How should tiebreakers be decided. (1 Viewer)

[detfan782004]

We have never has a problem in our keeper league until this year.

Here is scenario:

2 Teams have finished 11-2.

Team A beat Team B head to head.

Team B has a 6-0 division record while Team A has a 5-1 division record.

The commish and co-commish are debating who is #1. The difference will be in opponent faced in first round. The difference is 250 pts in total point between 7 and 8 seed.

I think it should go:

1. Overall record

2. Head to head

3. Division record

4. Points scored

Opinions?

 

[PatsWillWin]

It's a pretty obscene situation to not have tie-breakers in place.

Your opinion, my opinion, and even the opinions of the commissioner and co-commissioner are almost irrelevant in this situation - there really needs to be rules in place.

In this situation, I think the only fair thing to do would be to flip a coin.

 

[Big Daddy Kane]

Rock, paper, scissors down?

 

[PatsWillWin]

Rock, paper, scissors down?

I stand corrected.

 

[Spartans Rule]

Why wouldn't points scored be the first tiebreaker? FF's not that complicated. Points scored is a very accurate assessment of how good your team is, and rarely requires a second tiebreaker.

 

[renesauz]

Because of bye weeks, head to head is absurd as an early tiebreaker. Total points is much preferable.

But how in the world did you make it past the first year without clear tiebreaker procedures?

Also, since they aren't in the same division, division record is immaterial. I've never seen division record matter as a tiebreaker between teams OF DIFFERENT DIVISIONS! Barring a rule to decide between head to head result or total points, I'd say flip a coin, but fix your rules

 

[The Jerk]

Retroactively creating tiebreaker rules is the same as choosing a winner, since by selecting the rules you simultaneously decide the winner.

Clearly, detailed and thorough tie-breaker rules should be in place before the first game of the season - actually, before the draft. I'm pretty sure you're getting the picture on that by now...

To all of you who make the argument that total points is a fairer way of assessing team strength, etc. keep in mind that different leagues choose different styles. If a league is attempting to emulate the NFL, then it will use a similar tie-breaking procedure.

With this in mind, I would think that the way to proceed in this situation is to look at how the NFL resolves ties. The tie-breaking procedures can be found HERE.

Note that ties are broken within divisions first, then across divisions. Of course, division record is not used in the process for seeding division winners and for the sake of comparison, an NFL "conference" typically is equivalent to an entire FF league.

This tie would be broken following the wild-card procedure rules (see #3 under "other tie-breaking procedures), which means that Team A should win the tie-breaker on the strength of its head-to-head victory over Team B.

It's not an ideal situation, but it's the best way I can suggest to resolve this issue. By the way, one reason division record is not used is because it's not a fair comparison. Team A's division could be much stronger than Team B's division, so going 5-1 could actually demonstrate superiority to Team B's 6-0 division mark.

 

[quadcity]

Total Points.

 

[Marc Levin]

Without ANY tiebreakers in place, I agree with The Jerk - you should default to the NFL's tiereakers rather than deciding, after the factm what you want to do - agree that you are then picking the winner by picking the tiebreaker, which is not cool.

League with no tiebreaking procedures in place? You think you are a shark, yet you never noticed your league has no tiebreaking procedures? If you are responsioble for the rules, you are doubly @ fault and doubly a guppy.

 

[Marc Levin]

By the way, one reason division record is not used is because it's not a fair comparison. Team A's division could be much stronger than Team B's division, so going 5-1 could actually demonstrate superiority to Team B's 6-0 division mark.

So the Bears are weaker than the Colts?

 

[detfan782004]

This is like the 9th year of our league. Change of commish and several new owners over the years and this has never ever been an issue.

 

[Marc Levin]

This is like the 9th year of our league. Change of commish and several new owners over the years and this has never ever been an issue.

well, how you went NINE YEARS w/o a tiebreaker issue is more extreme than "dumb luck" it is "moronic luck"just b/c you never faced the situation in nine years doesn't mean you all ran a good league. I could leave my car door unlocked and the key in the glove box with no problems for ten years - after my car gets stolen, it doesn't make the move a good one just because I never had a problem previously.

 

[[scooter]]

Total points is the best way to determine which fantasy football team is the best team. Period.

Head-to-head is a flawed tiebreaker, but it's still better than Division Record, which is the WORST possible means of breaking a tie (especially if the two teams are in different divisions).

 

[lloyd christmas]

Total points is the best way to determine which fantasy football team is the best team. Period.Head-to-head is a flawed tiebreaker, but it's still better than Division Record, which is the WORST possible means of breaking a tie (especially if the two teams are in different divisions).

As a fantasy owner, the points your team scores is the only thing you can control. Every other tiebreaker is in part a measure of your points scored, and in part a measure of some other factor (how strong you division is, or how your players fared against your opponent in a single given week).And if your looking for free advice, make sure you know how ties will be decided during the playoffs (ie decimal scoring). Eventually this will happen too.

 

[The Jerk]

Total points is the best way to determine which fantasy football team is the best team. Period.Head-to-head is a flawed tiebreaker, but it's still better than Division Record, which is the WORST possible means of breaking a tie (especially if the two teams are in different divisions).

As a fantasy owner, the points your team scores is the only thing you can control. Every other tiebreaker is in part a measure of your points scored, and in part a measure of some other factor (how strong you division is, or how your players fared against your opponent in a single given week).And if your looking for free advice, make sure you know how ties will be decided during the playoffs (ie decimal scoring). Eventually this will happen too.

The "total points is the best" philosophy is all well and good... but not everyone wants to be in an exclusive total points league. I actually prefer leagues that are setup as a hybrid of total points and head-to-head formats. I agree with the thought that the total points champion is typically the best team (although sometimes they may not be the most consistent team in the league), and it irritates me when I have the most points but finish 5-9 (2004 season).However, if you play in a head-to-head format, it is reasonable to use head-to-head (NFL style) tiebreakers for that component of your league. Using tiebreakers similar to the NFL best follows the spirit of the competition.Expanding the scope of this discussion... as far as league setup is concerned, my favorite leagues have three levels of competition: traditional head-to-head, total season points, and weekly high points.The head-to-head caters to the reason many of us were drawn to this hobby in the first place -- competition that most closely mirrors the NFL in a fantasy setup and a chance to have bragging rights over your fellow owners. In a convoluted way, even the idiosynchrasies of scheduling matches the real game in that the NFL is not a level playing field when it comes to scheduling difficulty. For example, the 1999 Rams won the Super Bowl despite not winning a regular season game against a playoff team. Think that might have helped them that year?Season total points provides the best measure of pure team strength and rewards owners independent of scheduling nuances. I agree that it is the best format for limiting the luck factor but it can be somewhat uninteresting if one team jumps out to a big lead and virtually clinches the title sometime in November.Weekly high points is the easiest and best way to keep teams interested during the latter stages of a season even if they are already out of the head-to-head playoffs and way behind in season total points. It also gives the Sunday and Monday night games a little extra kick by making every team compete with each other for the weekly prizes.Leagues including all three competitive formats make virtually every game matter on some level. In one league, I got eliminated when Darrell Jackson got tackled at the 1-yard line on Sunday night. While it's brutal to miss the playoffs by a yard, I can get some consolation if my team holds on to its 2nd place weekly score during MNF. Ultimately, to each his own, but there are many ways to enjoy this game...

 

[The Man Who Met Andy Griffith]

It's a pretty obscene situation to not have tie-breakers in place.Your opinion, my opinion, and even the opinions of the commissioner and co-commissioner are almost irrelevant in this situation - there really needs to be rules in place.In this situation, I think the only fair thing to do would be to flip a coin.

 

[fsufan]

1. Overall record2. Head to head3. Division record4. Points scored

this is how I do it in the 2 dynasty leagues i run