Bye Weeks in FF playoffs: Madness? (1 Viewer)

[Second Sight]

Is it ridiculous to award bye weeks to the two top seeds in fantasy football for the playoffs or is there any reason why this type of format makes sense?

Ex: #1 and #2 are on bye

#3 vs. #6

#4 vs. #5

I know this mimics the NFL and lots of leagues used to do it this way (back in the dark ages) but is this still a viable playoff format in ff?

§

 

[MarcO]

It's certainly viable and often preferred in leagues of 12 or less. Any more than half of the team making the playoffs renders the regular season less important.

 

[JuniorNB]

It's a great way to extend the number of playoff teams to six while rewarding the two teams who did the best. In my opinion, it's easily the best way to run a 12-teamer. Too many teams eliminated too early if you only let four in. It's nice to have most teams still in the hunt in weeks 10-13.

In my league, six teams make the playoffs, but only the top four are 'in the money'.

 

[DoubleG]

We have a 10 teamer (2 divisions of 5 each). The two division winners get a bye. It's a great way to reward good regular season play. The bye week at least is one less chance for the top 2 teams to lose.

Love it.

 

[LittlePhatty]

I think it is perfect for a 12 team league. My main league used to let 8 teams into the playoffs which I think was just crazy.

 

[Banger]

think it makes a ton of sense....it rewards teams that have had the best consistency throughout the season

 

[Bamac]

If your league allows more than 1/3 of teams into the playoffs, it's crazy not to have bye weeks (or at least home-field advantage).

 

[Second Sight]

If your league allows more than 1/3 of teams into the playoffs, it's crazy not to have bye weeks (or at least home-field advantage).

Is it really an advantage though? A week where you get no points but your real-life player may be wrapping up a division and not playing when you play next? Or worse; they get hurt and you get nothing?

 

[JuniorNB]

It would be more rewarding if the players on my bye week team could actually have the week off too.

 

[JuniorNB]

If your league allows more than 1/3 of teams into the playoffs, it's crazy not to have bye weeks (or at least home-field advantage).

Is it really an advantage though? A week where you get no points but your real-life player may be wrapping up a division and not playing when you play next? Or worse; they get hurt and you get nothing?

You have a zero chance of getting eliminated in round one. Zero. You automatically advance. While the other teams have a 50/50 chance of their season being over. Other than having a bye all the way through, I can't think of a bigger advantage.

 

[humpback]

If your league allows more than 1/3 of teams into the playoffs, it's crazy not to have bye weeks (or at least home-field advantage).

Is it really an advantage though? A week where you get no points but your real-life player may be wrapping up a division and not playing when you play next? Or worse; they get hurt and you get nothing?

How would that be any different if you didn't have a bye? It's a free pass to the next round, of course it's an advantage.

 

[MattFancy]

If your league allows more than 1/3 of teams into the playoffs, it's crazy not to have bye weeks (or at least home-field advantage).

Is it really an advantage though? A week where you get no points but your real-life player may be wrapping up a division and not playing when you play next? Or worse; they get hurt and you get nothing?

I don't understand what you're saying here. If my guy gets hurt, why wouldn't I want to take the automatic "win" and be in the semi-finals? Why would I care if my guy goes nuts for 45 points, when I already have the automatic "win"?

 

[Second Sight]

If your league allows more than 1/3 of teams into the playoffs, it's crazy not to have bye weeks (or at least home-field advantage).

Is it really an advantage though? A week where you get no points but your real-life player may be wrapping up a division and not playing when you play next? Or worse; they get hurt and you get nothing?

I don't understand what you're saying here. If my guy gets hurt, why wouldn't I want to take the automatic "win" and be in the semi-finals? Why would I care if my guy goes nuts for 45 points, when I already have the automatic "win"?

Ok. Good points all around. I am just trying to get my head wrapped around it. This is my first time playing in a fantasy football league and it just seemed odd to me because I was not sure if it would be better to play than not; if a player is resting in real life next week but playing this week when my team is not.

I see several leagues talking about home field advantage points and not playing head to head and such so it got me to thinking about different formats people use.

 

[zftcg]

I get the logic behind it, but my feeling has always been that I don't just play FF to win, I play because I enjoy it, so I wouldn't really want a week off. But certainly in a big money league, it makes a lot of sense.

 

[MarcO]

You could add the ability for the teams with BYEs to score in both weeks and be able to choose the higher of the two weeks...

 

[FUBAR]

Home Field advantage is a more dubious concept. I know some give a few points to the "Home Field", which has its merit, I've just never been in a league like that.

Absolutely like the bye weeks for all leagues. All of my dynasty leagues except one have it - and that one is unique in that our playoffs are during the NFL playoffs.

 

[Jewell]

Is it ridiculous to award bye weeks to the two top seeds in fantasy football for the playoffs or is there any reason why this type of format makes sense?

Ex: #1 and #2 are on bye

#3 vs. #6

#4 vs. #5

I know this mimics the NFL and lots of leagues used to do it this way (back in the dark ages) but is this still a viable playoff format in ff?

§

Considering that's the exact format my league uses and no league owners question it, I'd say it's viable. Eight teams making the playoffs in a twelve team league is far too many; while only four teams making the playoffs eliminates far more teams earlier in the season and makes the last few weeks less enjoyable for all.

 

[Area51Inhabitant]

This is how my 12 team league works with bye's given to the two division winners with the best records and the next 4 best teams battling it out week 14 for the right to play one of the two top teams.

 

[FUBAR]

You could add the ability for the teams with BYEs to score in both weeks and be able to choose the higher of the two weeks...

I think I'd prefer the option, before week 14, of choosing to "start" the week 13 performance of a player instead of week 14.

If your player goes off like Decker, Gordon, Jeffery, etc. It's an easy choice and a true advantage. The strategy becomes interesting if you have guys like Tom Brady - do you take his 371/2/1 performance or hope for better? It's a big advantage for the 1 or 2 seed, but they'd kick themselves if they chose wrong and lost because of it.

Just to use my playoff team with a 1 seed as an example, I'd go with something like:

Week 13 Manning, Peyton DEN QB - 41 pts

Mendenhall, Rashard ARI RB - tough choice here, but I might lock in his 7 pts

Green, A.J. CIN WR - probably week 14 but passing on 5/83/1 would be a tough choice

Week 13 Jeffery, Alshon CHI WR - 54 pts

Sanders, Emmanuel PIT WR - or do I use Andre Holmes week 13 20 pts?

Gates, Antonio SDC TE - week 14

Week 13 Sturgis, Caleb MIA PK - 11 pts

Buccaneers, Tampa Bay TBB Def - week 14

It might not be as much fun as I thought, as I'd possibly be only using Gates and the Bucs D from week 14 with 152 points locked in. Also might be too much of an advantage.

 

[Flying Elvis]

It's a function of numbers, rather than a way to "mimic" the NFL. The bye week is the only way to advance six teams to the playoffs and have the numbers work out right for the championship tournament. As mentioned, having only 4 teams advance makes for a very dull finish to the season for many teams and increases the risk of reduced attention by team owners.

 

[shadyridr]

Umm how else would you run a 6 team playoff, mathematically?

 

[Insein]

Perfect setup for both 10 and 12 teamers. I can see people arguing for 4 teams in a 10 but 6 keeps everyone in it til the last few weeks.

As for the bye, those teams still accumulate points. So there's the overall point title to capture. If your guy goes off on a bye week, awesome.

 

[Adam Harstad]

You could add the ability for the teams with BYEs to score in both weeks and be able to choose the higher of the two weeks...

That would be an absolutely crushing advantage. Way too much. The free pass to round 2 is plenty.

 

[Adam Harstad]

Umm how else would you run a 6 team playoff, mathematically?

Survivor? Round Robin? Pool play? Double-headers? All-Play? Lots of ways.

 

[FUBAR]

Umm how else would you run a 6 team playoff, mathematically?

Survivor? Round Robin? Pool play? Double-headers? All-Play? Lots of ways.

None of which are as much fun as H2H

 

[shadyridr]

Umm how else would you run a 6 team playoff, mathematically?

Survivor? Round Robin? Pool play? Double-headers? All-Play? Lots of ways.

Im saying, the only way to run a conventional playoff format with 6 teams is WITH bye weeks. Now if you wanna completely change the format of the playoff system from the regular season thats another story but it didnt sound like that was the OPs intent.

 

[bagger]

We only let in 4 teams in our 12 team league, 3 division winners based on record and wild card based on points. That means going into this week there are two teams that are neck and neck fighting for the wild card spot, 1 or 2 teams with a unprobable chance to jump into the wild card spot, and potentially another team or two who are still in divisional races (but not on points).

Overall this has made the last 3 weeks almost like the playoffs, especially that 6 teams currently have a 0.500 record or better which is par for the course in our league.

I just feel that 6 teams is too many in a 12 team league when you have an element of points thrown in with the hth format of divisional wins.

 

[ebsteelers]

You could add the ability for the teams with BYEs to score in both weeks and be able to choose the higher of the two weeks...

now that would be neat..,

but you always want a bye week in fantasy football.. ALWAYS... atleast if your number 1 wr pulls up lame in week 14 you'll be able to start fresh the following week.. plus if your team did well all season its nice to have a bit of an advantage unless your in a league who gives cash prizes to best regular seasons..

 

[ebsteelers]

then again football isnt always fair and it goes for fantasy too.

it sucks being in the semi finals and you lose 120 to 100

and in the other game the final score is like 85- 63

 

[jerry jones]

My 10 team dynasty league allows 5 teams to make the playoffs, (2 division winners, 2 next best records and the last spot to team with most points of those left) the 5 teams have an "all-play" for 2 weeks...highest 2 teams play in the super bowl.

Keeps a good team in the hunt even with a bad week.

 

[hines]

yes it is madness to have bye weeks. we don't play fantasy football to have weeks off. change the rules, but never any bye weeks it really kills the buzz

 

[Shutout]

My 10 team dynasty league allows 5 teams to make the playoffs, (2 division winners, 2 next best records and the last spot to team with most points of those left) the 5 teams have an "all-play" for 2 weeks...highest 2 teams play in the super bowl.

Keeps a good team in the hunt even with a bad week.

That sounds like a good compromise

 

[Insein]

yes it is madness to have bye weeks. we don't play fantasy football to have weeks off. change the rules, but never any bye weeks it really kills the buzz

What?

 

[Dentist]

Both my 10 and 12 team league have bye weeks.

6 teams make the playoffs in both.

8 teams making it in a 12 team format dilutes the regular season.

4 teams makes it so that too few people are competing down the stretch.

Any rule designed to help the best team win your league is a good one.

I fully support the bye week on every level and can't imagine playing without it.

 

[hines]

yes it is madness to have bye weeks. we don't play fantasy football to have weeks off. change the rules, but never any bye weeks it really kills the buzz

What?

how boring is it to have been playing for 13 weeks then all of a sudden you have a week off. your players might do great. change your playoff system to 2-week matchups or give the top seeds a home-field advantage of some sort to keep from making teams not playing

 

[Eviloutsider]

I was once in a league where 6 of the 12 made it. The one seed picked one of the (3-6) teams to play and the two seed followed. The one seed picked again and the two seed got the remaining.

It came down to 1 vs. 6 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 vs. 5.

The bottom team was eliminated the first week of playoffs from each group. Following that, it was just a regular four team playoff.

Also, each team a bonus for their seeding of points in that first round...

1 got 5 points.

2 got 4 points.

etc.

I have also played in a pick your poison league where the best seeded teams got to pick their opponent each playoff week. It was funny as the 1 seed picked the 2 seed because he wanted to beat the best right away. He lost.

 

[Insein]

yes it is madness to have bye weeks. we don't play fantasy football to have weeks off. change the rules, but never any bye weeks it really kills the buzz

What?

how boring is it to have been playing for 13 weeks then all of a sudden you have a week off. your players might do great. change your playoff system to 2-week matchups or give the top seeds a home-field advantage of some sort to keep from making teams not playing

Or they can have a free pass to the next round while 4 other guys get to duke it out for the right to play them. Meanwhile, they can accumulate points for the year without any stress of losing in the first round to some bad luck despite being the best in the league for 13 weeks.

Also, how boring is it to be one of those 5th or 6th place teams and not have the last 3-4 weeks of the season matter cause you have no shot.

I think our definitions of boredom differ.

 

[Chicago Hooligan]

how boring is it to have been playing for 13 weeks then all of a sudden you have a week off.

Don't worry, some of my other teams are either on the playoff bubble or suck fascinatingly.

 

[Dentist]

yes it is madness to have bye weeks. we don't play fantasy football to have weeks off. change the rules, but never any bye weeks it really kills the buzz

What?

how boring is it to have been playing for 13 weeks then all of a sudden you have a week off. your players might do great. change your playoff system to 2-week matchups or give the top seeds a home-field advantage of some sort to keep from making teams not playing

well if your league correctly awards a significant prize to the highest scoring team in the league and you are in the running then you are still playing!

But really, after 13 weeks, i could use a week off... and any week you don't get knocked out is a good one.

I do like the rule where to give the team even a bigger advantage they can choose their week 14 or 15 score... that's cool.. but isn't the off week enough?

 

[hines]

yes it is madness to have bye weeks. we don't play fantasy football to have weeks off. change the rules, but never any bye weeks it really kills the buzz

What?

how boring is it to have been playing for 13 weeks then all of a sudden you have a week off. your players might do great. change your playoff system to 2-week matchups or give the top seeds a home-field advantage of some sort to keep from making teams not playing

well if your league correctly awards a significant prize to the highest scoring team in the league and you are in the running then you are still playing!

But really, after 13 weeks, i could use a week off... and any week you don't get knocked out is a good one.

I do like the rule where to give the team even a bigger advantage they can choose their week 14 or 15 score... that's cool.. but isn't the off week enough?

no it's not, how painful would it be if you scored a huge number that week? it's always more fun to be playing than not

 

[hines]

yes it is madness to have bye weeks. we don't play fantasy football to have weeks off. change the rules, but never any bye weeks it really kills the buzz

What?

how boring is it to have been playing for 13 weeks then all of a sudden you have a week off. your players might do great. change your playoff system to 2-week matchups or give the top seeds a home-field advantage of some sort to keep from making teams not playing

Or they can have a free pass to the next round while 4 other guys get to duke it out for the right to play them. Meanwhile, they can accumulate points for the year without any stress of losing in the first round to some bad luck despite being the best in the league for 13 weeks.

Also, how boring is it to be one of those 5th or 6th place teams and not have the last 3-4 weeks of the season matter cause you have no shot.

I think our definitions of boredom differ.

well head-to-head playoffs is not a good setup. if your playoffs are 3 weeks long, set it up so top scorers get a bonus and do an all-play over those 3 weeks. everyone gets 3 weeks of play and top scorers in regular season get rewarded. and no one has to worry about missing a big week because they were on bye

 

[Insein]

yes it is madness to have bye weeks. we don't play fantasy football to have weeks off. change the rules, but never any bye weeks it really kills the buzz

What?

how boring is it to have been playing for 13 weeks then all of a sudden you have a week off. your players might do great. change your playoff system to 2-week matchups or give the top seeds a home-field advantage of some sort to keep from making teams not playing

Or they can have a free pass to the next round while 4 other guys get to duke it out for the right to play them. Meanwhile, they can accumulate points for the year without any stress of losing in the first round to some bad luck despite being the best in the league for 13 weeks.

Also, how boring is it to be one of those 5th or 6th place teams and not have the last 3-4 weeks of the season matter cause you have no shot.

I think our definitions of boredom differ.

well head-to-head playoffs is not a good setup. if your playoffs are 3 weeks long, set it up so top scorers get a bonus and do an all-play over those 3 weeks. everyone gets 3 weeks of play and top scorers in regular season get rewarded. and no one has to worry about missing a big week because they were on bye

that sounds incredibly boring. Why have playoffs at all. Just do most points for the year in all play.

 

[hines]

yes it is madness to have bye weeks. we don't play fantasy football to have weeks off. change the rules, but never any bye weeks it really kills the buzz

What?

how boring is it to have been playing for 13 weeks then all of a sudden you have a week off. your players might do great. change your playoff system to 2-week matchups or give the top seeds a home-field advantage of some sort to keep from making teams not playing

Or they can have a free pass to the next round while 4 other guys get to duke it out for the right to play them. Meanwhile, they can accumulate points for the year without any stress of losing in the first round to some bad luck despite being the best in the league for 13 weeks.

Also, how boring is it to be one of those 5th or 6th place teams and not have the last 3-4 weeks of the season matter cause you have no shot.

I think our definitions of boredom differ.

well head-to-head playoffs is not a good setup. if your playoffs are 3 weeks long, set it up so top scorers get a bonus and do an all-play over those 3 weeks. everyone gets 3 weeks of play and top scorers in regular season get rewarded. and no one has to worry about missing a big week because they were on bye

that sounds incredibly boring. Why have playoffs at all. Just do most points for the year in all play.

I can assure you it is 3x more exciting. points all year long is boring and people fall out of it quick. this system keeps head-to-head excitement all season to see who makes the playoffs and then has everyone playing at once and you can't get knocked out due to 1 fluky week after dominating all season.

 

[hines]

last year 5 teams had at least an outside shot of winning heading into the final day and 2 points separated the top 3 with all of us having someone playing on Sunday Night. Once we've changed to this system we will never go back

 

[DoubleG]

yes it is madness to have bye weeks. we don't play fantasy football to have weeks off. change the rules, but never any bye weeks it really kills the buzz

What?

how boring is it to have been playing for 13 weeks then all of a sudden you have a week off. your players might do great. change your playoff system to 2-week matchups or give the top seeds a home-field advantage of some sort to keep from making teams not playing

Or they can have a free pass to the next round while 4 other guys get to duke it out for the right to play them. Meanwhile, they can accumulate points for the year without any stress of losing in the first round to some bad luck despite being the best in the league for 13 weeks.

Also, how boring is it to be one of those 5th or 6th place teams and not have the last 3-4 weeks of the season matter cause you have no shot.

I think our definitions of boredom differ.

well head-to-head playoffs is not a good setup. if your playoffs are 3 weeks long, set it up so top scorers get a bonus and do an all-play over those 3 weeks. everyone gets 3 weeks of play and top scorers in regular season get rewarded. and no one has to worry about missing a big week because they were on bye

that sounds incredibly boring. Why have playoffs at all. Just do most points for the year in all play.

I agree. Having a week off is boring - but dragging the playoffs out for 3 weeks before anyone knows anything?? One guy on one team blows up one week (ala Decker this past week) - and everyone is screwed. Yep, that sounds grand.

I'll take the bye week, thanks.

 

[blake]

Can I ask a question for those in leagues that award a prize for the most points for the season? Does this include points scored in the playoffs in addition to the regular season? Or just regular season points scored?

Sorry for going off of the main topic.

 

[Insein]

Can I ask a question for those in leagues that award a prize for the most points for the season? Does this include points scored in the playoffs in addition to the regular season? Or just regular season points scored?

Sorry for going off of the main topic.

There's actually a thread just started on this topic.

http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=700243

 

[blake]

Can I ask a question for those in leagues that award a prize for the most points for the season? Does this include points scored in the playoffs in addition to the regular season? Or just regular season points scored?

Sorry for going off of the main topic.

There's actually a thread just started on this topic.

http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=700243

Just saw it! Thank you for the link.

 

[Adam Harstad]

Umm how else would you run a 6 team playoff, mathematically?

Survivor? Round Robin? Pool play? Double-headers? All-Play? Lots of ways.

None of which are as much fun as H2H

Never said it was, just said that's how you'd have to do it.

Although I'll speak up in defense of survivor playoffs. In my oldest dynasty league, we have a loser's bracket playoff for the right to an "extra" 1st round draft pick (it's a 10 team league, so the winner of the playoff gets the 11th pick of the first round in addition to his normal 1st, while all subsequent rounds only have 10 picks still). The format's actually been a blast, with lots of group-wide smack talk as everyone jockeys to try to be the best of the worst.

 

[hines]

yes it is madness to have bye weeks. we don't play fantasy football to have weeks off. change the rules, but never any bye weeks it really kills the buzz

What?

how boring is it to have been playing for 13 weeks then all of a sudden you have a week off. your players might do great. change your playoff system to 2-week matchups or give the top seeds a home-field advantage of some sort to keep from making teams not playing

Or they can have a free pass to the next round while 4 other guys get to duke it out for the right to play them. Meanwhile, they can accumulate points for the year without any stress of losing in the first round to some bad luck despite being the best in the league for 13 weeks.

Also, how boring is it to be one of those 5th or 6th place teams and not have the last 3-4 weeks of the season matter cause you have no shot.

I think our definitions of boredom differ.

well head-to-head playoffs is not a good setup. if your playoffs are 3 weeks long, set it up so top scorers get a bonus and do an all-play over those 3 weeks. everyone gets 3 weeks of play and top scorers in regular season get rewarded. and no one has to worry about missing a big week because they were on bye

that sounds incredibly boring. Why have playoffs at all. Just do most points for the year in all play.

I agree. Having a week off is boring - but dragging the playoffs out for 3 weeks before anyone knows anything?? One guy on one team blows up one week (ala Decker this past week) - and everyone is screwed. Yep, that sounds grand.

I'll take the bye week, thanks.

not really true. last year a guy had Drew Brees (who had 2 monster games in playoffs) and someone else had Peterson and Pitta and someone else had Bush (all 3 had 30+ point games) and none of those teams won because the season long leader had built up a solid amount of points. 2 weeks long means if you face Decker, you have a chance to fight back the other week. actually better for those types of situations than H2H