Taking fantasy schedule out of fantasy football (1 Viewer)

[rawdog]

Accepting fantasy football is a lot about luck, I still hate it when I (or another team) put up 130 pts. and lose The flipside being scoring 59 pts and getting a win. Inevitably, over the course of a season, these things do NOT even out, and if 6 teams make the playoffs, there's alway one or two that shouldn't have.

So I was wondering if anybody's ever done a weekly points ranking, meaning in a ten-team league, you put up the third most pts. you go 7-2 for that week.

It just seems like this way, you get what you deserve based on the point total you put up. And the luck of who's on what bye is also mitigated.

Also, does anybody know any sites that have this sort of scoring as an option? I know on Sportsline, if you go under Standings, Breakdown, you can get this info but it's not formatted as true standings.

 

[David Dodds]

Accepting fantasy football is a lot about luck, I still hate it when I (or another team) put up 130 pts. and lose The flipside being scoring 59 pts and getting a win. Inevitably, over the course of a season, these things do NOT even out, and if 6 teams make the playoffs, there's alway one or two that shouldn't have.

So I was wondering if anybody's ever done a weekly points ranking, meaning in a ten-team league, you put up the third most pts. you go 7-2 for that week.

It just seems like this way, you get what you deserve based on the point total you put up. And the luck of who's on what bye is also mitigated.

Also, does anybody know any sites that have this sort of scoring as an option? I know on Sportsline, if you go under Standings, Breakdown, you can get this info but it's not formatted as true standings.

You can score it this way using My Fantasy League.

 

[thayman]

Accepting fantasy football is a lot about luck, I still hate it when I (or another team) put up 130 pts. and lose The flipside being scoring 59 pts and getting a win. Inevitably, over the course of a season, these things do NOT even out, and if 6 teams make the playoffs, there's alway one or two that shouldn't have.

So I was wondering if anybody's ever done a weekly points ranking, meaning in a ten-team league, you put up the third most pts. you go 7-2 for that week.

It just seems like this way, you get what you deserve based on the point total you put up. And the luck of who's on what bye is also mitigated.

Also, does anybody know any sites that have this sort of scoring as an option? I know on Sportsline, if you go under Standings, Breakdown, you can get this info but it's not formatted as true standings.

That's one of my favorite parts.

 

[roadkill1292]

Of course this is a more fair method (as is total points) but, if my local league is an indicator, be prepared for lots of resistance to making this change.

 

[trader jake]

it takes a lot of excitement out of a league because you won't live or die with those one or two guys playing on MNF etc because it's only one W or L out of 9

i'd rather have the 2nd highest score and lose occassionally than take some interest away in specific player performances for the week (mine AND my opponents)

too much of a rotisserie baseball feel imo - good luck

 

[David Yudkin]

Why not just go with total points scored for the year instead of wins and losses? Of course, you won't get 11 other guys to switch to it after the fact, so you might have to start a new league.

Another wrinkle you might consider is best ball scoring, where teams don't have to submit rosters and the highest player at each position counts each week per your weekly starting requirements. That way if you leave the guy with 3 TD that week on the bench it won't cause you to slash your wrists.

 

[mueller54]

We do it in our ten team leauge and I absolutely love it. The high score goes 9-0 and the low score 0-9.

The argument that it takes the fun out just isn't true. In a head to head league if you're getting drilled 130-40 you stop watching your guys or even caring for the rest of Sunday/Monday. In the all play format that 40 points might beat out the 39 point guy, so you'd go 1-8 vs 0-9. Every little point counts and can be the difference in a 4-5 week or 6-3 week.

In the end the best teams will make the playoffs and takes the luck factor out as much as possible. Some people like the luck factor and I do to when your league fee is 20 bucks. Most leagues cost 100+ dollars and losing a 120-119 game in head to head isn't that much fun.

Just my .02

 

[Verbal Kint]

We go HTH, but a large part of the total pot goes to the overall points champion.

 

[mueller54]

it also forces you to follow everyone's team/players which makes the weekend more fun

the drawback of going with just total points once you fall behind it's tough to catch back up. going week to week total points keeps it interesting for all

 

[Franknbeans]

We go HTH, but a large part of the total pot goes to the overall points champion.

Ditto50% total points

30% playoff champ (HTH)

20% 2nd place total points

 

[Musesboy]

There is something to be said for a HTH format but I also like planning my draft around the weeks I need to be strong. Divisional games are vital as the winner makes the playoffs, so it's an advantage not to have your better players on a bye that week if possible. It can be addressed through the draft or by trading.

 

[Ozymandias]

I hope your next campaign will be to change the football from a prolate spheroid to a soccer ball. I just hate it when somebody fumbles and the ball bounces around and no one seems to get a handle on it.

Head to head is how the NFL is. On any given Sunday, and all of that. Luck is a part of the game. Scheduling plays a big part of it, as do refereeing, line judging, instant replay etc. In one league, a few years ago, I was the third highest point scorer on the year, and ended up bottom in the league. I took a lot of stick, but got first rookie pick the next year, and in what only could be described as a combination of luck and genius, took Willis McGahee and won the league.

Them's the breaks. Teams end up with more first downs, more yardage and less scoring. I'm fine with HTH.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

We go HTH, but a large part of the total pot goes to the overall points champion.

Ditto50% total points

30% playoff champ (HTH)

20% 2nd place total points

Give out cash and accolades for highest points and superbowl winner.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

Why not just go with total points scored for the year instead of wins and losses? Of course, you won't get 11 other guys to switch to it after the fact, so you might have to start a new league.

Another wrinkle you might consider is best ball scoring, where teams don't have to submit rosters and the highest player at each position counts each week per your weekly starting requirements. That way if you leave the guy with 3 TD that week on the bench it won't cause you to slash your wrists.

best ball is fine for your leagues with your virtual friends, where you dont have alot of time to manage 20 teams, but in local leagues with tons and tons of trash talking, there is nothing like throwing Brandon Lloyd in the line-up and having him blow up for 3 td's, or over coaching it, benching a stud and it costing you the week.part of the game IMO

 

[Jazzman]

Accepting fantasy football is a lot about luck, I still hate it when I (or another team) put up 130 pts. and lose The flipside being scoring 59 pts and getting a win. Inevitably, over the course of a season, these things do NOT even out, and if 6 teams make the playoffs, there's alway one or two that shouldn't have.

So I was wondering if anybody's ever done a weekly points ranking, meaning in a ten-team league, you put up the third most pts. you go 7-2 for that week.

A similar option that may be more palatible is this; each week, give the teams in the top half of scoring a win and the teams in the bottom half a loss. Let's say in Week 1 that the scoring is 130, 120, 117, 116, 116, 101, 98, 97, 93, 81. Everyone scoring above 99 this week starts the season 1-0 and those who score less start 0-1. There's a lot more on the line each Monday Night this way that with what you suggest, and the excitement will not suffer in the name of fairness.

 

[The Jerk]

We go HTH, but a large part of the total pot goes to the overall points champion.

Ditto50% total points

30% playoff champ (HTH)

20% 2nd place total points

Give out cash and accolades for highest points and superbowl winner.

If you want to go one step further, add in small weekly prizes for the top 3 teams. It takes some of the sting out of those weeks where you score 2nd or 3rd but lose. Another side benefit of the weekly points prizes is extra interest on many SNF and MNF games when the head-to-head matchup is already clinched.In local/friend leagues or any league where people have known each other for a long time, I find very little motivation for being the "fantasy bowl" champion is needed beyond sheer bragging rights. So the prize for the head to head champ can be smaller, allowing more for the season total points leaders and weekly points leaders.

Of course, the hardest part is getting changes like this approved by the owners in your league...

Good luck!

 

[Razon]

There is always the Antsports method. Where you use a point system. You get points for a win and points based on your score ranking. So if you were the 2nd highest score for the week you are still getting something.

 

[PsychoMan]

We do it in our ten team leauge and I absolutely love it. The high score goes 9-0 and the low score 0-9.

The argument that it takes the fun out just isn't true. In a head to head league if you're getting drilled 130-40 you stop watching your guys or even caring for the rest of Sunday/Monday. In the all play format that 40 points might beat out the 39 point guy, so you'd go 1-8 vs 0-9. Every little point counts and can be the difference in a 4-5 week or 6-3 week.

In the end the best teams will make the playoffs and takes the luck factor out as much as possible. Some people like the luck factor and I do to when your league fee is 20 bucks. Most leagues cost 100+ dollars and losing a 120-119 game in head to head isn't that much fun.

Just my .02

this idea is pretty cool ... how do you do the playoffs for leagues setup like this?

 

[Toomuchnv]

In my 12 team league we give the last 2 wildcard playoff spots to the highest scoring teams regardless of record. Tends to take some of the luck factor out of it and prevents a VERY good team with bad luck from not making the playoffs.

Interesting as it is, one of those points teams has always made it to our Superbowl since the league has been up and running with this rule for the last 5 years.

 

[JimmyD]

You could do a 3 system ranking without divisons.

3 Catergories - H2H record, Overall Record vs all other teams, total points

#1 in all catergories gets 12pts each, #12 Team gets 1 point each...

Top 4 teams goes to playoffs

Any ties goes to total points scored

Example, Team A has best H2H record, 3rd bes overall, 2nd in points = 33 total points.

 

[mueller54]

We do it in our ten team leauge and I absolutely love it.  The high score goes 9-0 and the low score 0-9.

The argument that it takes the fun out just isn't true.  In a head to head league if you're getting drilled 130-40 you stop watching your guys or even caring for the rest of Sunday/Monday.  In the all play format that 40 points might beat out the 39 point guy, so you'd go 1-8 vs 0-9.  Every little point counts and can be the difference in a 4-5 week or 6-3 week.

In the end the best teams will make the playoffs and takes the luck factor out as much as possible.  Some people like the luck factor and I do to when your league fee is 20 bucks.  Most leagues cost 100+ dollars and losing a 120-119 game in head to head isn't that much fun.

Just my .02

this idea is pretty cool ... how do you do the playoffs for leagues setup like this?

Since we only have ten teams, six team make the playoffs. The 2 division winners get byes and then the other 4 teams play with the 2 highest scorers advancing. Same thing happens in the next round the 2 bye teams and the 2 high scorers play with the 2 highest scoring teams advancing. The playoffs have a little more luck involved, but most savvy fantasy players realize this and look for some guys with easier playoff schedules. It takes out the scheduling factor again which is nice

 

[posty]

Accepting fantasy football is 100% luck

Fixed.

 

[GregR_2]

A little more realistic option to get leagues to try is to just schedule double and/or triple-headers. One of my league has 4 weeks where you play triple-headers against all teams in your division, and the remaining weeks you play double-headers against out-of-division teams.

The standings were pretty close to the all-play record, but you still only have 2-3 games a week so can still cheer for meaningful games instead of you against the whole league every week.

 

[Happy]

MyFantasyLeague.com supports 3 variations of this scheduling, in addition to total points based leagues

1. Head to head Schedule H2H (traditional)

2. Double headers Schedule - play two teams each week (or Triple Headers)

3. All Play Schedule (play every team each week)

Double headers and Triple headers are just derivation of the All play scheme.

One of my leagues did Double headers last year and I thought it added a lot to the excitement. It certainly reduced the cases where you scored 2nd highest and ended up 0-1 for that week.

I have been a proponent of All Play, but people are resistent to doing it. They always mention the same things "That's not how the NFL is..." and "That's how Fantasy Football is played", "This is the luck factor", "It takes the fun out of it"

Let's break this down a bit...

"That's not how the NFL is..."

Last time I checked, no NFL team had both Peyton Manning and Larry Johnson, but that's a possibility in Fantasty Football.

How many NFL teams win a game on yardage points or points per reception alone if they don't score Field Goals or TDs?

Until my starting defense DT can stop all your offensive players in head to head, the argument that Fantasy football must be played head to head is hollow. This is an impossibility of course, because each team can have starting RBs and WRs from different teams.

If you want to play like the NFL, then you shouldn't play in a league with yardage points or points per receiption, or in a league with defensive team points other than TDs. Why not play in a TD only league where all TDs are worth 6 points, where all field goals are worth 3 points no matter the distance if you want the purity of the game?

"That's how Fantasy Football is played"

When Fantasy started out, it didn't have many of the rules that are common today.

Fantasy football is a game on it's own, with it's own rules around statistics that evolve over time. Just because it's been done like that for a while doesn't mean it always should be.

"This is the luck factor if Fantasy Football"

There's plenty of luck in the game already. Does a player get injured, does he fall down on the 1 yard line, etc. The luck should be on the NFL playing field, not administrative luck on who the Commish had you play that week in your league website H2H.

"It takes the fun out of it"

There's a lot of arguments around taking the fun out of it. If playing H2H in a 10 team league is fun, then shouldn't playing 9 H2H games be 9 times the fun? You can play that one guy in the league you want to beat every week.

Sunday night Football and Monday night football bring on a whole new element and excitement. You might be done with your players for the week, but there will definitely be some teams that will have players in the MNF game, and their performance will affect if you go 9-0 or 5-4 or 0-9.

Most leagues with Double headers/Triple Headers/All play revert to a H2H in the playoffs....An interesting variation might be to take the top 4 teams for the playoffs, and do all play for 2 weeks until you have a champion. Week 1 of the playoffs would take the top 2 scoring teams to the championship, and the championship will end up being H2H just because there's only 2 teams left.

 

[-OZ-]

Just an idea, but why not give the division winners and the top points champs in the playoffs?

Say you have 12 teams, 3 divisions.

1-3 seeds: 3 division champs

4-6 seeds: top 3 overall scorers (or could use MFL's "play all" scoring) enter the playoffs

 

[guderian]

We play two games each week:

1. H2H

2. Against the rest of the league with the top 7 scorers getting an extra win and the bottom 10 scorers getting an extra loss.

This method preserves most of the fun of a pure H2H league, but also offers a mechanism for mitigating some of the luck factor in scheduling.

 

[thayman]

It's all personal preference. Those All-Play formats can be fun, personally I don't enjoy them quite as much as Head to Head, but hey that's my preference. Yeah it sucks when you score 200 pts, and the guy your playing manages 201. But don't you love it when your the guy winning by 1?? Nothing more fun then when you have an absolutly horrible week, all your guys play like crap, but the other team does too, and you squeak out a win.....

It goes both ways, both can be alot of fun.