divisions in fantasy football (2 Viewers)

[dboysrock94]

Sorry if this doesn't belong here. I have been commissioner in my league for 5 years now over the last couple years it has become much more competitive. we want to install divisions this year but I honestly have no idea how they work, I was just going anyone who uses then could give me some insight on how they work and if there fun

 

[CamelGod]

Sorry if this doesn't belong here. I have been commissioner in my league for 5 years now over the last couple years it has become much more competitive. we want to install divisions this year but I honestly have no idea how they work, I was just going anyone who uses then could give me some insight on how they work and if there fun

The league I commish has had divisions installed for the last 6 years. It's a 12 team re-draft league with 3 divisions. The divisions are randomly assigned every year with the draft order (name from a hat simultaneously pulled with what division they're in). This will also determine the schedule. Weeks 1-3 are division games... Weeks 12-14 are division games. Weeks 4-11 are non-division games. Best record in each division makes the playoffs. The last playoff team is a wild card based on the most points scored on the season for a non-division leader.It feels like this system keeps more teams in contention for the last couple weeks of the regular season. It keeps it more interesting for people needing to play through all the scenarios in their head too, knowing what they need to do to keep/take the lead, etc. A couple seasons ago, there were still 8 of 12 teams vying for the 4 playoff spots in the last week of the regular season, instead of 2-3 teams fighting for that 4th spot.

 

[Sabertooth]

I don't like them. If I finish with a better record than another team, and they win their division but I don't win mine, why should they make the playoffs instead of me?

 

[simey]

I don't like them. If I finish with a better record than another team, and they win their division but I don't win mine, why should they make the playoffs instead of me?

In my league you don't have to win your division to make the playoffs. We have two divisions, and the two teams that win their division get a bye in the first week of the playoffs.

 

[bonesman]

I don't like them. If I finish with a better record than another team, and they win their division but I don't win mine, why should they make the playoffs instead of me?

Maybe their division is more difficult and they had a tougher schedule. Why do playoffs by W-L record even... If I finish with more points than another team but they have a better record, why should they make the playoffs instead of me?

 

[Sweet Love]

I do enjoy having divisions in one of my leagues (it really does create rivalry, and if people don't know each other well outside of FF it keeps life in the league), but it also can be frustrating when you are beat out of a playoff spot by a guy from another division who had a worse record. I am not saying this is right, but in my 12 team league, we bumped up the playoff spots from 4 to 6, because we had two years in a row where the 4th place team in one division got knocked out by the best guy in the other division, eventhough 4th place guy had a better overall record and more points. Now, we even had a year where 5 of 6 from one division went to the playoffs (each division champ is guaranteed a spot like the NFL), and in a way, I think it was the right thing to do.

That is the drawback to divisions: If you reshuffle them to maintain balance, you lose the rivalry factor. If you keep them the same, you will notice massive swings in stacked teams (especially if it is keeper or dynasty).

 

[Rick James]

we do 3, 4-team divisions with each division winner getting a playoff spot. Of the remaining 9 teams, the team who's scored the most points makes the playoffs too.

It's worked out well for us.

 

[renesauz]

I don't like them. If I finish with a better record than another team, and they win their division but I don't win mine, why should they make the playoffs instead of me?

Happens in the NFL often enough. EVen when it doesn't, you can't dispute that some divisions are MUCH easier to dominate than others.At least in fantasy, the divisions change yearly.I like them.

 

[eric rymer]

we have divisions in my 16 teamer. 2 conferences with 2 divisions in each one. Divisional winner and two wild cards make the playoffs. Playoffs for us run week 15 and 16 with the title game week 17. We also reshuffle the divisions every 3 years to try to maintain competitive balance and to try to create new rivalries. It's a local league mostly with the exception of the few of us that have moved over the years so the rivalries are huge for us.

 

[Crash and Walk Away]

Sorry if this doesn't belong here. I have been commissioner in my league for 5 years now over the last couple years it has become much more competitive. we want to install divisions this year but I honestly have no idea how they work, I was just going anyone who uses then could give me some insight on how they work and if there fun

The league I commish has had divisions installed for the last 6 years. It's a 12 team re-draft league with 3 divisions. The divisions are randomly assigned every year with the draft order (name from a hat simultaneously pulled with what division they're in). This will also determine the schedule. Weeks 1-3 are division games... Weeks 12-14 are division games. Weeks 4-11 are non-division games. Best record in each division makes the playoffs. The last playoff team is a wild card based on the most points scored on the season for a non-division leader.It feels like this system keeps more teams in contention for the last couple weeks of the regular season. It keeps it more interesting for people needing to play through all the scenarios in their head too, knowing what they need to do to keep/take the lead, etc. A couple seasons ago, there were still 8 of 12 teams vying for the 4 playoff spots in the last week of the regular season, instead of 2-3 teams fighting for that 4th spot.

Some additional pluses
[*]Non of the division games are played during bye weeks

[*]Symmetry: You play each of your division opponents twice, and all other opponents once

[*]Ability to create or maintain rivalries: In one of my leagues we have managers from 3 different areas of the country.

[*]The alternative: missing one non-divisional opponent, playing only a 13 game regular season, and inflicting a bye week on a divisional game has the added advantage of allowing 6 teams to make the playoffs. Though I don't in general want to promote mediocrity, it keeps almost all owners active a whole lot longer. The two best records getting first round byes is a further reward for regular season performance

 

[footballnerd]

throw in a bye week for top seeds, it will get really testy. always fun for the more competitive division to talk trash to the easier one.

 

[roadkill1292]

Divisions are fun. Maybe not fair but fun. My old league used to hold a draft for divisional opponents. Fun way to kick the season off.

 

[Kinger]

Our dynasty league (Zealots) has four divisions (split into two conferences), three teams each.

Top team in each division is in playoffs and best team record left in each conference is in as wildcard.

Best division winners get first round byes.

Every three years the whole league gets re-shuffled as follows:

Realignment will be determined based upon a weighted formula calculated from total points scored during the ZFL regular season (weeks 1-13) over the most recent three year period.

The realignment formula sums 60% of the most recent seasons points, 30% of the points from two seasons ago, and 10% of the points from three seasons ago.

Teams will be seeded 1-12 based on the realignment formula and then placed in the following conference and division alignments.

Div #1: Team 1, Team 5, Team 9

Div #2: Team 3, Team 7, Team 11

Div #3: Team 2, Team 6, Team 10

Div #4: Team 4, Team 8, Team 12

added...

When we had a redraft league at work, we only had two divisions, but we'd re-seed them with SB teams in each div, then all of the other teams alternated based on points. It was totally meaningless since it was a redraft, but there was never a question as to how the divisions were done each year.

 

[NCPanthersFan]

For our 12 Team H2H League we use the following:

Three Divisions

17 game schedule, which encompasses 13 NFL weeks. Each team plays 9 games within the division and 8 games out of the division. We use weeks 2, 5, 7 & 11 for the double weeks.

The 6-playoff teams consist of 3 division winners and 3 wild card participants.

Seed #1 – Divisional winner with the best overall record

Seed #2 – Divisional winner with the 2nd best overall record

Seed #3 – Divisional winner with the 3rd best overall record

Seed #4 – Non-division winner with the best record

Seed #5 – Non-division winner with the 2nd best record

Seed #6 – Non-division winner with the 3rd best record

Playoff Seeding and Tie Breakers

Divisional Tie Breaker

1. Total Overall Wins

2. Total Division Wins

3. Head to Head

4. Total Points Scored

5. Coin Flip

Wild Card Tie Breaker – 2 teams (all in same division)

1. Total Overall Wins

2. Total Division Wins

3. Head To Head

4. Total Points Scored

5. Coin Flip

Wild Card Tie Breaker – 3 or more teams (all in same division)

1. Total Overall Wins

2. Total Division Wins

3. Total Points Scored

4. Coin Flip

Wild Card Tie Breaker – 2 teams (not same division)

1. Total Overall Wins

2. Head To Head

3. Total Points Scored

4. Coin Flip

Wild Card Tie Breaker – 3 or more teams (any NOT in same division)

1. Total Overall Wins

2. Total Points Scored

3. Coin Flip

If you are interested just PM me and I can send you the template for the schedule.

 

[Insein]

Our divisions are merely symbolic and to make a schedule easier. 10 team league, divisions are assigned each year by draft order (odds and evens). Has no bearing on playoffs since record still determines who gets in and seeding. More just for trash talk and rivalry.

 

[lbouchard]

my league does competitive realignment, and i like it.

 

[Hey Nostradamus!]

My oldest league is a local dynasty -- I've been in since 1999, and the league existed for 10-15 years before that. 12 teams, four divisions of three teams each, no realignments in the history of the league. Four division winners make the playoffs, no wildcards.

This setup is definitely a mixed bag. My division has been super competitive for the entire time I've been in the league. In fact, for the last five years running, whoever has come in second in our division has had the #4 record, but misses the playoffs anyway. That's a tough pill to swallow. I was the one stuck out in the cold in 2000, 2006, and 2007; thankfully, I've won the division each of the last four years. Two of those four, it came down to tiebreakers.

There are two pluses, however. First, it does build rivalry. Every year at the draft, the three of us are chattering non-stop about who's going to come out on top this year. And there's nothing better than trash-talking your divisional rival after that week 14 victory that sends you to the playoffs and sends them home.

The second is that I think it has kept the struggling teams more engaged. Rosters can get pretty lopsided in a long-running dynasty, which could lead to owner turnover. But in some of these divisions, all it takes is one home run to go from cellar-dweller to the playoffs. A rookie pick like Cam Newton last year, or a 2nd or 3rd year bustout like Rice and McCoy, or a free agent pickup like Arian Foster or Kurt Warner back in the day can put some of the worst teams right into contention for a playoff spot.

Sometimes I hate static divisions + no wildcards -- when I'm the one getting screwed. But on the whole, I think it's an interesting experience and adds some character missing in my other leagues.