Vox Talks: What is your Favorite Playoff Format?

Ryan Finley Posted On December 17, 2017

Welcome back to another edition of Vox Talks; the series that peels back the curtain on the private DLF writer Voxer chat.

Here we are in week 15 of the season, and for many leagues that means it’s semifinal week in the playoffs. Hopefully you still have a team or two still alive and kicking at this point.

One of the great benefits of being a writer at DLF is I have the opportunity to join a number of leagues with fellow writers or other industry folks. Not only do these leagues often have a lot of smart owners, they also come in all different types. Different scoring systems, different roster rules, different rules and quite a few different playoff formats. With that in mind, I thought I’d ask the team this question:

Vox Talks Question of the Week: What’s your current favorite playoff format?

My current favorite playoff format is the one used in Ryan McDowell’s Kitchen Sink leagues. His format takes care of one of my playoff pet peeves – the fact that a great team can be sunk by a single bad week. Here’s how it works. These leagues are split into two 12-team conferences. Six teams make the playoffs in each conference, and the playoffs start a week earlier than in most leagues (you’ll see why soon.)

The top two teams get a bye in the first round. The top two teams by score make it to the next round.
In round two, the teams on a bye can use EITHER their week 12 or week 13 score. This gives them an added advantage. The top two scoring teams from this round advance again.
In round three (the conference championships), the two remaining teams add both their week 13 and week 14 scores to determine the winner.
And finally, round four pits the conference winners against one another over another two-week span to determine the champion.

So you can see that not only does this help eliminate the dreaded “one bad week” syndrome, but teams that earn byes also get a much greater advantage compared to most leagues. I also really like how it makes the championship games two week affairs. Is it a perfect system? No, but I sure do like how it works out.

Here’s more from the rest of the team:

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Bobby Koch

I’ll start by saying that I’ve only played in standard bracket formats as far as I’m aware. One thing I did like in one league this season was that the sixth seed was determined not by standing but most points scored. I think it takes the luck factor out a bit in a game that is already full of it.

Peter Howard

I like the last spot going to the team with the most points scored. I’ve also seen two-week playoff games which helps eliminate some of the gut wrenching variance in bracket formats.

Matt Price

At least one and preferably two spots go to teams based on points scored rather than record. If it’s a bracket system I think it’s important to re-seed after each round so that the highest seed always plays the lowest seed.

I like a system Scott Fish implements in the Pigs leagues and used it in a league I created this season. No head-to-head. Instead if it’s a six team playoff, three-four of the highest scoring teams in week 14 advance. In week 15 the two highest scoring teams of those remaining advance to week 16 for the finals.

The Ghost

I’m a traditionalist with a standard bracket format. The leagues I run differ a hair in that seeds one-four are based on record, fifth seed is most points and sixth is all-play record. This ensures that the absolute best and toughest teams get into the playoffs and luck of scheduling is eliminated as much as possible. I have a toilet bowl bracket as well where a 1.13 pick is awarded to the winner. This gives borderline teams an avenue into the playoffs in future seasons.

Eric Dickens

My favorite playoff format takes into account total points scored. So typically the first and second seeds will be best record and the third and fourth seeds will be top total points with the fifth and sixth seeds being the next two teams with the best record. So it still gives plenty of weight to head-to-head and season long matchups but doesn’t just make it total points scored. I do like that two of the spots go to the teams that score the best, as it ensures that the best teams get in. I play in several leagues with some variation of that, and that’s my preference. That way there aren’t any teams that just had a rough schedule but are higher quality. I also thinks the bye weeks need to go to the best teams in the league, and I like that you have to work for it.

So there you have it. There are almost as many playoff formats out there as overall league formats. In the early days I only got the opportunity to play in fairly vanilla brackets, but I’m glad I’ve found some leagues that provide varied and interesting playoffs. What’s your favorite playoff format?

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