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The Week 16 Championship Debate

femurov

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So, it looks like our league is going to be having the discussion about changing our Championship from week 17 to week 16... again. We have been discussing this for at least 7 or 8 years now and we have never found an alternative that we like. I am in the middle of writing up all the pros and cons to making this switch and wanted to get you guys' input on this topic.

Keep in mind, that our league is already set up having 3 divisions with 4 teams each. We play every team in our division twice (6 games) and every other team once (8 teams), which equals 14 weeks. 6 teams make the playoffs with the top 2 teams getting a bye, so in week 15, the 3 seed plays the 6 seed and the 4 seed plays the 5 seed. In week 16, the 1 seed plays the lowest remaining seed and the 2 seed plays the highest remaining seed and in week 17, the two winners play. So, we would need to change something about the way that all works to move the championship game to week 16.

I have brought up about 7 ways to do this including cutting the playoff teams to 4, realigning to 4 divisions with 3 teams each, eliminating a regular season game so you don't play every team in your division twice or you don't play a team at all, a hybrid schedule, eliminating head to head games altogether and using the all play record, and a couple other creative ways. I even suggested holding the playoffs in weeks 12, 13 and 14, where you just keep track of your point totals from those weeks, then continue the regular season head to head games in weeks 15 - 17, then going back to calculate the playoff weeks with seedings and naming a winner then. All of them get shot down and most of them are shot down immediately.

So, do you guys have any unique ideas as to how to make this change or maybe arguments that have not been made for or against for us to consider?
 

obxyankeefan

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I have always been a fan of week 17 championships until last year.

Last year I snuck into the playoffs with a 6-8 record. After winning the first two weeks and making the championship some how, I revamped almost my entire lineup for whomever was playing in week 17. I destroyed the guy who had the best season. So after that it was brought up and changed from 6 team playoffs to 4 team playoffs and the championship in week 16.




Even though I had won, I felt like the other guy had beaten me for 16 weeks and then I beat him the final week.
 

TKOSpikes

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So, it looks like our league is going to be having the discussion about changing our Championship from week 17 to week 16... again. We have been discussing this for at least 7 or 8 years now and we have never found an alternative that we like. I am in the middle of writing up all the pros and cons to making this switch and wanted to get you guys' input on this topic.

Keep in mind, that our league is already set up having 3 divisions with 4 teams each. We play every team in our division twice (6 games) and every other team once (8 teams), which equals 14 weeks. 6 teams make the playoffs with the top 2 teams getting a bye, so in week 15, the 3 seed plays the 6 seed and the 4 seed plays the 5 seed. In week 16, the 1 seed plays the lowest remaining seed and the 2 seed plays the highest remaining seed and in week 17, the two winners play. So, we would need to change something about the way that all works to move the championship game to week 16.

I have brought up about 7 ways to do this including cutting the playoff teams to 4, realigning to 4 divisions with 3 teams each, eliminating a regular season game so you don't play every team in your division twice or you don't play a team at all, a hybrid schedule, eliminating head to head games altogether and using the all play record, and a couple other creative ways. I even suggested holding the playoffs in weeks 12, 13 and 14, where you just keep track of your point totals from those weeks, then continue the regular season head to head games in weeks 15 - 17, then going back to calculate the playoff weeks with seedings and naming a winner then. All of them get shot down and most of them are shot down immediately.

So, do you guys have any unique ideas as to how to make this change or maybe arguments that have not been made for or against for us to consider?

My league is also 12 team, 3 divisions with top two byes. We just randomize the outer division games and start the playoffs in week 14.

Otherwise, 4 team playoffs is the way to go.

Unless you absorb the three divisions, play everyone once (11 weeks);

Week 12: #1 vs #2 and #7 vs #8... 1/2 winner gets a bye in week 13, loser gets second chance, and 7/8 loser is out.
Week13: 1/2 loser vs 7/8 winner, #3 vs #6 and #4 vs #5
Week 14: 1/2 winner vs low seed, and the two remaining middle seeds match up.
Week 15/16: two week final.

Alternative would be week 12 is a royal rumble where the top six get a win and the bottom six get a loss. Then the playoffs are pushed back and you get a one week final.
 

femurov

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I have always been a fan of week 17 championships until last year.

Last year I snuck into the playoffs with a 6-8 record. After winning the first two weeks and making the championship some how, I revamped almost my entire lineup for whomever was playing in week 17. I destroyed the guy who had the best season. So after that it was brought up and changed from 6 team playoffs to 4 team playoffs and the championship in week 16.




Even though I had won, I felt like the other guy had beaten me for 16 weeks and then I beat him the final week.
The best team doesn't always win the championship.
 

femurov

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My league is also 12 team, 3 divisions with top two byes. We just randomize the outer division games and start the playoffs in week 14.

Otherwise, 4 team playoffs is the way to go.

Unless you absorb the three divisions, play everyone once (11 weeks);

Week 12: #1 vs #2 and #7 vs #8... 1/2 winner gets a bye in week 13, loser gets second chance, and 7/8 loser is out.
Week13: 1/2 loser vs 7/8 winner, #3 vs #6 and #4 vs #5
Week 14: 1/2 winner vs low seed, and the two remaining middle seeds match up.
Week 15/16: two week final.

Alternative would be week 12 is a royal rumble where the top six get a win and the bottom six get a loss. Then the playoffs are pushed back and you get a one week final.
Interesting. I will bring this up. I have brought up something similar to the 2 week final where points carry over from the previous weeks throughout the entire playoffs. It was shot down.
 

femurov

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Agreed. But you should not have a whole new team in the championship from what you played with all season.
True... but the other guy who I am playing against in the championship this week has pretty much been rotating his RBs all season with the flavor of the week and guessing right. I just hope he guesses wrong this week.
 

TKOSpikes

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Interesting. I will bring this up. I have brought up something similar to the 2 week final where points carry over from the previous weeks throughout the entire playoffs. It was shot down.

Yeah, I actually prefer my alternative scenario. Week 12 royal rumble. Limits the luck factor in the playoff race. Any ties can easily be decided by head to head record (one game).
 

MilkSpiller22

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Honestly, this subject is my pet peeve about fantasy sports...

Fucking crybabies... Wahhh the best team doesn't always win!!! well, that happens in real life too... If you want the best team to win something there are ways to do that... you can have multiple games per week, or you can simply give prizes to the MOST POINTS...

Wahhh, week 17 is impossible to predict!!! well, i can understand in a Keeper league this to be a problem, but in a redraft, there should not be any loyalty to a player... so why is this even a topic?? and is week 17 that impossible to predict?? actually no, you pretty much know which teams will play their starters, so you have plenty of time to adjust...


how many weeks is a regular season?? 17!!! then so should a fantasy league... it is that simple... All excuses are just that... excuses...
 

femurov

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Honestly, this subject is my pet peeve about fantasy sports...

Fucking crybabies... Wahhh the best team doesn't always win!!! well, that happens in real life too... If you want the best team to win something there are ways to do that... you can have multiple games per week, or you can simply give prizes to the MOST POINTS...

Wahhh, week 17 is impossible to predict!!! well, i can understand in a Keeper league this to be a problem, but in a redraft, there should not be any loyalty to a player... so why is this even a topic?? and is week 17 that impossible to predict?? actually no, you pretty much know which teams will play their starters, so you have plenty of time to adjust...


how many weeks is a regular season?? 17!!! then so should a fantasy league... it is that simple... All excuses are just that... excuses...
Preach on! And we do all kinds of payouts for regular season accolades. We payout the 3 division winners, team total points for the season, team total points against for the season, highest team total for one week, offensive player of the week, defensive player of the week, offensive player of the year, defensive player of the year. Then, we run an NFL Pick 'em and Survivor (sometimes 2 depending on what week the 1st one ends) and our fantasy league pick 'em. It is a total of $700 in payouts that we do.
 

averagejoe

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My toughts:
Scenario 1) 6 teams make playoffs. The 3 division winners all get byes. The the 3 wild cards (yes, all 3) play each other in week 14. Wild card winner plays the 1 seed. 2 seed plays the 3 seed in week 15. Title game on week 16.

Scenario 2) 7 teams make the playoffs. 2 plays 7. 3 plays 6. 4 plays 5. #1 seed is only team with bye. Yadda yadda... typical playoff matchups.

Scenario 3) realign the league to 2 conferences. Top 3 teams make playoffs in each conference. Top team in each get bye. Then the 2 seeds plays the 3 seeds. Winner plays 1 seed in each conference. Then those winners play for the title.
 

TREFF

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I have always been a fan of week 17 championships until last year.

Last year I snuck into the playoffs with a 6-8 record. After winning the first two weeks and making the championship some how, I revamped almost my entire lineup for whomever was playing in week 17. I destroyed the guy who had the best season. So after that it was brought up and changed from 6 team playoffs to 4 team playoffs and the championship in week 16.




Even though I had won, I felt like the other guy had beaten me for 16 weeks and then I beat him the final week.
ive always felt that was the mark of a truly strong fantasy player. If you were able to adjust to what was going on better than your opponent, kudos and trophies to you.
Week 17 championships are a true equalizer, minimizing the effects of that one great player you rode all year who doesn't play much that week and forcing the team owner to actually think and put forth effort.

I don't have any great insight as to how you should do it, but my personel feeling is that if there's football being played that counts in the real record books, then there's no good reason not to count it in the fantasy season.
 

femurov

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My toughts:
Scenario 1) 6 teams make playoffs. The 3 division winners all get byes. The the 3 wild cards (yes, all 3) play each other in week 14. Wild card winner plays the 1 seed. 2 seed plays the 3 seed in week 15. Title game on week 16.

Scenario 2) 7 teams make the playoffs. 2 plays 7. 3 plays 6. 4 plays 5. #1 seed is only team with bye. Yadda yadda... typical playoff matchups.

Scenario 3) realign the league to 2 conferences. Top 3 teams make playoffs in each conference. Top team in each get bye. Then the 2 seeds plays the 3 seeds. Winner plays 1 seed in each conference. Then those winners play for the title.
These scenarios are nice, but they don't fix the problem of losing a week in our regular season.
 

femurov

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ive always felt that was the mark of a truly strong fantasy player. If you were able to adjust to what was going on better than your opponent, kudos and trophies to you.
Week 17 championships are a true equalizer, minimizing the effects of that one great player you rode all year who doesn't play much that week and forcing the team owner to actually think and put forth effort.

I don't have any great insight as to how you should do it, but my personel feeling is that if there's football being played that counts in the real record books, then there's no good reason not to count it in the fantasy season.
This is the big argument that I along with a couple other guys who are actually for the 17 'ship bring up.
 

femurov

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Another thing that I am trying to accomplish with this thread is to find other reasons why people prefer the week 16 championship. The only 2 reasons that people have brought up are that "every other league does it", which doesn't fly in our league because we do all kinds of things that other leagues don't do. Hell, we start a freakin punter. How many other leagues do you know that do that? The other reason is the whole some (which is actually a select few) players sit during week 17. I always bring up the year that Peyton Manning got pulled at halftime in week 15 and cost me a playoff win. It happens in week 16 sometimes, so do we push it back to week 14 to ensure it doesn't happen?

All in all, the biggest obstacle is the fact that we already have it set up this way and the math works. The thing that frustrates me the most about this is that I am one of the people strongly opposed to the idea, yet, EVERY year when people bitch about it, I always say the same thing... "Find a way to make the math work, and we will discuss it" and they never do. That was the first 2 or 3 years worth of discussions until finally it was me that came up with like I said, about 7 different ways to make the change and I listed them all off in the meeting and everyone was like, nah, don't want to give up that, nah, don't want to change that, nah, that would suck... So, how do you want to change it to make it work? Well, how does every other league do it? They do one of the 7 things that I just said that you guys said you wanted no part of. Then, we all agree to keep it the way it is, until about this time, when one or both of the people who make the championship game bitch about one of their players sitting. Then, the cycle continues.

I will say that this will be the last year we bring it up for at least a couple of years. I am just tired of running around in this circle.
 

femurov

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My league is also 12 team, 3 divisions with top two byes. We just randomize the outer division games and start the playoffs in week 14.

Otherwise, 4 team playoffs is the way to go.

Unless you absorb the three divisions, play everyone once (11 weeks);

Week 12: #1 vs #2 and #7 vs #8... 1/2 winner gets a bye in week 13, loser gets second chance, and 7/8 loser is out.
Week13: 1/2 loser vs 7/8 winner, #3 vs #6 and #4 vs #5
Week 14: 1/2 winner vs low seed, and the two remaining middle seeds match up.
Week 15/16: two week final.

Alternative would be week 12 is a royal rumble where the top six get a win and the bottom six get a loss. Then the playoffs are pushed back and you get a one week final.
I'm having trouble following the math on the alternate. Week 12 is the Royal Rumble, where all teams just keep track of their total points and the top 6 move on and the bottom 6 are out. Week 13 would be 1 and 2 with a bye, then 3 v 6 and 4 v 5. Week 14 is 1 vs low seed, 2 vs high seed, then week 15 is the ship? Seems like we're missing something. I think the outline is enough to get my creative juices going and I can make it work, but I am a little drunk right now and think I should think about this later.

I don't like how the best team after 11 weeks can finish in the bottom 6 and miss out on the playoffs entirely, so I think I would throw some byes in on the Rumble week, then just have more teams come out of the rumble still alive, then ween its way down. Just not trying to do the math right now.
 

averagejoe

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders.
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Sounds like you're doing all you can to make them happy. Fact: people like to complain.

I have no problem finishing a league in week 17 or 16. Maybe to satisfy the possibility of players being sat in week 17, add an amendment that says any players added to the roster in week 17 will accumulate 150% of their points. (Or points times 1.5)

But I'm sure that will open up a can of worms too.
 

tlance

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I'm having trouble following the math on the alternate. Week 12 is the Royal Rumble, where all teams just keep track of their total points and the top 6 move on and the bottom 6 are out. Week 13 would be 1 and 2 with a bye, then 3 v 6 and 4 v 5. Week 14 is 1 vs low seed, 2 vs high seed, then week 15 is the ship? Seems like we're missing something. I think the outline is enough to get my creative juices going and I can make it work, but I am a little drunk right now and think I should think about this later.

I don't like how the best team after 11 weeks can finish in the bottom 6 and miss out on the playoffs entirely, so I think I would throw some byes in on the Rumble week, then just have more teams come out of the rumble still alive, then ween its way down. Just not trying to do the math right now.

I think the "Royal Rumble" would just be extra games. But I could be wrong.
 

tlance

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Bottom line,

In a 12 team league you can't have scheduling equity AND a week 16 championship.

Decide which is more important to your league and move on.
 

TKOSpikes

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I'm having trouble following the math on the alternate. Week 12 is the Royal Rumble, where all teams just keep track of their total points and the top 6 move on and the bottom 6 are out. Week 13 would be 1 and 2 with a bye, then 3 v 6 and 4 v 5. Week 14 is 1 vs low seed, 2 vs high seed, then week 15 is the ship? Seems like we're missing something. I think the outline is enough to get my creative juices going and I can make it work, but I am a little drunk right now and think I should think about this later.

I don't like how the best team after 11 weeks can finish in the bottom 6 and miss out on the playoffs entirely, so I think I would throw some byes in on the Rumble week, then just have more teams come out of the rumble still alive, then ween its way down. Just not trying to do the math right now.

Nope, you're confused... 8 team playoff
After 11 weeks, the head to head regular season is done... Week 12 is a point total week. The top six scores for week 12 get a win. The bottom six scores get a loss. So nobody is going from 1 to 9 (unless everyone was 6-5)

So, after 12 weeks, the playoffs begin.

#3, 4, 5, 6 get a week 13 "bye".
1 vs 2 (winner jumps a round, loser second chance). 7 vs 8 (loser is out)

Week 14 (1 vs 2 winner gets bye, loser plays winner of 7/8)...and 3v6 and 4v5.

Week 15 is final four
 
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