The Road to the Playoffs

West

For the Wolfpack it’s really simple: just win the next two and you’re in. A win and loss by the Spartans can clinch the division in Week 12. The worst-case scenario would be a loss in Week 12 and win by the Spartans in which case the Wolfpack would still control their own destiny in a Week 13 showdown. With a 3-1 division record, their tiebreaker advantages for a wildcard (if it comes to that) would be very strong as well as being the second highest scoring team in the league. The Wolfpack have the most outs but will have a difficult two game stretch to close out the season with their best player on bye in Week 12.

With a Wolfpack loss and a Spartan win, the door remains open for somebody to take the throne in the West after 11 straight weeks of Wolfpack sitting in first place. The Spartans still have one more crack at the Wolfpack but would need help in Week 12 from Lin Sanity who will be playing against the Wolfpack. Currently at the #6 seed, the Spartans also have a likely wildcard out. Winning the next two games will most likely (can’t guarantee because of the FFC North race) get a wildcard at the bare minimum. Should they go 4-2 in the division that would give them the advantage over the Warriors.

Speaking of Week 12, the Spartans will do battle once more with PGD who won the earlier matchup in the regular season. At 6-5, wildcard hopes are still alive but divisional aspirations are slim for PGD. They still have an out in forcing a three-way tie at the end of the regular season and beating out the Spartans for the tiebreaker because of the head to head (since both teams would have a superior divisional record of 4-2 if the Wolfpack lose the next two games). Suffice to say these are a very important two weeks in the FFC West which could see as many as three playoff teams.

FFC East

The Clash of the Titans ended with the #1 seed Mahomies Deezflated Nuts affirming their two-game lead in the division and have several outs to clinch a playoff spot after Week 12. This would include winning their game or several losing scenarios by the wildcard teams. It is hard to imagine a universe where this team goes from #1 to anywhere below #6 in the span of two weeks so I won’t even waste time exploring the opportunities. But I will continue to do so privately!

For SLAM BALL, they would need two wins and two losses by MD Nuts (note that both teams are playing each other in Week 13) to win the division. The wildcard is the more realistic scenario but they are losing the head to head tiebreaker to the Warriors. With so many wildcard teams still in the mix, it is still up in the air at this point.

FFC South

Probably the most interesting division race in that three teams are still somehow alive, nobody is over .500 and it’s been a  revolving door of people stepping in and out for first place of the division lead. The only person in control of their destiny at this point is Bruce who just has to win out to win the division (maintaining his one-win lead over Da Moon’s Huge Craters). Seemingly all three other division members will be rooting for Bruce losses over the next two weeks but even that might not be enough.

The last two matchups of the season will be Craters vs Jenious, UPS vs Bruce followed by Jenious vs UPS and Bruce vs Craters. Only Dr. Jenious will not play against Bruce and he loses the season series tiebreaker so he would need to root for two Bruce losses and win the division in a clear fashion over the current leader. The Craters have a slightly less path to getting there as they have a game against Bruce to close the gap and in a tie scenario would likely have one less loss than Bruce thus edging him out without using tiebreakers.

FFC North

The big matchup of the week to watch in Week 12 will be the Rubber Duckies vs the Korriban Warriors where the winner gains sole possession of the division lead with only one week left in the regular season…unless we get another tie. With both teams tied, the Duckies hold the tiebreaker in head to head record and currently in divisional record (if that comes into play later).

The Pool of the Dead lost a great opportunity to maintain control in the division with a tie in Week 12 that puts them a game behind the division lead. With a 3-1 divisional record, they are the best suited to win any tiebreakers that may happen in Week 13, but I would imagine they have to go 2-0 to close the season to be in that position.

Team Banana Boat is holding onto slim playoff hopes that could easily be crushed if any wildcard team wins a game in the next two weeks. Banana Boat has a strong advantage in points scored and would need to get to 7-6 and hope for some terrible luck with the current 7-win teams to sneak in as a wildcard. The division is also still not out of reach, but they would need for the Warriors and Duckies to end in an unlikely tie as a win by either team would put them at two games ahead with only one game left in the season after this week. This is another division where we could potentially see three playoff teams if everything plays out right.