this has happened to me.

 

[3nOut]

I'm curious. For those who play in"Best Ball" leagues, why not just count the score of EVERY player on your roster? You would think you would want to reward that team that drafted well and has depth on their roster.

 

[Anarchy99]

I'm curious. For those who play in"Best Ball" leagues, why not just count the score of EVERY player on your roster? You would think you would want to reward that team that drafted well and has depth on their roster.

It's still possible to have players on bye weeks and injuries (or off weeks).This format seems to bring the superstars a little bit closer to the pack, as in most weeks there will be SOME players that can put up 300/2 say (but who may have been on the bench in a "regular league").

For example, I have Peyton Manning in one of these leagues and I "scored" him only 6 weeks this year.

 

[Family Matters]

are best ball usually still head to head? After 4 years of FF, I've found that 90% of my success or lack thereof is due to my schedule. I'm wondering what a bestball/all play format would be like.

You bring up other interesting factors to consider. In FIX, we play H2H weekly. But the way you qualify for playoffs is different. Here are the ways to qualify:1. Win your division (Best Record).2. Best record of remianing teams not in playoffs.3. Have the most points scorded of remianing teams not in playoffs.4. Have the most Victory Points of the remianing teams not in playoffs.Victory Points can awarded based several criteris. IIRC- We give 2 for a win and 2 for most points scored and 1 for being in the top 4 scoring for a given week. Utilizing points scored and Victory Points helps to offset 2 factors common to FF:1. Being in the most difficult division and/or conference.2. Having numerous tough match ups that result in losses even tough you score as 1 of the better teams. This can happen more frequently due to the bye week issues and numerous injuries.The feedback I hear most is that even though bestball allows for less hands on, people like the H2H match ups and want to keep them. They really enjoy the gamesmanship of H2H. This is no less competitive I assure you. Just a little different strategy whereby the luck factors have been mnitigated somewhat.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Lineup setup is one of the best parts.

If you complain about lineup setting now, you'll soon be complaining about a player deep on an owner's bench that goes off ONLY THE WEEK you play them with best ball.

My opinion on how to handle your dilemma is to have league where 1/2 the teams make the league playoffs based on record....the other half based on Total Points. If you still don't make it, accept the fact you weren't good enough.

And most importantly, realize you aren't the only person on the earth (or league) that makes a wrong lineup decision.