chinawildman
Footballguy
Giving 3 pts to the higher seeded team in FF playoffs to "simulate" home field advantage. Yea or Nay? Something that actually gives relevance to seeding would IMO add an interesting wrinkle to the regular season.
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"Home field advantage" in FF playoffs (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter chinawildman
- Start date
Hoss Style
Footballguy
I like leagues that do things different. I wouldn't object to the idea.
Craig_MiamiFL
Footballguy
I don't mind Home Field Advantage. Anything to reward for regular season is good IMO
I like to reward 13+ regular season weeks montetarily more so than a 1 week playoff. Others like to make it more 'nfl like' and reward handsomely only the playoff winners.
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Another way to reward for regular season is to allow a playoff team(s) to draft 1 player (for example) from a non-playoff team -- to roster for their stretch run. You can setup to your liking but I've had good feedback using this.
I like to reward 13+ regular season weeks montetarily more so than a 1 week playoff. Others like to make it more 'nfl like' and reward handsomely only the playoff winners.
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Another way to reward for regular season is to allow a playoff team(s) to draft 1 player (for example) from a non-playoff team -- to roster for their stretch run. You can setup to your liking but I've had good feedback using this.
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blake
Footballguy
I think this is really creative. I don't mean to hijack....but is this only for re-draft leagues and not for keeper leagues? I suppose it could work for keeper leagues too though.Craig_MiamiFL said:
I like this payout system.
blake
Footballguy
In addition, I'm wondering...would you give more of a home field advantage to a team that had the highest season points or had the best regular season record?
Say, for example:
+5 for team with best regular season record/most regular season points
+3 for division winners
+1 for non-division winners
Say, for example:
+5 for team with best regular season record/most regular season points
+3 for division winners
+1 for non-division winners
CariocaSean
Footballguy
My main league did this for years. And then a team actually won because of it. We abolished it the next season.
lyon812
Footballguy
Scoresheet Football has done this for as long as I can remember. Even though I've benefitted from it, I'm not really a fan of an arbitrary bonus based on record. Of course, in those leagues, 3 points is basically the same as an extra starter. In some scoring systems, its effect isn't quite so imbalanced.
Binky The Doormat
Footballguy
blake
Footballguy
well something worse might be outscoring a scrub team by 300 points over the season then going down due to your QB getting injured and their kicker having a huge week in week 15
cstu
Footballguy
Agent575
Footballguy
I prefer the home advantage being the tiebreaker. Using decimal scoring probably will stop it from ever being called upon but the home team would win in the event of a tie. When you assign points for being the home team, hypotheitically you could create a tie that never would have been.
Also in the playoffs, the top seed gets to call out their opponent from the other playoff teams and the higher seed has the home field advantage.
Also in the playoffs, the top seed gets to call out their opponent from the other playoff teams and the higher seed has the home field advantage.
The idea behind this thread is important and should be addressed by every serious H2H league, namely the unfairness of the person who has the best team during a long season ending up with nothing due to a fluke event. The first 10 or so years I payed FF, I could have sworn the #4 seed won the Super Bowl in every league every year. While I hate ESPN in general as a site, they do have an option in Baseball H2H for the playoffs to be 2 weeks long, not one. Obviously, this could not be done in Football. But it's just another reminder that lots of people think about this, even at the websites.
Neil Beaufort Zod
Footballguy
I always liked this option. It makes having the top seed worth something, adds some strategy, and makes for awesome stories when they pick someone and lose when they could have won by leaving the seeds as is.
Me too. It also makes the advantage you get as #1 depend on skill, to some extent. If you are good at spotting good/bad matchups, you can get considerably more than a 3pt bonus by picking your opponent.
Mr. Irrelevant
IBL Representative
I've used HFA in every league I've ever run, dating all the way back to 1996. Depending on scoring format it's between 5-10 points.
Yes, occasionally it means that a lower-scoring team "beats" a higher-scoring one. You know what else it does? Cuts down on the randomness of outcomes, in that the better teams throughout the season have a better chance of finishing in the money.
I continue to be astounded at how many "sharks" in the SP embrace, even advocate, methods of managing FF leagues that effectively serve to maximize this randomness.
Yes, occasionally it means that a lower-scoring team "beats" a higher-scoring one. You know what else it does? Cuts down on the randomness of outcomes, in that the better teams throughout the season have a better chance of finishing in the money.
I continue to be astounded at how many "sharks" in the SP embrace, even advocate, methods of managing FF leagues that effectively serve to maximize this randomness.
It's pathetic, I agree.
By the way, check out all the NCAA March Madness pools, where scoring doubles each round, effectively making it about picking the winner, perhaps the final four, and essentially no value to getting a ton of games right in the early rounds.
crowe1130
Footballguy
Yup, exactly the same here. Everyone loves it until it actually works!
We've taken away the free points, but now just say that the home team wins in case of a (nearly impossible) tie.
Area51Inhabitant
Footballguy
I'm ok with it being used as a tiebreaker but I would hate to add an arbitrary number of points to create a so called "home field advantage".
Baloney Sandwich
Footballguy
The home team wins in the event of a tie but that is the only advantage they receive. We do pay out $500 for the regular season champ, good thing as more than 50% of the time they are knocked out in the first round.
Rich Conway
Footballguy
So, you want to reward performance in the regular season, but only if it doesn't actually matter?
ICON211
Footballguy
In my case I outscored the other team during the season but had a worse record. Your scenario is possible, but why have playoffs if you want to try to rig them to produce an outcome you have already predetermined should happen? Just play a full season and and the champ is whoever has the best record or most points or whatever you determine is the best way to crown a champ looking at the entire season.
DropKick
Footballguy
pollardsvision
Footballguy
I wouldn't be against it, but I don't think I'd push for it either.
Fantasy football is what it is. A silly endeavor where we put all this time, energy, and money into something that will be decided over whatever crazy, random #### happens on 3 Sunday's in December.
We can seek to neutralize the randomness of "inferior teams" beating "superior teams", which is really impossible unless we fundamentally change the game (3 pts certainly doesn't do that).
Or just embrace it. Play fantasy football for what it is, and play fantasy baseball and basketball the other end of the spectrum.
I wouldn't care too much either way though.
Fantasy football is what it is. A silly endeavor where we put all this time, energy, and money into something that will be decided over whatever crazy, random #### happens on 3 Sunday's in December.
We can seek to neutralize the randomness of "inferior teams" beating "superior teams", which is really impossible unless we fundamentally change the game (3 pts certainly doesn't do that).
Or just embrace it. Play fantasy football for what it is, and play fantasy baseball and basketball the other end of the spectrum.
I wouldn't care too much either way though.
Ruffrodys05
IBL Representative
Eh, this doesn't interest me at all. Home field advantage isn't used during regular season, at least not in my league, so why should it be for the playoffs? It's fun and interesting to see the HTH matchups each week listed as "Home vs Away", and then switched when playing a division opponent twice, but there is no value attached to it as far as scoring the game that week. It doesn't make sense to me to alter it for the playoffs.
As far as tiebreakers go, we require playoff teams to submit, via message board to entire league, 2 additional players or team D/ST, each playoff game, to use in the tiebreak calculation process if the need arises.
The advantage the top two seeds get is that they get a bye in week 15 and they play the lowest remaining seeds, respectively, in week 16. This, of course, does not ensure that the higher seed is more likely to win and advance to the title game. Just because a team is the higher seed doesn't entitle it to win a playoff game in the event of a tie. The tie was achieved, in no small part, due to their starting lineup choices. It makes complete sense to allow playoff teams to choose their own players, in advance, to use in a tiebreaker scenario. This way, the tie is broken on the merits of the owners choices that week, not a predetermined league mandate.
That's just me. I can and do understand other points of view, though.
As far as tiebreakers go, we require playoff teams to submit, via message board to entire league, 2 additional players or team D/ST, each playoff game, to use in the tiebreak calculation process if the need arises.
The advantage the top two seeds get is that they get a bye in week 15 and they play the lowest remaining seeds, respectively, in week 16. This, of course, does not ensure that the higher seed is more likely to win and advance to the title game. Just because a team is the higher seed doesn't entitle it to win a playoff game in the event of a tie. The tie was achieved, in no small part, due to their starting lineup choices. It makes complete sense to allow playoff teams to choose their own players, in advance, to use in a tiebreaker scenario. This way, the tie is broken on the merits of the owners choices that week, not a predetermined league mandate.
That's just me. I can and do understand other points of view, though.
maxwjom0
Footballguy
No. We have your mom keep score for us. She's very good at juggling multiple balls.
ZWK
Footballguy
One of my fantasy football leagues does this. 12-week regular season, 4 teams make the playoffs which are 2 rounds where each round is 2 weeks long. Each week of the playoffs you set a fresh lineup same as always, but your team's score for round 1 of the playoffs is the number of points you score in week 13 plus the number you score in week 14. We've gotten this to work on both ESPN and NFL.com.
kardplayer
Footballguy
Like a bunch of others above, the higher seed wins a tiebreaker.
In addition, we play a playoff tournament during the NFL playoffs (with keepers from your regular season team). We stack the deck towards higher seeds here as follows:
1. Division winners get to keep 3 non-PK, non-TD players, everyone else gets to keep 2
2. The draft has an "extra" 1-8 round at the beginning. So we go 1-8 and then start a zipper draft 1-8, 8-1, etc.
3. In the NFL wild card round, teams 7-12 play in an "all play" format, but start with their average score from the regular season.
This is our first year with the extra playoff round (we used to start the 2nd week of the playoffs, and only allow 1-8 in), but in a few years of doing this, I'm not sure the #1 seed has ever won.
In addition, we play a playoff tournament during the NFL playoffs (with keepers from your regular season team). We stack the deck towards higher seeds here as follows:
1. Division winners get to keep 3 non-PK, non-TD players, everyone else gets to keep 2
2. The draft has an "extra" 1-8 round at the beginning. So we go 1-8 and then start a zipper draft 1-8, 8-1, etc.
3. In the NFL wild card round, teams 7-12 play in an "all play" format, but start with their average score from the regular season.
This is our first year with the extra playoff round (we used to start the 2nd week of the playoffs, and only allow 1-8 in), but in a few years of doing this, I'm not sure the #1 seed has ever won.
FavreAndAwayAnIdiot
Footballguy
I like it. Back in the late 90's my leagues used it, and the 3 points helped me win the championship. But it has since been taken away and I don't see it anywhere anymore.
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Shrek
Having a great season
We pay out a small Weekly High Score payout each week, so that in itself is a reward for doing well during the regular season, and it keeps owners interested and motivated even after they're out of the playoff picture.chinawildman said:
But as far as "giving relevance to seedings" goes, a person being the #1 seed and playing against the #6 seed (for instance) has relevance already. As the #1 seed, you should get to avoid having to play the #2 seed in the first week of the FF playoffs anyway. That said, I have played on leagues where we do exactly what you said, and give 3 points to the "home team". It worked out fine because everyone knew the rule going into the season. But really, you're kind of giving someone a double advantage there. They're already playing a lower seed, then you give them a point edge on top of it.
FavreAndAwayAnIdiot
Footballguy
By doing that, you're assuming that the #1 and #2 seeds are the best teams and that the skill falls the further down the seeding going. That's not always the case. In fact, often the best team happens to be peaking at the end of the season as a wildcard. A better system would be to allow the top seed to "pick" which of the teams he/she faced during the playoffs. That way you can avoid having to play the #6 seed that was on a roll, for instance.
I wonder if anyone does that?
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tim_whatley
Footballguy
First round bye is worth more IMHO.
DropKick
Footballguy
I don't see it as much neutralizing the randomness but putting more emphasis on the regular season. The entire NFL season is focused on winning your division, getting a home game, or home field advantage through the play-offs. I like fantasy to mimic that importance. We're talking about a couple points here... not an insurmountable number. This "advantage" is earned throughout the season, I have no problem if it decides the game (which is actually rare).
TheFanatic
Footballguy
We have HFA through the entire season. The home team is allowed to pair two players at the same position. Whichever scores the most points, is inserted into the lineup. The only difference is in the Super Bowl, the team with the best record gets to decide if both teams get to use the HFA rule or neither team since the SB is not really a home game.
ChromeWeasel
Footballguy
My league awards 10% of your average score for the regular season as a home field advantage. So a really good team can have a decent edge in the playoffs.chinawildman said:
We do not have bye weeks though. Every team needs 3 wins in a row to win the Superbowl. No one gets a free win.
Mr. Irrelevant
IBL Representative
That's actually the approach I use most often - I prefer it since it ties back to regular-season performance instead of an arbitrary number.
As I've said on a prior thread, I think I'm going to try Fanatic's approach in the next league I run. Love the idea.
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