The Playoff Race Tightens

FFC West

The FFC West is the only division in the league that has had three different division leaders at different points this season, and I can argue that the best team in the division isn’t even in contention for the division anymore (the #1 points scored team in the entire league Lin Sanity who is severely hampered by a 0-4 divisional record start). The only team that controls their destiny at this point is the Elk Grove Spartans. It’s as simple as win both final games and you are guaranteed a top 4 seed. The Spartans are also in the mix for a wildcard if there is a doomsday scenario in which they lose their final two games and lose the division to either the PGD or Wolfpack. At 7-6 with a 3-3 divisional record they could potentially be in a tie with several other teams (contingent on Bruce and Rubber Duckies losing their final two games) which would go to a points scored tiebreaker. This scenario would not favor the Wolfpack who lag behind several teams but again this is a catastrophic situation. Winning at least one more game and two losses by both the Duckies and Jenious/Bruce would guarantee a wildcard situation. As we go further into these playoff scenarios you will see this hypothetical situation exists for many teams so this will sound like a broken record.

The path for the PGD and Wolfpack is a little more challenging as both teams will need to win both of their final games and hope for the Spartans to lose both of their games. If the PGD win both games they can’t be caught by the Wolfpack and the PGD has to beat the Spartans outright on record because they lost the season series 0-2 against the Spartans. The long shot is the Sacramento Wolfpack who have the most interesting path to the playoffs. This incredible scenario would be a 4-way tie at 7-6 which would happen if the Wolfpack wins out, Spartans lose out and the PGD loses in Week 13 to the Lin Sanity. A 4-team tie would default to divisional record which would favor the Wolfpack (who could be 7-6 with a 5-1 divisional record). Both PGD and Wolfpack could also be in the mix at 7-6 but this would heavily favor the Wolfpack who would have a dominant 5-1 divisional record and edge out almost every other team. This situation is a little unclear given it is contingent on Dr. Jenious winning the division and for both Bruce and the Rubber Duckies to lose their final two games. This will be a little clearer in next week’s update.

FFC East

Mahomies’ Deezflated Nuts has been the division leader the entire season. In Week 2, MD Nuts won the first of the season series games against the Goat. Their second and final matchup of the season will be in Week 12 and will be of utmost importance in tie breaking scenarios and for the Goat to tie up the season series and have a shot at winning the division which would not be resolved until Week 13. Essentially both teams (MD Nuts and Gandalf the Goat) hold their own destiny as winning out will ensure a division title. MD Nuts winning in Week 12 would seal the FFC East division as they could not be caught by any team and would win the H2H tiebreaker over the Goat even if MD Nuts lost in Week 13. Gandalf the Goat has the possibility of winning Week 12 and still losing the division if they lose in Week 13 and MD Nuts wins. If MD Nuts wins the division (which would put the Goat at 7-6 at best with a 3-3 divisional record) there is wildcard situations contingent on Bruce and Duckies losing both of their final games as well. Basically the objective for this scenario is to create a massive logjam of 7-6 teams with a 3-3 divisional record. In this scenario the points scored tiebreaker would play which would not be ideal for the Goat as they lag behind teams like Bruce, UPS, SLAM BALL, PGD and the Spartans. This scenario is also contingent on Dr. Jenious winning the FFC South because with a 4-2 divisional record they would edge out all other teams and the Wolfpack losing at least one game. The best bet for the Goat is to win both of their games, similar to MD Nuts.

The longshot in this division is SLAM BALL 2K20 will besides winning both of their final games will also need Gandalf the Goat to beat MD Nuts in Week 12 and then Whit-ie the Trash Bag to beat Gandalf the Goat in Week 13. But this is not enough as it would force a tie with Gandalf at 7-6 (with whom they are also tied 1-1 in the season series and would be tied 3-3 divisional record so it would come down to a points scored tiebreaker). There is also a wildcard situation that is explored more in depth for the Goat, Warriors, Duckies and UPS but it is a messy situation right now.

FFC North

The Korriban Warriors have been the division leader the entire season and it’s looking like that will hold true all season long. A win by the Warriors or loss by the Rubber Duckies over the next two weeks seals the deal for the Warriors to capture the division title. If the team implodes over the final two weeks and loses the division title to the Rubber Duckies, then there will be a myriad of wildcard scenarios which we will explore next week as the situation becomes more clear. Just to give a preview, a mess of 7-6 teams with a 3-3 divisional record could be a possibility after Week 13 which would go to points scored tiebreaker in which the Warriors are in a strong position at 948.3 fantasy points (only lagging SLAM BALL and UPS who are 7-6 teams in this scenario). This scenario is also contingent on Dr. Jenious winning the FFC South because with a 4-2 divisional record they would edge out all other teams and on the Wolfpack losing at least one game.

Ernie’s Rubber Duckies is positioned well as a wildcard with a strong 3-1 divisional record and key H2H wins over Dr. Jenious and the Elk Grove Spartans. The division is not out of reach yet as the Duckies are tied 1-1 in the season series against the Warriors but don’t play them again in the final two weeks which could have helped that cause. A win by the Rubber Duckies and loss by the Spartans would seal a wildcard berth who could not be caught by any team at that point. Two losses by the Rubber Duckies would force them into a messy wildcard situation where they could be tied with several 7-6 teams with a 3-3 divisional record (similar to what is outlined above for the Warriors disaster scenario). This would not be a great situation for the Duckies with their 834.5 fantasy points scored on the season which lags behind the PGD, Spartans, SLAM BALL, Goat, UPS and Bruce. This scenario is also contingent on Dr. Jenious winning the FFC South because with a 4-2 divisional record they would edge out all other teams and also on the Wolfpack losing at least one game.

FFC South

Perhaps the most exciting division race will have one of the best games of the year as Dr. Jenious and Bruce Almightys will face off in Week 12. Their first game of the year was won by Dr. Jenious who also has a 4-0 divisional record. A win by the Jenious in Week 12 would clinch the division title for the Jenious and Bruce would be in the wildcard mix. A win for Bruce in Week 12 would not clinch the division as they would need to also win in Week 13 or have Dr. Jenious lose in Week 13 to win outright on record. If Bruce wins in Week 12 and loses in Week 13 and Dr. Jenious loses in Week 12 and wins in Week 13, the division would go to a points scored tiebreaker as both teams would be 1-1 in H2H and 4-2 in divisonal record. Just to make more things exciting both teams have a 1.1 point differential as of Week 11, so this one will be exciting down to the wire.

UPS is eliminated from the divisional race as any outcome between Dr. Jenious and Bruce Almightys including a tie would eliminate UPS on outright record. Essentially the longshot wildcard scenario would be to win both games, also have Bruce and Ernie’s Rubber Duckies lose both games which would force a multi-team tie in which all teams have a 3-3 divisional record and then win on points scored. This is not a crazy scenario as UPS only lags behind Bruce by 35.7 points and leads Rubber Duckies by 124.1 points. Other 7-6 teams that could get into this mix with a 3-3 divisional record could potentially be the PGD, Gandalf the Goat, Spartans and SLAM BALL 2K20. UPS outscores all these teams except SLAM BALL which they lag behind by 39.2 fantasy points. So it’s not completely out of the picture yet…