Make sure you have a tiebreaker for a tie playoff game (1 Viewer)

[GregR]

I posted this thread earlier with things to try to help head off issues going into the playoffs. It's probably too late for many who didn't take care of their seeding rules.

But there's still time to make sure you have rules in place for what to do if an actual playoff game ends in a tie. Even if you use decimal scoring, it's still a possibility.

If your league doesn't have one, get it set before games start this weekend. Some examples could be:

Most total offensive yards for all players (passing + rushing + receiving)

Most total touchdowns for all players

Highest scoring QB/RB/WR/TE.

Highest scoring player.

Highest seeded team advances.

And make sure you have something at the end that will definitely break the tie, even if just "coin flip". I personally like "highest seeded team advances" over coin flip.

A completely different issue. Remember to double check your playoff game results after score adjustments come out on Thursday. Last year there was a league where the Super Bowl winner was changed by the stats change, and no one realized it until 4 months later after the cash had been paid out. Avoid it by double checking on Thursday.

 

[eaglesfan7]

No we just leave them as ties

 

[glumpy]

A completely different issue. Remember to double check your playoff game results after score adjustments come out on Thursday. Last year there was a league where the Super Bowl winner was changed by the stats change, and no one realized it until 4 months later after the cash had been paid out. Avoid it by double checking on Thursday.

That would really rot--Thanks!

As for ties, my league doesn't have a specific plan but given that we designate backups in the event a starter doesn't play that might be an automatic fix.

 

[GregR]

A completely different issue. Remember to double check your playoff game results after score adjustments come out on Thursday. Last year there was a league where the Super Bowl winner was changed by the stats change, and no one realized it until 4 months later after the cash had been paid out. Avoid it by double checking on Thursday.

That would really rot--Thanks!

As for ties, my league doesn't have a specific plan but given that we designate backups in the event a starter doesn't play that might be an automatic fix.

If you don't set something in advance and have a tie game, many people will argue only for what is in favor of their team and will fight anything that would give them a loss.

It's so much easier to set something before the games are played, when no one has a personal stake in what system is put in place.

 

[GregR]

No we just leave them as ties

I assumed this was a joke. But honestly, some people set up a league to leave regular season games as ties intentionally (mine do), but never consider that isn't a viable option for playoff games.

 

[Insein]

Never have ties. Total yards is the first tiebreaker. Then bench players points. Haven't ever needed to go beyond that but it think we have total bench yards after that.

Usually solves all ties.

 

[John 14:6]

We go with the higher seed right off the bat.

 

[TakiToki]

My league leaves them as ties and allows both teams to move forward for a Winston-way dance. Certainly not "fair" to the team on the opposite side of the bracket, but playoffs are an exercise in variance-increasing and fairness-reducing for the sake of excitement and interest anyway.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

A completely different issue. Remember to double check your playoff game results after score adjustments come out on Thursday. Last year there was a league where the Super Bowl winner was changed by the stats change, and no one realized it until 4 months later after the cash had been paid out. Avoid it by double checking on Thursday.

I won my superbowl by about a quarter point so I was really sweating that week out.

kind of sux you can't even celebrate

 

[Mr. Retukes]

Bench points = bad idea. You reward the moron who drafted 4 kickers while punishing the guy who wisely handcuffed his stud RB.

 

[glumpy]

A completely different issue. Remember to double check your playoff game results after score adjustments come out on Thursday. Last year there was a league where the Super Bowl winner was changed by the stats change, and no one realized it until 4 months later after the cash had been paid out. Avoid it by double checking on Thursday.

That would really rot--Thanks!

As for ties, my league doesn't have a specific plan but given that we designate backups in the event a starter doesn't play that might be an automatic fix.

If you don't set something in advance and have a tie game, many people will argue only for what is in favor of their team and will fight anything that would give them a loss.

It's so much easier to set something before the games are played, when no one has a personal stake in what system is put in place.

All true. I just checked out our rules and for regular season ties they count. So I tossed the question out for discussion.

 

[John 14:6]

Bench points = bad idea. You reward the moron who drafted 4 kickers while punishing the guy who wisely handcuffed his stud RB.

If that's the tie breaker, the person with four kickers is making a smart move.

 

[Insein]

Bench points = bad idea. You reward the moron who drafted 4 kickers while punishing the guy who wisely handcuffed his stud RB.

Who has 4 kickers? And its total yards first. Usually solves everything. Bench points rewards a guy who has the better overall team.

 

[B3TD]

Bench points = bad idea. You reward the moron who drafted 4 kickers while punishing the guy who wisely handcuffed his stud RB.

Who has 4 kickers? And its total yards first. Usually solves everything. Bench points rewards a guy who has the better overall team.

That is not necessarily true at all. His example was just one way that it doesn't always accurately measure team strength.

You don't like kickers, then how about the guy who has up to 4 QBs because he's weak at the position and plays by committee? Since QBs as a whole tend to score more consistently high, and in many leagues considerably higher than the average in points than other positions, then in that case, you'd be rewarding the guy who's weaker at a key position, just because he has more of them on his bench.

Only way it would make sense to use bench points is if the top scorers at all positions scored relatively the same, and preferably if the talent pool at each position had the same depth of starting-caliber talent (e.g., even a backup QB can be high FF scorer, whereas at RB, the position is thinner, the bench players are more likely to score very low).

Otherwise it can very easily reward a team who is not actually stronger. There are many ways they could actually be weaker.

 

[belljr]

We do

1. Submit 2 bench players as tiebreakers

2. Avg top 3 scorers of starters

3. All TD scored among starters

4. All bench points

5. Coin flip

 

[TheCommish]

Our first tie-breaker is total team defense score (9 IDPs). Defense wins playoff games.

 

[Insein]

Bench points = bad idea. You reward the moron who drafted 4 kickers while punishing the guy who wisely handcuffed his stud RB.

Who has 4 kickers? And its total yards first. Usually solves everything. Bench points rewards a guy who has the better overall team.

That is not necessarily true at all. His example was just one way that it doesn't always accurately measure team strength.

You don't like kickers, then how about the guy who has up to 4 QBs because he's weak at the position and plays by committee? Since QBs as a whole tend to score more consistently high, and in many leagues considerably higher than the average in points than other positions, then in that case, you'd be rewarding the guy who's weaker at a key position, just because he has more of them on his bench.

Only way it would make sense to use bench points is if the top scorers at all positions scored relatively the same, and preferably if the talent pool at each position had the same depth of starting-caliber talent (e.g., even a backup QB can be high FF scorer, whereas at RB, the position is thinner, the bench players are more likely to score very low).

Otherwise it can very easily reward a team who is not actually stronger. There are many ways they could actually be weaker.

Its a second tie breaker. Really we could use number of kickers rostered for all I care. Something to break the tie.