I know some people really don't care which format we use, but I want to get some more insight into the pros and cons on the main options leagues can use for setting up our fantasy football league schedule. We have 16 teams in 2011. I know some options include bye weeks for best finishing teams. I also am aware that some people might seed 1-8 overall regardless of conference or division, while others seed the best teams per division or conference, which might not always be the same teams as the best overall.
Anyways, can some people please give me a brief breakdown of the most widely accepted fantasy football playoff schedule formats, along with some highlights of the pros and cons for each option? I am eager to hear what people have to say based on their experiences. Lastly, which of these options is usually the default option on Fleaflicker?
After discussing the options with some people, here are some pros and cons that were discussed. I still hope more people can add to this conversation though.
OPTION 1 (STRAIGHT BRACKET SEEDING 1-8, WITH 1-4 BEING DIVISION WINNERS AND 5-8 NEXT BEST REGARDLESS OF WHICH DIVISION OR CONFERENCE).
This appears to be the most widely used and accepted format as week 15 will be game 1: winner of 1 v 8 vs winner of 4 v 5 and game 2: winner of 3 v 6 vs winner of 2 v 7.
A strong reason to go with this option is because of the brackets and ways to seed, this is the most fair way as the highest seeds will play the worst teams. in a 1 v 8, the 1 should win 9 times out of 10. However, if we changed this to 1-4 in each conference, the 4 may be much stronger than an 8, depending on the conference. This format strongly favors the best regular season teams. Furthermore, it promotes taking the best 8 teams into playoffs, with less of a chance of not going to playoffs based on the division or conference you are in.
OPTION 2 (1-8, WITH TOP 4 BEING DIVISION WINNERS AND THE 5-8 ARE BEST REMAINING OVERALL REGARDLESS OF DIVISION, BUT RESEED EACH ROUND)
It is evident that some people like this method, but after discussing this option, it favors the higher seeds way too much. After getting a favorable matchup in week 14, that should be enough. In my humble opinion, reseed gives way too much favoritism to the top seeds as the #1 will play the lowest ranked team every week. The pro is if you are a high seed, you will love this method. Another thought is professional sports does not use reseeding so why should we in fantasy sports?
OPTION 3 (TWO 1-4 BRACKETS, ONE FOR EACH CONFERENCE)
With two divisions in each conference, the two division winners and then next best two records will make playoffs from each conference. The higher of the two division winners will play the lower of the two wild cards from that conference, while the lower of the two division winners will play the higher of the two wild cards from that conference.
At first I preferred this option as I like how the conferences are represented and how the conferences do not face off until the big game. However, if the focus should truly be on the most fair schedule, then 1-8 is the better option. What if we use this option and the #1 seed in conference A (and would have been #1 overall in the league) faces off with the lowest wild card seed but they were in a tough conference and that #4 seed is better than most teams in conference B? They should be playing the #4 seed in the other conference as they would have been a #8. Some people like the sequential manner of this format, but again if fairness is what you are looking for, 1-8 seems best.
OPTION 4 (DIVISION, THEN CONFERENCE, THEN LEAGUE)
Another sequential format here. In week 14, the top each from each division play each other, then in week 15 the two teams who remain in each conference play each other, and then finally in week 16 the remaining team from each conference faces off in the championship game. This is as far away from 1-8 as you can go because some #1 teams will go against an extremely difficult matchup in week 14, instead of getting a break that first week.
OPTION 5 (BYE WEEKS)
Bye weeks for top seed for each conference sounded fun, but there is a major flaw. I have heard too many times where the best team in the league gets a bye during week 14, and their players totally go off a score an amazing amount of points. These are wasted points. Then in week 15, guess what??? The team falls flat on their face. Perhaps it does not matter, as they would have advanced in week 14 if they were playing anyway, and likely lose in week 15 either way, but it still feels awkward having all of those points wasted on a bye. This is probably my second favorite option, behind option 1.
I talked in detail with a friend last night who has been in fantasy football for over 20 years. We analyzed the pros and cons of the options I listed below. In his league, which is only ten teams, they actually eliminated divisions and conferences altogether as it seemed every year bad teams made playoffs and good teams missed playoffs due to the division they were in. Having no divisions or conferences, they just take the top 4 of 10 for playoffs, then teams 5-8 to toilet bowl, and the last 2 teams are eliminated for weeks 15 and 16. My league is 16 teams so we need to keep divisions, but for smaller teams of 8 or 10, this sounds like it is seriously worth looking into.
I CAME UP WITH WHAT I THINK ARE LIKELY THE FIVE MOST COMMON OPTIONS IN HOW TO SET UP FANTASY FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS. PLEASE POINT OUT ERRORS AND I AM SURE THERE ARE SOME. ALSO, PLEASE HELP ME TO DETERMINE WHICH OPTIONS ARE MOST WIDELY ACCEPTED AND WHAT THE PROS AND CONS ARE FOR EACH. WE WENT WITH OPTION 1 IN 2010 AND SOMEONE WAS UPSET LATER ON THAT THEY WOULD HAVE WON IT ALL IF WE DID OPTION 2 INSTEAD.
ALSO, DO TOP SEEDS ALWAYS GO TO DIVISION WINNERS FIRST, OR IS IT TYPICALLY BASED ON OVERALL SEASON RECORD ACROSS THE BOARD WITHOUT GIVING PRIORITY TO DIVISION WINNERS?
OPTION 1: SEED 1-8 REGARDLESS OF CONFERENCE OR DIVISION
WEEK 14
GAME A: 1 V 8
GAME B: 4 V 5
GAME C: 3 V 6
GAME D: 2 V 7
WEEK 15
GAME E: WINNER OF A V WINNER OF B
GAME F: WINNER OF C V WINNER OF D
WEEK 16
SUPER BOWL: WINNER OF E V WINNER OF F
OPTION 2: SEED 1-8 BUT RESEED EACH ROUND
WEEK 14
GAME A: 1 V 8
GAME B: 4 V 5
GAME C: 3 V 6
GAME D: 2 V 7
WEEK 15
GAME E: HIGHEST REMAINING SEED V LOWEST REMAINING SEED
GAME F: SECOND HIGHEST REMAINING SEED V SECOND LOWEST REMAINING SEED
WEEK 16
SUPER BOWL: WINNER OF E V WINNER OF F
OPTION 3: SEED 1-4 IN EACH CONFERENCE
WEEK 14
CONFERENCE A: 1 V 4
CONFERENCE A: 2 V 3
CONFERENCE B: 1 V 4
CONFERENCE B: 2 V 3
WEEK 15
CONFERENCE A WINNER V CONFERENCE A WINNER
CONFERENCE B WINNER V CONFERENCE B WINNER
WEEK 16
SUPER BOWL: CONFERENCE A WINNER V CONFERENCE B WINNER
OPTION 4: TOP 2 EACH DIVISION, THEN CONFERENCE, THEN SUPER BOWL
WEEK 14
DIVISION A: 1 V 2
DIVISION B: 1 V 2
DIVISION C: 1 V 2
DIVISION D: 1 V 2
WEEK 15
WINNER OF DIVISION A V WINNER OF DIVISION B
WINNER OF DIVISION C V WINNER OF DIVISION D
WEEK 16
SUPER BOWL: WINNER OF DIVISION A/B V WINNER OF DIVISION C/D
OPTION 5: SEED WITH BYE WEEKS (ONLY 6 TEAMS ADVANCE INSTEAD OF 8)
WEEK 14
TOP TEAM FROM EACH CONFERENCE IS ON BYE
CONFERENCE A DIVISION WINNER NOT ON BYE VS WILD CARD FROM CONFERENCE
CONFERENCE E B DIVISION WINNER NOT ON BYE VS WILD CARD FROM CONFERENCE
WEEK 15
CONFERENCE A TOP SEED VS WINNER OF CONFERENCE FROM WEEK 14
CONFERENCE B TOP SEED VS WINNER OF CONFERENCE FROM WEEK 14
WEEK 16
SUPER BOWL: CONFERENCE A WINNER VS CONFERENCE B WINNER
Thank you for the reply. I appreciate your insight. Of the 5 options I listed, it appears option 1 is likely the most widely accepted. Is that fair to say? I was surprised when a league member was so mad we didn't use option 2 last season. Of those options, are there any that I listed that are never used, or are rarely used? Thanks again for your insight. Hopefully a few more people chime in here with their opinions as well.
So Fleaflicker default is exactly what I listed as option 1, where seeds 1-4 are the 4 division winners and the seeds 5-8 are the next 4 best regular season teams, regardless of division or conference?
could i add another alternative? no bracket playoffs. total points scored of teams in playoffs wins league. What i like about this system is it eliminates the scenario of lower seeded, unworthy team beating the rightful league champion just because of some upset win because some unknown TE has a 2 touchdown 100 yard game. In this scenario the playoff team that scores the most points in those 3 weeks of playoff wins the season.
joenorwood77Thu 8/18/11 11:38 AM
I know some people really don't care which format we use, but I want to get some more insight into the pros and cons on the main options leagues can use for setting up our fantasy football league schedule. We have 16 teams in 2011. I know some options include bye weeks for best finishing teams. I also am aware that some people might seed 1-8 overall regardless of conference or division, while others seed the best teams per division or conference, which might not always be the same teams as the best overall.
Anyways, can some people please give me a brief breakdown of the most widely accepted fantasy football playoff schedule formats, along with some highlights of the pros and cons for each option? I am eager to hear what people have to say based on their experiences. Lastly, which of these options is usually the default option on Fleaflicker?
joenorwood77Sat 8/20/11 8:48 AM
After discussing the options with some people, here are some pros and cons that were discussed. I still hope more people can add to this conversation though.
OPTION 1 (STRAIGHT BRACKET SEEDING 1-8, WITH 1-4 BEING DIVISION WINNERS AND 5-8 NEXT BEST REGARDLESS OF WHICH DIVISION OR CONFERENCE).
This appears to be the most widely used and accepted format as week 15 will be game 1: winner of 1 v 8 vs winner of 4 v 5 and game 2: winner of 3 v 6 vs winner of 2 v 7.
A strong reason to go with this option is because of the brackets and ways to seed, this is the most fair way as the highest seeds will play the worst teams. in a 1 v 8, the 1 should win 9 times out of 10. However, if we changed this to 1-4 in each conference, the 4 may be much stronger than an 8, depending on the conference. This format strongly favors the best regular season teams. Furthermore, it promotes taking the best 8 teams into playoffs, with less of a chance of not going to playoffs based on the division or conference you are in.
OPTION 2 (1-8, WITH TOP 4 BEING DIVISION WINNERS AND THE 5-8 ARE BEST REMAINING OVERALL REGARDLESS OF DIVISION, BUT RESEED EACH ROUND)
It is evident that some people like this method, but after discussing this option, it favors the higher seeds way too much. After getting a favorable matchup in week 14, that should be enough. In my humble opinion, reseed gives way too much favoritism to the top seeds as the #1 will play the lowest ranked team every week. The pro is if you are a high seed, you will love this method. Another thought is professional sports does not use reseeding so why should we in fantasy sports?
OPTION 3 (TWO 1-4 BRACKETS, ONE FOR EACH CONFERENCE)
With two divisions in each conference, the two division winners and then next best two records will make playoffs from each conference. The higher of the two division winners will play the lower of the two wild cards from that conference, while the lower of the two division winners will play the higher of the two wild cards from that conference.
At first I preferred this option as I like how the conferences are represented and how the conferences do not face off until the big game. However, if the focus should truly be on the most fair schedule, then 1-8 is the better option. What if we use this option and the #1 seed in conference A (and would have been #1 overall in the league) faces off with the lowest wild card seed but they were in a tough conference and that #4 seed is better than most teams in conference B? They should be playing the #4 seed in the other conference as they would have been a #8. Some people like the sequential manner of this format, but again if fairness is what you are looking for, 1-8 seems best.
OPTION 4 (DIVISION, THEN CONFERENCE, THEN LEAGUE)
Another sequential format here. In week 14, the top each from each division play each other, then in week 15 the two teams who remain in each conference play each other, and then finally in week 16 the remaining team from each conference faces off in the championship game. This is as far away from 1-8 as you can go because some #1 teams will go against an extremely difficult matchup in week 14, instead of getting a break that first week.
OPTION 5 (BYE WEEKS)
Bye weeks for top seed for each conference sounded fun, but there is a major flaw. I have heard too many times where the best team in the league gets a bye during week 14, and their players totally go off a score an amazing amount of points. These are wasted points. Then in week 15, guess what??? The team falls flat on their face. Perhaps it does not matter, as they would have advanced in week 14 if they were playing anyway, and likely lose in week 15 either way, but it still feels awkward having all of those points wasted on a bye. This is probably my second favorite option, behind option 1.
joenorwood77Sat 8/20/11 8:28 AM
I talked in detail with a friend last night who has been in fantasy football for over 20 years. We analyzed the pros and cons of the options I listed below. In his league, which is only ten teams, they actually eliminated divisions and conferences altogether as it seemed every year bad teams made playoffs and good teams missed playoffs due to the division they were in. Having no divisions or conferences, they just take the top 4 of 10 for playoffs, then teams 5-8 to toilet bowl, and the last 2 teams are eliminated for weeks 15 and 16. My league is 16 teams so we need to keep divisions, but for smaller teams of 8 or 10, this sounds like it is seriously worth looking into.
joenorwood77Fri 8/19/11 6:31 AM
I CAME UP WITH WHAT I THINK ARE LIKELY THE FIVE MOST COMMON OPTIONS IN HOW TO SET UP FANTASY FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS. PLEASE POINT OUT ERRORS AND I AM SURE THERE ARE SOME. ALSO, PLEASE HELP ME TO DETERMINE WHICH OPTIONS ARE MOST WIDELY ACCEPTED AND WHAT THE PROS AND CONS ARE FOR EACH. WE WENT WITH OPTION 1 IN 2010 AND SOMEONE WAS UPSET LATER ON THAT THEY WOULD HAVE WON IT ALL IF WE DID OPTION 2 INSTEAD.
ALSO, DO TOP SEEDS ALWAYS GO TO DIVISION WINNERS FIRST, OR IS IT TYPICALLY BASED ON OVERALL SEASON RECORD ACROSS THE BOARD WITHOUT GIVING PRIORITY TO DIVISION WINNERS?
OPTION 1: SEED 1-8 REGARDLESS OF CONFERENCE OR DIVISION
WEEK 14
GAME A: 1 V 8
GAME B: 4 V 5
GAME C: 3 V 6
GAME D: 2 V 7
WEEK 15
GAME E: WINNER OF A V WINNER OF B
GAME F: WINNER OF C V WINNER OF D
WEEK 16
SUPER BOWL: WINNER OF E V WINNER OF F
OPTION 2: SEED 1-8 BUT RESEED EACH ROUND
WEEK 14
GAME A: 1 V 8
GAME B: 4 V 5
GAME C: 3 V 6
GAME D: 2 V 7
WEEK 15
GAME E: HIGHEST REMAINING SEED V LOWEST REMAINING SEED
GAME F: SECOND HIGHEST REMAINING SEED V SECOND LOWEST REMAINING SEED
WEEK 16
SUPER BOWL: WINNER OF E V WINNER OF F
OPTION 3: SEED 1-4 IN EACH CONFERENCE
WEEK 14
CONFERENCE A: 1 V 4
CONFERENCE A: 2 V 3
CONFERENCE B: 1 V 4
CONFERENCE B: 2 V 3
WEEK 15
CONFERENCE A WINNER V CONFERENCE A WINNER
CONFERENCE B WINNER V CONFERENCE B WINNER
WEEK 16
SUPER BOWL: CONFERENCE A WINNER V CONFERENCE B WINNER
OPTION 4: TOP 2 EACH DIVISION, THEN CONFERENCE, THEN SUPER BOWL
WEEK 14
DIVISION A: 1 V 2
DIVISION B: 1 V 2
DIVISION C: 1 V 2
DIVISION D: 1 V 2
WEEK 15
WINNER OF DIVISION A V WINNER OF DIVISION B
WINNER OF DIVISION C V WINNER OF DIVISION D
WEEK 16
SUPER BOWL: WINNER OF DIVISION A/B V WINNER OF DIVISION C/D
OPTION 5: SEED WITH BYE WEEKS (ONLY 6 TEAMS ADVANCE INSTEAD OF 8)
WEEK 14
TOP TEAM FROM EACH CONFERENCE IS ON BYE
CONFERENCE A DIVISION WINNER NOT ON BYE VS WILD CARD FROM CONFERENCE
CONFERENCE E B DIVISION WINNER NOT ON BYE VS WILD CARD FROM CONFERENCE
WEEK 15
CONFERENCE A TOP SEED VS WINNER OF CONFERENCE FROM WEEK 14
CONFERENCE B TOP SEED VS WINNER OF CONFERENCE FROM WEEK 14
WEEK 16
SUPER BOWL: CONFERENCE A WINNER VS CONFERENCE B WINNER
FleaMod AdminFri 8/19/11 9:28 AM
Division winners are given top seeds by default, but this can be edited at any time after standings finalize and the playoffs start.
You have two options after you edit your seedings:
1) Allow re-seeding, where the best team plays the worst in the playoffs in the playoff week(s)
2) Follow the strict bracket format you set (like the NCAA tournament)
I prefer option 1, but that's me
joenorwood77Fri 8/19/11 11:51 AM
Thank you for the reply. I appreciate your insight. Of the 5 options I listed, it appears option 1 is likely the most widely accepted. Is that fair to say? I was surprised when a league member was so mad we didn't use option 2 last season. Of those options, are there any that I listed that are never used, or are rarely used? Thanks again for your insight. Hopefully a few more people chime in here with their opinions as well.
joenorwood77Sat 8/20/11 8:50 AM
So Fleaflicker default is exactly what I listed as option 1, where seeds 1-4 are the 4 division winners and the seeds 5-8 are the next 4 best regular season teams, regardless of division or conference?
FleaMod AdminSat 8/20/11 9:28 AM
Yes, if you have 8 teams in the playoffs. Usually we default 6 with the top 2 having byes
joenorwood77Sat 8/20/11 8:25 AM
About what percent of leagues likely go with straight bracket and about what percent of leagues likely go with reseeding?
FleaMod AdminSat 8/20/11 9:28 AM
Probably about 65-35
warren-sWed 11/18/15 6:00 PM
could i add another alternative? no bracket playoffs. total points scored of teams in playoffs wins league. What i like about this system is it eliminates the scenario of lower seeded, unworthy team beating the rightful league champion just because of some upset win because some unknown TE has a 2 touchdown 100 yard game. In this scenario the playoff team that scores the most points in those 3 weeks of playoff wins the season.