One great division, one terrible division (1 Viewer)

[valhallan]

Division A vastly outperformed division B last year, and the same is happening again this year. Several owners in division A are concerned about this lack of balance because 3 teams from each division automatically make the playoffs. We set it up that way to have an NFC/AFC feel when we look back at our history several years from now.

As commish, I spent a lot of time trying to craft our rules to make this a very fun and competitive league. I'm worried these unbalanced divisions could frustrate some owners to the point of quitting. I'd prefer not to reshuffle the divisions based on "skill", but what other way could there be to solve this problem?

If you were in division B, how would you feel about being sent to the other division because you, in essence, suck? (hypothetically of course, since all FBGs win their leagues every year)

 

[Forgot My Crystal]

How about:

1) Don't have divisions - what the hell good are they?

2) At least mix the divisions each at random (out of a hat so to speak)

3) Don't do heads up

There's a start ...

 

[nightshift]

Mix the divisions up randomly just before the start of the NFL season. Every year.

 

[tonystrong]

We have 3 divisions of 4

Top 3 division winners make the playoffs and the next 3 best records do too, doesn't matter the division for them

 

[Slinger]

How about:3) Don't do heads up

That would kill the fun of it.

 

[valhallan]

I already said why we have the divisions. It's to create a NFC/AFC feel in our Super Bowl each year. Plus, we're all childhood friends and certain rivalries have been paired up in the divisions so they can play twice a year and possibly in the playoffs.

It's a fun league of old friends, not some cut-thoat internet league of strangers.

I'm probably most interested in hearing your thoughts on how I could approach the subject of realignment without pissing anyone off.

 

[lloyd christmas]

I'm probably most interested in hearing your thoughts on how I could approach the subject of realignment without pissing anyone off.

Rather than realignment, two wild card teams would go a long way towards making it more equitable (top two in each conference + 2 wild cards). I know it takes away from the strict AFC/NFC idea, but you still get the two division games and conference championship for rivalries. Also, if you realign, there is no guarantee that something similar won't happen two years down the road.

 

[SuperJohn96]

You know, your post could have been me last year. I whispered about a possible realignment, and it was wholeheartedly shot down.

This year, opening week, the other crappy division SWEPT my perennially stronger division 5-0... I mean they destroyed us.

Now their third place team is 5-2 and our first place team is 5-2 with some fluke close wins...just as easily could have been a 3-4 team..

Things could change of course, but three of the four strongest teams in the league are in their division right now. A year ago, the top four teams (points) were in our division...

Anything can happen, so if you have long term rivalries (like mine does) then let it go...it makes the divisional games much more fun. Kind of like playing in the playoff all season long, since it is so hard to make the playoffs at all...

 

[redman]

Division A:











Division B:







:11:

:11:

 

[GOroute]

them the breaks. maybe next year it goes in their favor.

 

[deep vacuum]

I have a fanball league like that. (3) - 4 team divisions. Every year 3 of 4 or all 4 of the teams from my division have made the playoffs and only the 2 other division winners make it. The past 4-5 superbowl winners have come from my division also. Kind of rough but the bottom line is that it would really cheapen the thrill to win one of the weaker divisions vs just missing the playoffs in my division.

 

[Oh the Humanity]

Division Winners get playoff spots, then the four best records regardless of division gets the other slots

 

[marshall88]

If you want the NFC/AFC feel and history to your league, then just leave it alone. In the NFL there's been many years when one conference dominated the other. You didn't hear Dallas or SF #####ing while they were clearly the two best teams for I-don't-know many years in a row.

Does the winner of Division A play the winner of Division B each year for the championship? If so, the idea of adding wildcards won't help, but if not, I think that's what you should do if you want to do something.

 

[The Gator]

The teams that finished 1,3,5,7,9,11 last year are division AThe teams that finished 2,4,6,8,10,12 last year are division B

This is the correct answer.

 

[radballs]

I'm probably most interested in hearing your thoughts on how I could approach the subject of realignment without pissing anyone off.

Rather than realignment, two wild card teams would go a long way towards making it more equitable (top two in each conference + 2 wild cards). I know it takes away from the strict AFC/NFC idea, but you still get the two division games and conference championship for rivalries. Also, if you realign, there is no guarantee that something similar won't happen two years down the road.

I don't know if you have six or four make the playoffs, but in one league I'm in, each division leader by H2H record are the two teams that get the bye week in the first week of the playoffs. The other four teams are basically wild card teams, and it just goes by best record so you might have every team but one come from the same division.

 

[Jeff Pasquino]

The teams that finished 1,3,5,7,9,11 last year are division AThe teams that finished 2,4,6,8,10,12 last year are division B

This is the correct answer.

This is an option, and I've done the same thing in the past.However, consider how you would seed teams if you had 16:1 vs. 162 vs. 153 vs. 144 vs. 135 vs. 126 vs. 117 vs. 108 vs. 9And if you don't re-seed, you'd have 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5 with the chances of 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 in the semi-finals.This is how the NCAA B-Ball tourney works.So, what's my point?If you follow the above logic as being "more fair", realign as:1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 122, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11Don't agree? Use the pick calculator and see if this is "equal value".

 

[crowe1130]

I'm also in a long-established "friends" league with similarly-entrenched AFC/NFC traditions. I tried to get the owners to go for a random realignment every year, but it was not well received at all.

Ultimately I got a compromise through. The teams that finish last in each division switch places the following year. It's not realignment, but it does mix things up a little bit. It also keeps bad teams trying hard at the end of the season, as no one wants the indignity of being booted to the opposite division.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

My local redraft draws draft positions randomly. We then assign divisions by first round draft spot: picks 1-4 in one, 5-8 in another, & 9-12 in the 3rd division. There always seems to be one division weaker than the others, but that's more due to who's in it than where the picks are. It's odd, but our random draw always seems to put our 2 or 3 weakest drafters together :cueTwilightZonemusic:

 

[delusional]

In my 12 man its set up

Div 1

picks 1 4 6 10

Div 2

picks 2 5 7 11

Div 2

picks 3 6 9 12

Basically look at your draft list and give the order of Div 1, Div 2, Div 3 etc etc

So far the div are ever outside the McNabb owner

Div 1

4-3 / 4-3 / 2-4-1 / 1-6

Div 2

3-2-2 / 4-3 / 4-3 / 3-4

Div 3

6-1 / 4-3 / 3-4 / 2-4-1

 

[Arm Chair Express]

I already said why we have the divisions. It's to create a NFC/AFC feel in our Super Bowl each year. Plus, we're all childhood friends and certain rivalries have been paired up in the divisions so they can play twice a year and possibly in the playoffs.It's a fun league of old friends, not some cut-thoat internet league of strangers.I'm probably most interested in hearing your thoughts on how I could approach the subject of realignment without pissing anyone off.

We draw cards for divisions at our draft every year. We came to a point where nobody wanted to trade with anyone in their division, so we implement this a couple of years ago and it has worked out just fine. You'll find your rivalries are still there, they may only play once a year instead of twice.

 

[Warhogs]

My feelings are screw the AFC-NFC division feel. We switched this year to no more divisions and just taking the 6 top finishers for the playoffs. I am very happy we made the change.

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

Division Winners get playoff spots, then the four best records regardless of division gets the other slots

 

[trogg78]

I like divisions a lot. I have also noticed that the worst division last year can be the best division this year, even in a dynasty league.

 

[roadkill1292]

Each year four different owners hold a division draft for teams in our league. It's one of the preseason highlights and everybody loves it. Started four years ago and there's no going back now.

 

[trogg78]

My feelings are screw the AFC-NFC division feel. We switched this year to no more divisions and just taking the 6 top finishers for the playoffs. I am very happy we made the change.

I am very happy I am not in your league.

 

[Jeff Pasquino]

Each year four different owners hold a division draft for teams in our league. It's one of the preseason highlights and everybody loves it. Started four years ago and there's no going back now.

That sounds interesting. I can envision a schoolyard pickup game, but you're picking the worst guys first...It would be more interesting if you picked the other divisional teams for them.

 

[BuckeyeArt]

It would be more interesting if you picked the other divisional teams for them.

That would be fun, especially with 3 divisions. Drafting the divisions provides a little incentive for the bottom teams to get better - you don't want to get singled out every year.

 

[roadkill1292]

Each year four different owners hold a division draft for teams in our league. It's one of the preseason highlights and everybody loves it. Started four years ago and there's no going back now.

That sounds interesting. I can envision a schoolyard pickup game, but you're picking the worst guys first...It would be more interesting if you picked the other divisional teams for them.

That sounds deliciously evil. But what we find is that it gives everyone a wide range of choices to craft their division the way they want. Some automatically pick their best friend/closest rival (keeping those rivalries intact seems to be pretty important for most people), some pick the worst teams as you suggested and some actually choose the strongest division possible for the challenge. The divisions never shake down in a logical manner, at least in a way that I predicted they would. It's great fun for all.

 

[u999spf]

Maybe you could just add in double headers each week and get rid of the divisions all together.

You will end up playing all teams at least 2 times and a few teams 3 times. That is enough to keep those rivalries alive.

 

[perry147]

Division Winners get playoff spots, then the four best records regardless of division gets the other slots

This is the way the league I commish works.

 

[This_Guy]

Division A vastly outperformed division B last year, and the same is happening again this year. Several owners in division A are concerned about this lack of balance because 3 teams from each division automatically make the playoffs. We set it up that way to have an NFC/AFC feel when we look back at our history several years from now.As commish, I spent a lot of time trying to craft our rules to make this a very fun and competitive league. I'm worried these unbalanced divisions could frustrate some owners to the point of quitting. I'd prefer not to reshuffle the divisions based on "skill", but what other way could there be to solve this problem? If you were in division B, how would you feel about being sent to the other division because you, in essence, suck? (hypothetically of course, since all FBGs win their leagues every year)

Knowing how your league is set up would really allow people to offer you some more insightful suggestions. With this info someone may be able to make suggestions to tweak your current system so that it creates a better competitive balance while still keeping the conference system you like.How many teams are in your league?How many divisions?Do you play each team once? Division teams twice? Do you not play some teams?Is this a Redraft, Keeper or Dynasty?How is draft order determined?This may help some people offer better solutions to your situation.

 

[fsufan]

I have been running a 10 team dynasty league for 9 years now. This issue was brought up in the off season. I am in a weak division(I am 7-0) and the other division is VERY tough. I did not want to change the division either. I decided to leave them as is for this year and see what happens. I would not be surprised if this issue was not brought up again before the 07 season.

 

[fsufan]

Division Winners get playoff spots, then the four best records regardless of division gets the other slots

here is how my 10 team league is set up for playoffs2 divisions, 5 teams eachtop 3 in each division make playoffsdivision winners get first round bye2nd and 3rd place teams play week 14winners of week 14 playoff game plays division winner week 15I wanted to change to this playoff format but the league voted it down. I still think it is the best way to get the top 6 teams in the playoffs each year without changing the divisions. keep divisions the sametop 2 teams in each division make playoffs4th and 5th teams are determined by the rest of field, best recordteams are seeded 1-6 for playoffs- division winner are 1st and 2nd seeds and get first round byeweek 14- # 3 vs #6, #4 vs #5week 15- #1 seed vs lowest ranked seed, #2 seed vs highest ranked seedweek 16 superbowl

 

[Drinkin Buddy]

Our league has 4 divisions of 3. This allows you to play each team in your division twice and all other teams once (13 week regular season). We are a group of long-time friends and we don't change up the divisions because of rivalries. The top team from each division makes the playoffs with 4 wildcards based on the next 4 best records, pts for being the tie-breaker.

I would suggest scrapping the 2 conferences thsi way the best teams make the playoffs.

 

[turnit643]

It's a fun league of old friends, not some cut-thoat internet league of strangers.

I'm probably most interested in hearing your thoughts on how I could approach the subject of realignment without pissing anyone off.

To approach it without pissing anyone off (without saying "one division sucks and the other is good, so we need to change"), you might present the idea of realignment simply as a fun way to shake up the league. Have everyone vote on whatever realignmnet strategy you think is best - I'd suggest a draw from a hat. Do it at the year-end gathering or at your next draft or at some off-season BBQ. If they vote to keep the divisions as they are, then it probably wasn't a huge problem to most of them anyway.We realign every other year, it just adds some spice and the league stays very competitive.

 

[AcerFC]

My feelings are screw the AFC-NFC division feel. We switched this year to no more divisions and just taking the 6 top finishers for the playoffs. I am very happy we made the change.

we did the same exact thing this year and we like it as well. Now everyone plays each team once, we have a rival week in week 12 and week 13 I just randomely pick teams to play each other. Now there is no inherant edge that anyone has

 

[GregR_2]

I personally don't like realigning divisions every year. I have enjoyed the ongoing rivalries that have been created by having the same divisions every year.

And at least in my experience, these things don't stay constant. In one of my leagues for 2 or 3 years my division was viewed as a doormat other than my own team. Then for two years we ended up having 3 of the top 4 scoring teams in my 4 team division. Now we're back to doormat status as the other 3 teams are 9th, 11th, and 12th in scoring.

If the AFC/NFC feel is what's important then if it were me I'd leave it the way it is. Though, I don't think it's THAT important personally. I would normally go with division winners and the rest wildcards, but if you want to keep some of that AFC/NFC thing alive, go with what others have said, 4 division teams and 2 wildcards.

 

[MelvinTScupper]

Leave it alone.

 

[The Gator]

This is an option, and I've done the same thing in the past.However, consider how you would seed teams if you had 16:1 vs. 162 vs. 153 vs. 144 vs. 135 vs. 126 vs. 117 vs. 108 vs. 9And if you don't re-seed, you'd have 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5 with the chances of 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 in the semi-finals.This is how the NCAA B-Ball tourney works.So, what's my point?If you follow the above logic as being "more fair", realign as:1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 122, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11Don't agree? Use the pick calculator and see if this is "equal value".

This is another good option. The only thing is that I would want the #1 team from the previous year in the toughest division. This is how we did my main league last year with three divisions.Div-1TEAM 1TEAM 4TEAM 7TEAM 10Div-2TEAM 2TEAM 5TEAM 8TEAM 11Div-3TEAM 3TEAM 6TEAM 9TEAM 12I won this league last year and that Div-1 is tough. Three of the teams are over .500. I like this set up for a three division league.Team 9 has had a decent year but because he is not in a dominating division he is 4-3 and more active than he was last year. I just think it is a good way to always keep the league fair and as balanced as you can.

 

[redman]

Perhaps if you built a giant badger . . .

 

[Mordraken]

My league is also a long-time league which turned keeper-contract about 5 years ago. We have 3 divisions of 4 teams where the top team in each division makes the playoffs along with the highest scoring team (as a wildcard).

At the end of each year, we realign the teams in the divisions so that the top division has the 4 strongest teams, the middle division has the next 4 strongest and the last division has the weakest teams.

Why? Because it's a keeper league and this is a *FOR FUN* league, we wanted to make sure if someone had a team that was not very good and were in a division with 2-3 very good teams, they would have virtually no chance of winning. With this system, the top division is VERY competitive, usually having 2-3 of the strongest teams in the league. However, with the low division holding the 4 weakest teams, then no matter what happens you still have a chance to make the playoffs even if you have a weak team, since you have a slightly weaker schedule.

So essentially we set up a system like yours by design. Yes, those weak teams usually get eliminated in the 1st round of the playoffs, but at least they have a chance to win their money back (division winners win their entry fee back).