Your league's rules to get "best" teams in the playoffs (1 Viewer)

[Time Kibitzer]

This "problem" has such an easy fix:

INCREASE STARTING LINEUP SIZE.

Based on OP's post, I'm guessing the starting lineup size for that league including K, D/ST and everything is somewhere in the range of 8; it needs to be bumped up to 10 at minimum, though it should be even higher than that really. And if you really want to separate the men from the boys you should add IDP, and I'm talking a big IDP starting lineup that's not far off the size of your offense starting lineup, if not equal to it.

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

Like many leagues, we give a wild-card spot to the team that has scored the most points that isn't in the playoffs. That helps a lot.

You can't play defense in fantasy football. You can't stop your opponent from scoring. All you can do is score as much as you can and compare that score to another team trying to score as much as they can. Fantasy football is NOTHING like real football. The more we try to make it look like the real game, the more it falls apart.

Head to head is fun, but that's the only positive about it. But for most people, that's why we play so that's good enough. But let's not pretend it does anything to ensure the most-deserving teams make the playoffs. It adds a random element to the game that helps inferior teams gain some success over superior teams. But again, that's part of the fun.

More than 99 percent of the time I could take the team with the best record in a league, change nothing but the schedule and keep them out of the playoffs. Rosters, lineups, trades and waiver moves for all teams remain exactly the same. Nothing changes but the schedule. That's how important the random schedule is.

Giving a wild-card spot to the remaining team with the most points helps eliminate the "I just had bad luck" excuse. If you have a crappy record and you don't have the most points, you don't deserve a spot.

 

[fbelange]

Im the #3 point scorer, and only back by about 25 points. Im 3-4 and last in my division. The #9 scorer in the league is in the other division and currently 5-2 and in the playoff picture. LOL

Someone whos an advocate for pure H2H with division leaders deciding playoff bracket explain how this is fair

 

[weebs]

Im the #3 point scorer, and only back by about 25 points. Im 3-4 and last in my division. The #9 scorer in the league is in the other division and currently 5-2 and in the playoff picture. LOL

Someone whos an advocate for pure H2H with division leaders deciding playoff bracket explain how this is fair

Learn2outscore your opponent?

 

[bagger]

12 team league. 3 divisions of 4 teams.

3 division winners based on hth make it in, wild card is highest points scored who is not a division winner.

 

[Limp Ditka]

Dumb. In real football its head to head and if you don't out score the other team you lose. I don't see why magic fb should be different.

Let me know the next time your magic football players can physically line up and beat your opponents magic football players.The best way to determine the best team is by doing an All-Play format. But like weebs here most people think that h2h is more like 'real football.'

You must also play ppr

No I don't. Why does that matter?

Your reasoning sounds like someone who would want to award points for catching a ball for 0 yards.

Weebs, do your leagues reward points for yards? Or just TDs?

Yes. Why wouldnt it? Yards gets a team closer to the end zone. Catching a pass for .4 yards does not deserve points.

So yards gets a team closer to the end zone, but a portion of a single yard doesn't?

Got it

 

[petenice15]

After having one othe worst teams in the league win the championship last year, we added another flex spot to our 14 person dynasty league. With 10 starters now, it seems to have helped the deeper teams be more consistent.

 

[fbelange]

Im the #3 point scorer, and only back by about 25 points. Im 3-4 and last in my division. The #9 scorer in the league is in the other division and currently 5-2 and in the playoff picture. LOL

Someone whos an advocate for pure H2H with division leaders deciding playoff bracket explain how this is fair

Learn2outscore your opponent?

Wow, never thought about that one.

Week 1: L 115-113

Week 2: L 121 -117

Week 3: W 111-97

....

This Week: L 127-123

Its all crap. 3/4 losses I was the #2 scorer. Not complaining, I knew the rules going in. Just giving some people perspective and trying to convince future Commisioners to add something in the rules to protect against a #2 or #3 total scorer from missing the playoffs entirely.

 

[weebs]

Im the #3 point scorer, and only back by about 25 points. Im 3-4 and last in my division. The #9 scorer in the league is in the other division and currently 5-2 and in the playoff picture. LOL

Someone whos an advocate for pure H2H with division leaders deciding playoff bracket explain how this is fair

Learn2outscore your opponent?

Wow, never thought about that one.Week 1: L 115-113

Week 2: L 121 -117

Week 3: W 111-97

....

This Week: L 127-123

Its all crap. 3/4 losses I was the #2 scorer. Not complaining, I knew the rules going in. Just giving some people perspective and trying to convince future Commisioners to add something in the rules to protect against a #2 or #3 total scorer from missing the playoffs entirely.

If you ain't first in hth your last. Manage your team better.

 

[ajm27501]

I think the biggest issue with the OP's league is that the divisions only have 3 teams. My personal preference is no divisions, but if you do use divisions in a 12 team league, having 4 divisions will almost certainly lead to inferior teams making the playoffs due to being in a bad division. If there are only 2 divisions, it reduces that likelihood.

Ultimately, there's enough randomness in H2H to begin with that to add in another luck factor of being in the "easy" division really increases the Luck/Skill ratio.

 

[spodog]

INCREASE STARTING LINEUP SIZE.

By what % do each of you envision that every additional starting lineup spot decreases the role of luck and increases the role of skill ?

For instance, if a 4 player starting lineup is assumed to produce outcomes that are 50% based upon luck and 50% based upon team owner skill, what is the ratio by the time you get to a 9 player lineup? 10? 12?

 

[Bishman]

- Use FAAB Bids for waivers

- Add more flex positions

- Recruit highly skillful owners

 

[Dentist]

12 team league

2 divisions of 6 (your 4 divisions of 3 is a real problem because then every division winner "has" to make it)

6 make playoffs (it should be 4, but really let's be real if you don't have it at 6 then too many people are out of it too fast in a 13 week season)

Division winners get Byes

3rd seed - next best record

4th seed - next best record

5/6 - we use CBS and they have this thing called power ranking which is a composite score of your record, all-play record, and points scored. The highest teams in the power rankings that aren't yet in the playoffs get these spots.

90% of the time this puts the best 6 teams in the playoffs. (sample size - 15 years of doing it this way)

 

[BroadwayG]

Everyone gets into the playoffs.

 

[Ghost Rider]

6 make playoffs (it should be 4, but really let's be real if you don't have it at 6 then too many people are out of it too fast in a 13 week season)

That's true, which is why I love playing three opponents a week. You are never really out of it until December. Hell, even if you are sitting at 6-15 right now, all it takes is three good weeks and you could be back at .500 and fighting for a playoff spot during the stretch run.

 

[massraider]

Dumb. In real football its head to head and if you don't out score the other team you lose. I don't see why magic fb should be different.

Let me know the next time your magic football players can physically line up and beat your opponents magic football players.The best way to determine the best team is by doing an All-Play format. But like weebs here most people think that h2h is more like 'real football.'

You must also play ppr

No I don't. Why does that matter?

Your reasoning sounds like someone who would want to award points for catching a ball for 0 yards.

Weebs, do your leagues reward points for yards? Or just TDs?

Yes. Why wouldnt it? Yards gets a team closer to the end zone. Catching a pass for .4 yards does not deserve points.

In real football, you don't get points for yards.

Your league is dumb.

 

[weebs]

Dumb. In real football its head to head and if you don't out score the other team you lose. I don't see why magic fb should be different.

Let me know the next time your magic football players can physically line up and beat your opponents magic football players.The best way to determine the best team is by doing an All-Play format. But like weebs here most people think that h2h is more like 'real football.'

You must also play ppr

No I don't. Why does that matter?

Your reasoning sounds like someone who would want to award points for catching a ball for 0 yards.

Weebs, do your leagues reward points for yards? Or just TDs?

Yes. Why wouldnt it? Yards gets a team closer to the end zone. Catching a pass for .4 yards does not deserve points.

In real football, you don't get points for yards. Your league is dumb.

Yds leads to points. Catches for zero yards does not. Unless of course you have a kicker who can kick a 90 yarder.

 

[massraider]

Yds leads to points. Catches for zero yards does not. Unless of course you have a kicker who can kick a 90 yarder.

I'm not arguing PPR.

I'm pointing out that fantasy football that you play has little in common with real football, so using 'real football does it', as an argument is dumb.

 

[Ted Mullins]

I know some leagues have "Victory Points" where you get points for scoring say the seconds highest for the week and losing your H2H match up that same week and then some combination of H2H and Victory points decides playoff teams. Other leagues go to a pure total points system to determine playoff teams.

We do something like this. 10 teams, head to head each week, one win for the head to head matchup, and one "win" for being in the top half of the league in scoring each week. Each counts equally towards the standings. Everyone has liked it, keeps the fun of head to head while rewarding teams that have a good week that run into bad luck. Only downside is we have not found anywhere that offers this, so we keep track of the standings manually.

 

[Cheesedawg]

Victory Points solves everything. You still get the fun of a HTH game each week, plus you are effectively competing against all other teams each week too. So on Monday night, there is still drama even if your HTH game is long since decided.

Total points scored for the season breaks the ties in the standings, which makes it more likely that the best teams get into the playoffs. We do not use divisions or conferences...that adds to the randomness which penalizes deserving teams. Top 6 make the playoffs.

Our Victory Points work this way: Top four scoring teams each week get two points, the middle four in scoring get one point. Bottom four get no points. Winner of each HTH game gets two points.

So everybody is happy. The people who love the old-fashioned HTH get a game each week, the people who hate the randomness of HTH and divisions/conferences are taken care of, and there is the added bonus of getting to root for and against other owners right through the last NFL game of the week.

We switched our league from CBS to MFL because MFL will accommodate Victory Points...plus it was cheaper.

 

[Fantasy Benchwarmer]

Best League Set Up, Rules and Best Playoff Race

Our league has 12 teams that is dynasty. 164 contract years with 128 million salary cap. 60 man rosters with 8 man practice roster. Start 25 players each week. 1 QB RB/WR/TE-start 5 1 pk, 1punter, 2 de, 1 dt, 2 olb, 2 mlb(can do 4-3) 2 cb, 2s 1 head coach 5 Offensive linemen (1 c, 2 g, 2t)

IR - player can go on IR and stay there whole year even if they come back. Keeps teams picking up players through the playoffs for following year.

League is free. Commish plays dues on MFL.

2 Divisions - 6 teams total make playoffs

2 top in each division make playoffs

Next highest points in each division

Scoring and number of starters keep 8-10 teams in playoff hunt every year. One guy or even two having bad games doesn't mean your team loses.

I know some will say overkill but its a fun league for those that want to do some homework. I find this league helps owners with their other leagues since they know more about every NFL team including Offensive line starters.

Playoff seeding is always hard in FF but by allowing total points leader in each division keep teams interested for final spots.

 

[Yenrub]

Why play a H2H schedule every week, then ignore the results of that H2H schedule to determine which teams make the playoffs only to revert back to a H2H schedule in the playoffs?

 

[Fariq]

Why play a H2H schedule every week, then ignore the results of that H2H schedule to determine which teams make the playoffs only to revert back to a H2H schedule in the playoffs?

Yeah, really.

Either base the playoff spots on record or victory points or all-play or total points. But a combination of two or more of those things come across as really silly. Just my opinion.

 

[Fariq]

Everyone gets into the playoffs.

Hey, everybody! We're all gonna get laid!

 

[Warrior]

Dumb. In real football its head to head and if you don't out score the other team you lose. I don't see why magic fb should be different.

Let me know the next time your magic football players can physically line up and beat your opponents magic football players.The best way to determine the best team is by doing an All-Play format. But like weebs here most people think that h2h is more like 'real football.'

You must also play ppr

No I don't. Why does that matter?

Your reasoning sounds like someone who would want to award points for catching a ball for 0 yards.

Weebs, do your leagues reward points for yards? Or just TDs?

Yes. Why wouldnt it? Yards gets a team closer to the end zone. Catching a pass for .4 yards does not deserve points.

Lets see how many times you can contradict yourself in a single post.

 

[Warrior]

Why play a H2H schedule every week, then ignore the results of that H2H schedule to determine which teams make the playoffs only to revert back to a H2H schedule in the playoffs?

Straw man.

Nobody is ignoring the results of the H2H schedule. Just making exceptions to them when teams with the most points don't get in. All the other managers with the best H2H records get in.

 

[weebs]

Dumb. In real football its head to head and if you don't out score the other team you lose. I don't see why magic fb should be different.

Let me know the next time your magic football players can physically line up and beat your opponents magic football players.The best way to determine the best team is by doing an All-Play format. But like weebs here most people think that h2h is more like 'real football.'

You must also play ppr

No I don't. Why does that matter?

Your reasoning sounds like someone who would want to award points for catching a ball for 0 yards.

Weebs, do your leagues reward points for yards? Or just TDs?

Yes. Why wouldnt it? Yards gets a team closer to the end zone. Catching a pass for .4 yards does not deserve points.

Lets see how many times you can contradict yourself in a single post.

I meant an additional point for the catch. Getting .04 is fine.

 

[ShamrockPride]

Im the #3 point scorer, and only back by about 25 points. Im 3-4 and last in my division. The #9 scorer in the league is in the other division and currently 5-2 and in the playoff picture. LOL

Someone whos an advocate for pure H2H with division leaders deciding playoff bracket explain how this is fair

I don't remember the 07 Pats or all but one of those '03-'08-ish Colts teams (minus '06 obviously) winning any championships....Scoring doesn't mean anything unless your league wants it to.

Also, on another note, at 3-4 you're hardly in a hole. If 3-4 is the cellar of your division, you'll probably be fine.

 

[Routilla]

Dumb. In real football its head to head and if you don't out score the other team you lose. I don't see why magic fb should be different.

This. End of thread.

 

[Yenrub]

Why play a H2H schedule every week, then ignore the results of that H2H schedule to determine which teams make the playoffs only to revert back to a H2H schedule in the playoffs?

Straw man.

Nobody is ignoring the results of the H2H schedule. Just making exceptions to them when teams with the most points don't get in. All the other managers with the best H2H records get in.

Why make the exception in the 1st place? Why have 5 teams qualify for the playoffs one way and have the 6th qualify in a totally different matter….especially in the leagues that award the last playoff spot to the highest scoring non H2H qualifying team. Not the highest scoring team in the league but the highest scoring non H2H qualifying team.

Reverse straw man

Is it really any better to let a team into the playoffs with say a 6-7 record, scored 1,000 points good enough for 5th in overall scoring over a team with a 7-6 record scored 980 points good enough for 6th in overall scoring ?

 

[Woogie Lee]

12 team league

2 divisions of 6 (your 4 divisions of 3 is a real problem because then every division winner "has" to make it)

6 make playoffs (it should be 4, but really let's be real if you don't have it at 6 then too many people are out of it too fast in a 13 week season)

Division winners get Byes

3rd seed - next best record

4th seed - next best record

5/6 - we use CBS and they have this thing called power ranking which is a composite score of your record, all-play record, and points scored. The highest teams in the power rankings that aren't yet in the playoffs get these spots.

90% of the time this puts the best 6 teams in the playoffs. (sample size - 15 years of doing it this way)

This is the way to go.

 

[cstu]

Why play a H2H schedule every week, then ignore the results of that H2H schedule to determine which teams make the playoffs only to revert back to a H2H schedule in the playoffs?

Straw man.

Nobody is ignoring the results of the H2H schedule. Just making exceptions to them when teams with the most points don't get in. All the other managers with the best H2H records get in.

Why make the exception in the 1st place? Why have 5 teams qualify for the playoffs one way and have the 6th qualify in a totally different matter….especially in the leagues that award the last playoff spot to the highest scoring non H2H qualifying team. Not the highest scoring team in the league but the highest scoring non H2H qualifying team.Reverse straw man

Is it really any better to let a team into the playoffs with say a 6-7 record, scored 1,000 points good enough for 5th in overall scoring over a team with a 7-6 record scored 980 points good enough for 6th in overall scoring ?

It's just a matter of opinion. Personally I prefer to let in the highest scoring team because nothing sucks worse than your team having a good season but missing the playoffs because of bad matchups.

 

[Hooper31]

12 team league. 6 playoff teams.

2 - division winners

3 - next best records

1 - most points scored that isn't already in.

This is what we've done for close to 20 years.

Failed to mention two other items.

1. We expanded the size of our starters to 10 (1QB, 2RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 KR, 1 DF, and 2 FLEX).

2. We play double headers each week.

 

[Bamac]

Thread summary:

OP: What are some good ways to reduce luck in standings?

50% of posts: victory points

25% of posts: total points, all play, double/triple headers; bigger lineups

15% of posts: UR STUPID/BUTTHURT. Head-to-head is the only *real* system.

10% of posts: Hey, 15%, you're being a tool.

 

[Yenrub]

Why play a H2H schedule every week, then ignore the results of that H2H schedule to determine which teams make the playoffs only to revert back to a H2H schedule in the playoffs?

Straw man.

Nobody is ignoring the results of the H2H schedule. Just making exceptions to them when teams with the most points don't get in. All the other managers with the best H2H records get in.

Why make the exception in the 1st place? Why have 5 teams qualify for the playoffs one way and have the 6th qualify in a totally different matter….especially in the leagues that award the last playoff spot to the highest scoring non H2H qualifying team. Not the highest scoring team in the league but the highest scoring non H2H qualifying team.Reverse straw man

Is it really any better to let a team into the playoffs with say a 6-7 record, scored 1,000 points good enough for 5th in overall scoring over a team with a 7-6 record scored 980 points good enough for 6th in overall scoring ?

It's just a matter of opinion. Personally I prefer to let in the highest scoring team because nothing sucks worse than your team having a good season but missing the playoffs because of bad matchups.

Yeah but If you are worried about bad matchups then you probably shouldn’t play in H2H leagues

Bad matchups are always going to happen in H2H leagues

 

[Bishman]

Head-to-head is fine.

There is a reason why we have 13 or 14 weeks season. If you lose a game in a fluke, oh well. It will all balance out towards the end.

If you can't win 7 or 8 games in the season, draft better.

 

[Bamac]

Head-to-head is fine.

There is a reason why we have 13 or 14 weeks season. If you lose a game in a fluke, oh well. It will all balance out towards the end.

If you can't win 7 or 8 games in the season, draft better.

The bolded is simply false. Last season I had the highest total points and best all-play record (0.725) in a league. Actual finish: 5-8, outside the playoffs. If you prefer that luck play a major role in your final standings, fine. I have no problem with that. But don't pretend a 13-game season is enough to even things out.

 

[ragnarok628]

Yds leads to points. Catches for zero yards does not. Unless of course you have a kicker who can kick a 90 yarder.

I'm not arguing PPR.

I'm pointing out that fantasy football that you play has little in common with real football, so using 'real football does it', as an argument is dumb.

fantasy football isn't real football, but it's based on real football. We abstract individual players' success into points to determine which imaginary team's players had the most success that week. So even with the caveat that fantasy football is not the same game as real football, it's still perfectly reasonable to point out that the mere act of catching a football does not in and of itself translate to success on the football field, and therefore should not be abstracted into points indicating success. If the game of fantasy football is intended to reflect actual football, then 'real football does it' as applied to determining player success is not a dumb argument. It's the only argument worth making.

 

[Mr. Irrelevant]

If you prefer that luck play a major role in your final standings, fine. I have no problem with that. But don't pretend a 13-game season is enough to even things out.

Agreed, though I personally have no idea why someone who takes their FF seriously enough to spend time reading and posting in the Shark Pool would prefer a system that over-emphasizes the role of luck to any of untold variations that somewhat de-emphasize it.

It would be as if someone spent hundreds of hours reading all of David Sklansky's poker books and then refused to sit in a game other than five-card draw, deuces and treys wild.

 

[cstu]

Yeah but If you are worried about bad matchups then you probably shouldn’t play in H2H leagues

Bad matchups are always going to happen in H2H leagues

Without H2H there's little drama to the season. The mixture of H2H and a highest points spot helps make things interesting at the end of the season. In one league we have 6 teams within about 80 points of getting the last spot and even a currently 1-6 team could make it with a couple hot weeks.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Head-to-head is fine.

There is a reason why we have 13 or 14 weeks season. If you lose a game in a fluke, oh well. It will all balance out towards the end.

If you can't win 7 or 8 games in the season, draft better.

The bolded is simply false. Last season I had the highest total points and best all-play record (0.725) in a league. Actual finish: 5-8, outside the playoffs.If you prefer that luck play a major role in your final standings, fine. I have no problem with that. But don't pretend a 13-game season is enough to even things out.

 

[Leonidas]

Like many leagues, we give a wild-card spot to the team that has scored the most points that isn't in the playoffs. That helps a lot.

You can't play defense in fantasy football. You can't stop your opponent from scoring. All you can do is score as much as you can and compare that score to another team trying to score as much as they can. Fantasy football is NOTHING like real football. The more we try to make it look like the real game, the more it falls apart.

Head to head is fun, but that's the only positive about it. But for most people, that's why we play so that's good enough. But let's not pretend it does anything to ensure the most-deserving teams make the playoffs. It adds a random element to the game that helps inferior teams gain some success over superior teams. But again, that's part of the fun.

More than 99 percent of the time I could take the team with the best record in a league, change nothing but the schedule and keep them out of the playoffs. Rosters, lineups, trades and waiver moves for all teams remain exactly the same. Nothing changes but the schedule. That's how important the random schedule is.

Giving a wild-card spot to the remaining team with the most points helps eliminate the "I just had bad luck" excuse. If you have a crappy record and you don't have the most points, you don't deserve a spot.

Exactly.

After 6 weeks in one of my leagues, I was 6-0.

I had the fewest points scored in the entire league.

The guy who was 1-5 had scored 3 points more than me.

I'm basically guaranteed a playoff spot already, he is almost guaranteed not to make it.

Doesn't really seem right to me.

And it does NOT "all balance out towards the end". The season is too short. There aren't enough weeks for things to truly level off. There's no "reversion to the mean" in terms of team record, as a function of team quality/production/output, over the course of a regular FF season.

I'm really, very seriously considering a double-header format next year.

 

[ragnarok628]

I'm having a hard time with the whole concept of this thread. if you can really figure out a system that will get the 'best 6 teams' into the playoffs, why not just forego a playoff and and determine the best team through 16 weeks? There's your winner. Instead you bend over backwards to make who gets into the playoffs as 'fair' as possible and THEN transition to the very luck riddled H2H model you have eschewed, wherein the 6th 'best' team is as likely to be crowned champion as the 'best'.

maybe H2H isn't 'fair', but then there's no such thing as fair. when a team's top 3 WR go down with injury, that's not 'fair'. yet those are the breaks of fantasy football, that team just has to deal with the reality of having a tougher than average path. One team is going to end up with the toughest schedule, and thats just another of the breaks in fantasy football. that guy just has to deal with the reality of having a tougher than average path.

 

[Leonidas]

I'm having a hard time with the whole concept of this thread. if you can really figure out a system that will get the 'best 6 teams' into the playoffs, why not just forego a playoff and and determine the best team through 16 weeks? There's your winner. Instead you bend over backwards to make who gets into the playoffs as 'fair' as possible and THEN transition to the very luck riddled H2H model you have eschewed, wherein the 6th 'best' team is as likely to be crowned champion as the 'best'.

maybe H2H isn't 'fair', but then there's no such thing as fair. when a team's top 3 WR go down with injury, that's not 'fair'. yet those are the breaks of fantasy football, that team just has to deal with the reality of having a tougher than average path. One team is going to end up with the toughest schedule, and thats just another of the breaks in fantasy football. that guy just has to deal with the reality of having a tougher than average path.

This is why some leagues make playoff matchups last two weeks. You play head to head, but over the course of two weeks.

Have a good regular season setup that lasts 13 weeks, 12 team league, 4 make the playoffs, playoffs are 13/14 and 15/16.

Or 12 week regular season and 6 make the playoffs, but the first round in week 13 is a one week head to head between 3-6 and 4-5, while the top two seeds get a first round bye.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

Dumb. In real football its head to head and if you don't out score the other team you lose. I don't see why magic fb should be different.

Let me know the next time your magic football players can physically line up and beat your opponents magic football players.The best way to determine the best team is by doing an All-Play format. But like weebs here most people think that h2h is more like 'real football.'

You must also play ppr

No I don't. Why does that matter?

Your reasoning sounds like someone who would want to award points for catching a ball for 0 yards.

where is the unlike button?

 

[Bishman]

Sometimes good teams miss playoffs. It happens in real life sports too. I am pretty sure if someone did a study on championship teams or the teams that made it to the final four - they were in the top 20% highest scoring in their league.

 

[Ghost Rider]

I am a big fan of Victory Points as well. One of my online teams is ####ty, yet I am somehow 3-4, but I only have 8 Victory Pts since all of my wins were when I just happened to play someone with a crappy week, too. In other words, six of my eight victory points are from my wins, and only twice out of seven weeks have I managed to finish in the 5-8 range of Pts scored (damn Chris Johnson, Tom Brady, Dwayne Bowe, etc.)

 

[Long Ball Larry]

If you prefer that luck play a major role in your final standings, fine. I have no problem with that. But don't pretend a 13-game season is enough to even things out.

Agreed, though I personally have no idea why someone who takes their FF seriously enough to spend time reading and posting in the Shark Pool would prefer a system that over-emphasizes the role of luck to any of untold variations that somewhat de-emphasize it.

It would be as if someone spent hundreds of hours reading all of David Sklansky's poker books and then refused to sit in a game other than five-card draw, deuces and treys wild.

I'm having a hard time with the whole concept of this thread. if you can really figure out a system that will get the 'best 6 teams' into the playoffs, why not just forego a playoff and and determine the best team through 16 weeks? There's your winner. Instead you bend over backwards to make who gets into the playoffs as 'fair' as possible and THEN transition to the very luck riddled H2H model you have eschewed, wherein the 6th 'best' team is as likely to be crowned champion as the 'best'.

maybe H2H isn't 'fair', but then there's no such thing as fair. when a team's top 3 WR go down with injury, that's not 'fair'. yet those are the breaks of fantasy football, that team just has to deal with the reality of having a tougher than average path. One team is going to end up with the toughest schedule, and thats just another of the breaks in fantasy football. that guy just has to deal with the reality of having a tougher than average path.

These are good posts.

 

[Yenrub]

I'm having a hard time with the whole concept of this thread. if you can really figure out a system that will get the 'best 6 teams' into the playoffs, why not just forego a playoff and and determine the best team through 16 weeks? There's your winner. Instead you bend over backwards to make who gets into the playoffs as 'fair' as possible and THEN transition to the very luck riddled H2H model you have eschewed, wherein the 6th 'best' team is as likely to be crowned champion as the 'best'.

maybe H2H isn't 'fair', but then there's no such thing as fair. when a team's top 3 WR go down with injury, that's not 'fair'. yet those are the breaks of fantasy football, that team just has to deal with the reality of having a tougher than average path. One team is going to end up with the toughest schedule, and thats just another of the breaks in fantasy football. that guy just has to deal with the reality of having a tougher than average path.

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

Sometimes good teams miss playoffs. It happens in real life sports too. I am pretty sure if someone did a study on championship teams or the teams that made it to the final four - they were in the top 20% highest scoring in their league.

Apples and oranges. In real life sports, when those teams miss the playoffs it's because they had a really bad defense that couldn't stop anybody. They had a great offense and a rotten defense. That means they had a bad team overall. Defense wins championships and all that.

Unfortunately, there is no defense in fantasy football. Offense is all you have. The random luck of the schedule has nothing to do with how well your guys play, but everything to do with how they're evaluated. If a college team loses 56-49, you can say their defense let them down and they deserved to lose. If a fantasy team loses 190-189 (both teams breaking league records for scoring), what is that except luck?

We pay that price for the fun of head to head. But it's reasonable to mitigate that luck with victory points, all play or total points tie breakers. Personally, I prefer total points leagues. But I get the fun of head to head, too, and making room for that not only removes luck from the game, it rewards the owners whose teams performed the best. Offense is the only measurable in fantasy football you can control (to the degree we can control it).