Let me explain. In one of my money fantasy football leagues (the NFFC) I won a tough week 13 final regular season game against the #1 team in the league, The Underdog is On Top.
My win secured 2nd place overall in the standings. I thought I needed that win to secure a playoff spot-guaranteeing me that my season would continue into week 14 and hopefully beyond. I was mistaken.
Alas… 2nd place overall did not give me a playoff birth. How did I miss the playoffs you ask?
Well instead of using a standard (my emphasis added) playoff team format like the one listed below:
#1 seed is team with best H2H record (always the #1 overall team)
#2 seed is team with highest total points of the remaining teams
#3 seed is team with next best H2H record of remaining teams
#4 seed is team with next highest total points of remaining teams
This is a format I have seen in most money leagues exclusively. I expected the #3 seed.
Instead as the fifth highest scoring team in the league I missed the playoffs.
Why? Because this NFFC league awards playoffs spots to the best H2H team and then the remaining three spots to the teams with the best total points.
Final Standings H2H record Total Points Playoff seed
The Underdog is On Top 10-3 1985 (1)
FFGuidebook.com 9-4 1822
Team Skowron 8-5 2006 (2)
Jerkstore 8-5 1901 (3)
3 other teams at 8-5
Rebels 7-4 1841 (4)
So the 8th team in the H2H standings (the fourth highest scoring team-beating me by 21 points) advanced instead of my team. Really?
Now don't get me wrong I love the National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC). They offer many unique fantasy football options. For example, they are the only High Stakes league to offer 3rd round reversal in the draft (where the 12th seed gets two first picks in the 2nd and 3rd round) and the Kentucky Derby System (KDS) of determine draft spots. KDS is where you rank the draft spots in order of preference and then based on what is left and when you are picked you get your highest preference. A great system!
But I do not like this system of awarding the last three playoff spots based on total points scored. What is the point (excuse the pun) of playing a H2H schedule if it does not matter? When you play the last game of the season and it is #1 vs #2 and it does not matter-that is a shame in my opinion.
Award two spots to H2H and two to Total Points!
I love Total Points leagues and believe they are fairer then H2H leagues because it eliminates the luck factor from scheduling biases. These scheduling biases occur when you play either a tough team or easy team due to their byes, injuries etc. If you played everyone every week no team would have an advantage due to the schedule or if the league was just based on total points.
But many FF owners want to play in a H2H league because, despite the problems of a schedule based league, they want to play a competitor each week. They want to go mano v mano. And the league operators give them this option by creating so many H2H leagues. I get it.
But if you are going to use a H2H system then you need to reward the teams that win H2H equally with the total points team. I understand the reasoning behind awarding 3 of 4 playoff spots to the teams with the best total points but I think it distracts from the H2H option if it is not rewarded with two teams as well. It defeats the point of having a H2H system if only one team is awarded a playoff spot based on H2H standings. So either go Total Points or H2H with half of the playoff teams awarded based on Total Points.
Of course this all may seem like a bit of sour grapes. And maybe it is since I should have read the rules. Maybe I did read the rules and just forgot about it. I would not have drafted differently or started anyone differently but…
Check out the latest books from Extra Point Press…available for the Holidays.
Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650
Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634
Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693
Fantasy Soccer: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Soccer Players ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635070
Fantasy Hockey: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Hockey Players ($14.95) www.amazon.com/dp/1936635100
Fantasy Basketball Handbook: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Beginners and Experienced Players ($12.95) www.amazon.com/dp/
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