So, our league, which is now going on its 15th year of existence, has been hashing through all of our rules and have made some great changes. One area we are split on is the tiebreaker for standings and playoff seeding. Fleaflicker has us rank 5 tiebreaker rules in order of most preferred to least preferred. To add some fodder to our league discussion, I am seeking some insight onto the pros and cons of each option, and what your personal preferences are.
Our current ranking is:
1) most points in the season
2) division record
3) head to head record
4) points against
5) combined record of season opponents
I had all 16 league members rank the 5 options from best to worst and this did not clear up much. Here is what the results were.
Record Against (Hardest record) 1st -1, 2nd - 0, 3rd - 2, 4th - 6, 5th - 7
Sorting out this mess, here is my best interpretation.
1st Head to Head
2nd Division
3rd Points for (to me this is clearly 3rd place)
4th Points Against (to me this is clearly 4th place)
5th Opponents Record (to me this is clearly 5th place)
I think my plan is to have all 16 vote between head to head and division for first and second tiebreakers. I do want to have a short discussion first, laying out pros and cons better.
On our re-vote, here are the four options we ranked. After a lot of research, these were the four main themes leagues appear to use.
OPTION 1: Points for: Focus more on team performance through season with less focus on strength of schedule
1) Points for (13 of 13 games)
2) Division record (6 of 13 games)
3) Head to head (1 or 2 of 13 games)
4) Points against (13 of 13 games)
5) Opponents combined season record (13 of 13 games)
OPTION 2: NFL style: Focus more on games tied teams played each other and division games, with significantly less focus on the overall performance of the 13 games.
1) Head to head (1 of 2 of 13 games)
2) Division (6 of 13 games)
3) Strength of schedule – opponents combined season record (13 of 13 games)
4) Points for (13 of 13 games)
5) Points against (13 of 13 games)
OPTION 3: Division: Focus on a middle ground with division games, instead of giving head to head or total points top priority. Less emphasis on performance in all 13 games.
1) Division record (6 of 13 games)
2) Head to head (1 or 2 of 13 games)
3) Points for (13 of 13 games)
4) Points Against (13 of 13 games)
5) Opponents combined season record (13 of 13 games)
OPTION 4: All play record: Focus on choosing the better of the teams for the entire season. Strong focus on performance in all 13 games.
1) All play record (what team record would be if they played all 15 teams each week)
There is a default order set by Fleaflicker. After a re-vote ended up staying with the same order (points, division, head to head, points against, record against). However, a new option "all play" received a lot of votes. All Play is the record if you played against all teams each week. We also had some people who strongly wanted to go with the same tiebreaking rules the NFL uses.
So, I am now trying to make voting in the league as simple as can be for this topic. Is it fair that people usually think one of two ways: either follow nfl style tiebreakers or follow tiebreakers that best represent the 13 game performance? I tried to rank the 5 options for both ways of thinking. Some people might prefer head to head #5 in first ranking but overall, are my interpretations accurate? As commissioner I just want to lay this out in as user friendly way possible. For nfl, I dislike how they group points for and points against in one thing, and it is kind of strange to me they don't separate those out. I just figure even for nfl list, points for should go first between those two. Do you have any comments or thoughts on the two lists below and am I missing any other lists to consider before bringing this ballot to the league? I guess the main argument either way is that a person wants to either do what the nfl does or they want to do what best rewards a better performing team over a span of 13 games.
Best representation of 13 game performance (strength of schedule listed after things you have more control over)
1) Points for
2) Division record
3) Head to head
4) Points against
5) Opponents combined season record
NFL style
1) Head to head
2) Division
3) Strength of schedule – opponents combined season record
joenorwood77Mon 7/30/12 5:12 PM
So, our league, which is now going on its 15th year of existence, has been hashing through all of our rules and have made some great changes. One area we are split on is the tiebreaker for standings and playoff seeding. Fleaflicker has us rank 5 tiebreaker rules in order of most preferred to least preferred. To add some fodder to our league discussion, I am seeking some insight onto the pros and cons of each option, and what your personal preferences are.
Our current ranking is:
1) most points in the season
2) division record
3) head to head record
4) points against
5) combined record of season opponents
I had all 16 league members rank the 5 options from best to worst and this did not clear up much. Here is what the results were.
Points 1st - 3, 2nd - 3, 3rd - 6, 4th - 2, 5th - 2
Head to Head 1st - 6, 2nd - 6, 3rd - 2, 4th - 0, 5th - 2
Division Record 1st - 6, 2nd - 5, 3rd - 2, 4th - 1, 5th - 2
Points Against (Hardest points) 1st - 0, 2nd - 2, 3rd - 4, 4th - 7, 5th - 3
Record Against (Hardest record) 1st -1, 2nd - 0, 3rd - 2, 4th - 6, 5th - 7
Sorting out this mess, here is my best interpretation.
1st Head to Head
2nd Division
3rd Points for (to me this is clearly 3rd place)
4th Points Against (to me this is clearly 4th place)
5th Opponents Record (to me this is clearly 5th place)
I think my plan is to have all 16 vote between head to head and division for first and second tiebreakers. I do want to have a short discussion first, laying out pros and cons better.
Who has insight into this topic???
joenorwood77Sat 9/15/12 11:51 AM
On our re-vote, here are the four options we ranked. After a lot of research, these were the four main themes leagues appear to use.
OPTION 1: Points for: Focus more on team performance through season with less focus on strength of schedule
1) Points for (13 of 13 games)
2) Division record (6 of 13 games)
3) Head to head (1 or 2 of 13 games)
4) Points against (13 of 13 games)
5) Opponents combined season record (13 of 13 games)
OPTION 2: NFL style: Focus more on games tied teams played each other and division games, with significantly less focus on the overall performance of the 13 games.
1) Head to head (1 of 2 of 13 games)
2) Division (6 of 13 games)
3) Strength of schedule – opponents combined season record (13 of 13 games)
4) Points for (13 of 13 games)
5) Points against (13 of 13 games)
OPTION 3: Division: Focus on a middle ground with division games, instead of giving head to head or total points top priority. Less emphasis on performance in all 13 games.
1) Division record (6 of 13 games)
2) Head to head (1 or 2 of 13 games)
3) Points for (13 of 13 games)
4) Points Against (13 of 13 games)
5) Opponents combined season record (13 of 13 games)
OPTION 4: All play record: Focus on choosing the better of the teams for the entire season. Strong focus on performance in all 13 games.
1) All play record (what team record would be if they played all 15 teams each week)
2) Points for (13 of 13 games)
3) Points against (13 of 13 games)
4) Division record (6 of 13 games)
5) Head to head (1 or 2 of 13 games)
ashley1984Thu 9/13/12 10:29 PM
why do you need to break ties? can't your standings just accomodate ties?
joenorwood77Fri 9/14/12 10:25 PM
We have ties for the regular season, which I prefer, but we need to be able to break ties in playoff games.
DigEmSat 9/15/12 11:19 AM
i thought Fflicker already had options mapped out for ties
joenorwood77Sat 9/15/12 11:49 AM
There is a default order set by Fleaflicker. After a re-vote ended up staying with the same order (points, division, head to head, points against, record against). However, a new option "all play" received a lot of votes. All Play is the record if you played against all teams each week. We also had some people who strongly wanted to go with the same tiebreaking rules the NFL uses.
joenorwood77Tue 7/31/12 4:02 AM
So, I am now trying to make voting in the league as simple as can be for this topic. Is it fair that people usually think one of two ways: either follow nfl style tiebreakers or follow tiebreakers that best represent the 13 game performance? I tried to rank the 5 options for both ways of thinking. Some people might prefer head to head #5 in first ranking but overall, are my interpretations accurate? As commissioner I just want to lay this out in as user friendly way possible. For nfl, I dislike how they group points for and points against in one thing, and it is kind of strange to me they don't separate those out. I just figure even for nfl list, points for should go first between those two. Do you have any comments or thoughts on the two lists below and am I missing any other lists to consider before bringing this ballot to the league? I guess the main argument either way is that a person wants to either do what the nfl does or they want to do what best rewards a better performing team over a span of 13 games.
Best representation of 13 game performance (strength of schedule listed after things you have more control over)
1) Points for
2) Division record
3) Head to head
4) Points against
5) Opponents combined season record
NFL style
1) Head to head
2) Division
3) Strength of schedule – opponents combined season record
4) Points for
5) Points against
FleaMod AdminTue 7/31/12 7:54 AM
I prefer the non-NFL style and most points for/ Most Average Points Game in our system.
Thanks!
joenorwood77Mon 7/30/12 5:29 PM
This is an interesting article reflecting on breaking ties in fantasy football.
footballguys.com