Two-Week Playoff 'Series' (1 Viewer)

[Jersey35]

One of the most frustrating things about fantasy football for many owners is the 'one and done' aspect of the playoffs. Particularly if you don't award a bye to your top seed(s), the playoffs can be a bit of a crap shoot for many leagues.

My league is always trying new things, and last year we implemented a two-week cumulative playoff series for each playoff round. We wanted to de-emphasize a single lucky week while reinforcing and rewarding attention to depth on rosters. Here's our playoff layout:

1) 4 teams in each playoff bracket, Superbowl Bracket, Pride Bracket, and ToiletBowl Bracket.

2) Top seed in each bracket chooses their 1st round opponent

3) 1st round of the playoffs consists of a matchup in week 14 plus a second matchup between the same two teams in week 16, both scores are added together with overall total points winner advancing

4) 2nd round repeats this process through week 16/17

The reaction league-wide has been a resounding success. The enjoyment of a come from behind victory in one of the brackets was amazing last season. Nobody felt like they 'got screwed' by a bad week, and playing into week 17 added another week of enjoyment, while adding another layer of complexity and an opportunity for key roster depth to play a larger role while some 'stud' players were sitting.

All in all, if you've got a league open to trying new things, I highly recommend giving playoff series' a try! I don't think we'll ever go back.

 

[CalBear]

We've used week 16+17 as the championship and third-place games for years. It does create some oddness as some of the studs sit in week 17, but overall I think it's a positive. Plus it gives you another week of the fantasy season, which has to be a good thing, right?

 

[Jersey35]

We've used week 16+17 as the championship and third-place games for years. It does create some oddness as some of the studs sit in week 17, but overall I think it's a positive. Plus it gives you another week of the fantasy season, which has to be a good thing, right?

If I may ask, how long have you been doing it, and do you have any statistics for the favored team winning vs the underdog?

 

[Quibbler]

Excluding letting the 1 seed choose its opponent, that's exactly how ESPN standard leagues work. I'd assume they did a fair bit of focus group testing in picking that format.

I've been trying to persuade my leagues to switch to 2-week playoff matchups for a few years, but to no avail. They seem to like the unpredictable nature of the 1 week matchup.

 

[CalBear]

We've used week 16+17 as the championship and third-place games for years. It does create some oddness as some of the studs sit in week 17, but overall I think it's a positive. Plus it gives you another week of the fantasy season, which has to be a good thing, right?

If I may ask, how long have you been doing it, and do you have any statistics for the favored team winning vs the underdog?

Since at least 2001 when I entered the league, but I don't have an easy way to figure out the favorite vs. underdog over that time span. I'd say, I can't think of more than once or twice where the absences of key players in week 17 made a big difference.