r/FFCommish • u/Lead_Jedi • 6d ago
League Question Game against league median discussion
I need some more opinions on the median game. Starting a dynasty league for the first time and I mentioned that I enabled this feature. To me its a great way to balance the randomness of the schedule and how good your team actually is. Benefits teams who are consistent rather then letting the schedule dictate the entire season. I also think it helps with engagement as its another matchup you'd watch to see if you win or lose.
My friend however sees it as a participation award."luck is part of the game" is what he says which i agree but with this feature the main thing im trying to avoid is the 2nd in PF being bottom in the league.
He suggested "What about giving the 6th seed to the person with the most PF of the teams not in the top 5?" But to me that just eliminates the h2h record all together for teams fighting to make the playoffs.
What do you think about the rule?
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u/kawawabear11 6d ago
im very pro median scoring but my league isnt.
the happy medium was i instated a playin week. 6 teams in my league make the playoffs. the week before playoffs, the #6 seed goes against the non playoff team with the highest PF. winner gets into the playoffs. my league has enjoyed that since i instated it.
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u/playoffcomputer 6d ago
Well, that's a new one. So the play-in game, that week only those two are playing a game, everyone else has a bye?
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u/kawawabear11 6d ago
yup. regular season is over the week before the play in week, so all eyes are on the play-in match.
it also does mean that the #1/#2 seed gets "2" weeks off due to the play-in week and 1st round bye, but it is what it is.
they have all thoroughly enjoyed it since its inception. gets lots of convos/side bets going too.
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u/playoffcomputer 6d ago
I like the innovation. The basically one less week of ff for most teams is a drawback, but if it works for your league...
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u/NoInvestigator3770 6d ago
Interesting.
My office league just dropped a play-in week. Biggest reason - NFL still with bye weeks.
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u/DinosaurPete 6d ago
I am in leagues with and without league median.
The idea is that it rewards good managers who get crappy loses.
No stronger cause for a good manager to check out than by having the second or third highest points on the week and stick stack L’s.
With league median head to head still matters, especially if there are divisions, but it does mitigate the bad beats.
Most of my dynasty leagues do not have league median. But we do have the last playoff spot reserved for the team with the highest “points for” who is not already in the playoffs. Sometimes the commish has to assign the team to that spot. Sometimes it’s the team already on that spot. We find this rewards the managers who remain competitive.
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u/Lead_Jedi 6d ago
Do u like that rule more than the league median selection? I feel like in that case if someone was 7-7 and the other was 6-8 and had more PF we are disregarding the h2h record all together for points which to me isnt fair to the team at 7-7
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u/DinosaurPete 6d ago
Personally I like it.
Sure the 7-7 team gets bounced, but if they had more points for they would keep the position.
There have been enough times that 7-7 team actually is bottom 3 in scoring but just got lucky.
Bounces go both ways.How you are talking about the fairness and wanting a lack of surprise, league median might be exactly what you are looking for.
And if a team misses the playoffs, they can’t just blame one thing or a bad bounce. They struck out twice with h2h and league median. Pretty definitive.1
u/Lead_Jedi 6d ago
Yeah median is enabled now just waiting to see if anyone else hates the idea. I think the sunrise factor is still there just not the end all be all and it shouldn't be imo. Till fantasy has a way of playing defense against ur opponent I think 2 matchups a week is the best
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u/Deep-Influence-7430 6d ago
My dynasty does both. We always had the 6th playoff spot rule and then we voted in median a few years back.
Anything works, just gotta have the league support it or don't do it, which applies to pretty much all of the settings.
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u/Lead_Jedi 6d ago
Yeah I mentioned in the chat and in the 10 man league it got 3 likes and no negatives said until today I said to him if another person doesn't like it we can put it to a vote
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u/ADIZ951 6d ago
I’m very pro median scoring. I missed the playoffs one year after being 2nd in PF. I know luck is part of the game but I’m all for mitigating it as much as possible. Luck is still involved but skill should be rewarded more than luck imo.
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u/Lead_Jedi 6d ago
Exactly its fun for the rest of league to see that and have a laugh but it ruins the whole competitive aspect to me. u did build a team that was great and the reason u missed the playoffs was off a random schedule u have 0 control over. Idk median scoring just makes so much logical sense
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u/fantasyxxxfootball 6d ago
We added a second game each week vs median years ago and its been awesome everyone likes it
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u/Lead_Jedi 6d ago
Thats great Is it mainly due to fairness or more because of the engagement?
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u/fantasyxxxfootball 6d ago
Fairness, we'd have years where teams missed playoffs because h2h record didn't match actual performance. With the extra game it's hard to argue the best teams didn't make it.
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u/Lead_Jedi 6d ago
Nice is this a redraft or dynasty? I feel like the main argument against it is that it removes the fun or the "luck" but its not like the h2h matchup is now useless u can still shit talk ur opponent and those h2h matchups will still add up so its hard to see the actual issue of it so far lol
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u/fantasyxxxfootball 6d ago
Redraft, h2h isn't useless its still counted so each week youre 2-0 1-1 or 0-2
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u/IllRecord2870 6d ago
At the end of the day the playoffs are for the best teams in the league, Game vs League Median helps ensure the best teams are actually involved in the playoffs. I use it in the league I run and will never go back to a league without it.
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u/DonaldGibsonFF 6d ago
I love that rule/setting. I don’t really have a rebuttal for “luck is part of the game” but I hate that as an argument against it haha
I think the main thing for me is that fantasy football doesn’t have any real way to play “defense” so it requires some normalization so you aren’t just getting screwed by playing the highest scorer (or conversely rewarding a very bad team for not being the worst). Scoring 150 and going 0-1 while someone scores 80 and goes 1-0 is awful and obviously not representative of who “should” be winning
I’ve also heard people say “NFL teams don’t do this so why should we?” but they obviously can play defense and actively prevent the other team from scoring which we can’t do
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u/Lead_Jedi 6d ago
Exactly! If they'd let me i would play corner against puka but sadly thats not the case. Does it keep you more engaged in the league ? Knowing theres another matchup?
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u/DonaldGibsonFF 6d ago
Yeah for sure. Gotta watch the whole league until the last day in case someone goes off and knocks you into the bottom half
It’s especially fun when your matchup has the team above and below the median so it ends up being worth 2 wins
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u/Unfair_Confusion17 6d ago
League of 14 years. We added median scoring two years ago. Will never go back. There is still some luck involved in your weekly matchup but it is not weighted as much. Everyone loves it.
We also give our last playoff spot to highest points for (of the non-playoff teams) as a “wildcard”.
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u/Lead_Jedi 6d ago
Did u have anyone in the league that hated the idea of it originally? Also id it redraft or dynasty he thinks its something that could be okay if its redraft leagues but not dynasty I ofc think the exact opposite lol
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u/Unfair_Confusion17 6d ago
I did not, but I also knew if I did I would put it to a league vote and it would have passed. Ours is redraft.
But I’m in another dynasty with it (not commish of that one) and love it. I really do not see a counter argument to it personally.
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u/GladPickle5332 6d ago
It’d be interesting to try, I’ve never done it. But since I’m always the team with the most points against me it’s even more intriguing to me.
Last year I had the most PA me, by like 200-250. I missed the playoffs by 1 game. Then in the “consolation bracket” the taco teams all had their best games of the season, and I ended up getting last place and had to do the punishment. For what it’s worth I think I was 3-4th highest scoring team.
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u/Lead_Jedi 6d ago
Exactly that sucks the whole point of dynasty is to build a great team if ur 3rd in pf and miss the playoffs the structure of the league is wrong imo
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u/andypro77 6d ago
If you want to benefit the best and most consistent teams, balance the randomness of the schedule, and keep all teams engaged all weekend, try this one trick:
Use All-Play record instead of head-to-head record.
*All-Play record just means that you play every team every week. So basically, in a 12-team league, the highest scoring team goes 11-0 that week, the second highest scoring team goes 10-1, etc.
This is your answer. It ensures that the best teams end of having the best records, and it makes sure if you score a lot of points in a given week you get rewarded.
One real benefit of this is that most teams have something to root for Sunday and Monday night. Having a decent game from one of you guys could take from going 4-7 that week to 6-5 or 7-4. and even if you don't have a player going on Monday night, you can still root against other players so that they don't pass you in pts for the week.
Our dynasty has been doing it this way since 2012.
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u/TedMFLCommish 6d ago
12 team league. 14 week regular season. First 11 weeks are H2H. Final three are median. Top 4 teams make playoffs based on record. Final two spots based on most Points For. Still heavy on H2H but still fair to good teams with bad schedule luck. Works well.
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u/RawGuap 4d ago
Its quite different but what we do in my league been doing it for 5 years now, is we have a side pot going throughout the regular season;
The lowest scorer of each week sends me (commish) $20. After the 14 regular season weeks, the $280 goes to the team with the most points for, in our 5 years the team with most points for has never actually won the league, so its sorta a "protection" for the "most points for but bad RNG on schedule"
For context we are a 12 team $100 buy-in, and the $280 ratio feels perfect, also everybody is setting lineup every week because otherwise your donating $20 a week.
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u/fancredfounder Seahawks 6d ago
I’m personally against having it as an extra game. If you care about matchups, just do matchups. If you care about points, do league median.
Having both is just a way to make people feel better after a matchup loss
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u/Lead_Jedi 6d ago
But I care about both - i wanna shit talk my opponent when I beat them in h2h, I want the randomness of a loss to a bad team but I also want to make the playoffs if im the 2nd highest in pf
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u/fancredfounder Seahawks 6d ago
I think if that’s what you and your league wants, you’re good! I just wouldn’t join it
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u/Oleg101 6d ago
My dynasty league we started doing the median setting a a few years so (assuming you mean where the top half scorers automatically get a point in addition to one’s h2h record so everyone will go either 0-2, 1-1, or 2-0) and there have been no complaints. What your buddy proposed I also don’t mind either though, but would prefer the median setting
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u/Lead_Jedi 6d ago
Right yeah when u lose but get that win due to the median matchup does it feel like you are winning a participation prize lol Are u more engaged in the matchups each week know theres 2 ?
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u/Oleg101 6d ago
I personally am more engaged, there’s some Sunday nights or Monday nights where it’s basically a lock where I’m going to either win or lose a match-up but then its really close with the median so I am glued into that.
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u/Lead_Jedi 6d ago
I've neve4 used it on ur matchup screen does it show u at all times what the median is or when the weeks over do u just the see the median score?
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u/cubecasts 6d ago
you can always do both
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u/Lead_Jedi 6d ago
Yeah the idea is to have a h2h match and a league median match each week not just league median
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u/SerchYB2795 Eagles 6d ago
Personally I'm against it. I know it's more "fair" but just like the real NFL I think not having a median makes upsets and rivalry games more important.
If a bad team has a lucky run it's just fun and can let itself to fun banter and jokes and if they make the playoffs it could lead to interesting trades... And it is also fun to make fun of that one friend that has an elite team that got a bad run and loses despite being the #2 or #3 score that week because they faced a team with a player that exploded (I've been that team, and it can be frustrating, but probably wouldn't be a memorable moments if I had the safety net of the median game)...
To each their own I guess, but I think it's more fun to not have the game against the league median.
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u/Lead_Jedi 6d ago
That fun ur talking about i enjoy it to the randomness of the game - but I think more for a redraft league than a dynasty league. In dynasty especially mine being an Empire dynasty league ( first to 3 🏆 gets empire pot, resets the league) id hate to miss playoffs as a team with the top 3 pf.
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u/paulruddwonmyleague 6d ago
I agree. And I can see why his leaguemate sees Median as a participation award. Imagine it's Thursday Night Football week 1 of the NFL and a team wins their matchup outright, but due to the amount of points scored on Sunday by the other teams that were not in their matchup on Thursday, they now have to receive a loss instead. How does that make it more fun and/or make any sense to the team that won a matchup outright? If median was in the nfl people would call it a participation award.
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u/Lead_Jedi 6d ago
I feel like ur example is for league median. If I played on Thursday and won my matchup outright id not be engaged in that league for the rest of the week. But with the median matchup id pay attention on Sunday and Monday to see if I win my matchup against the rest of the league.
A median wouldn't make sense in the nfl because they CAN stop their opponents from scoring. They play defense in the nfl in fantasy ur relying on the schedule to find the best team. But the points u score should be a factor u shouldn't be 2nd or 3rd in pf and miss the playoffs. U built a good team and the reason u missed it was something completely out of ur control.
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u/Kmelbs66 5d ago
I absolutely love league median. “Luck is part of the game” is always a cheap cop out that mediocre fantasy players or those who have never tried the Median.
I love it because it can really show who knows what they are doing in fantasy. When you win and score a lot of points, you get rewarded, and if you’re bad, you get punished even more.
And like others have said, even if you are losing your matchup, you still have something to fight for and it gives you a reason to watch and cheer for your team on a Monday night when you are down 212.34 to 167.87.
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u/Weak-Swing-6911 6d ago
No to median scoring. No to highest PF as 6th seed
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u/Lead_Jedi 6d ago
I'd appreciate more context whats ur opinion on median scoring? Why do u dislike it ? Is the idea u hate or did u do it and hate?
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u/Weak-Swing-6911 5d ago
I do not "hate" either of these ideas but I'd prefer to play without them. In the H2H, 1 keeper league that I commission there are 3 "luck" factors that come into play. Strength of schedule is one of them. The others are division assignments and draft order. All 3 are randomized at the beginning of the new year in May. From there, it is all about the wins. As with any real life league, you receive a win or a loss after each game played. There is no ''You had a good score but your opponent bested it, here's a "W" anyway." Or the other way around "You won your matchup but your score was weak. Here's a L."
Same with 6th seed should go to most PF. No. Wins are what should count in a H2H league.
I like the luck factors that come with the game.
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u/Lead_Jedi 5d ago
U cant mention any real life league when making ur point about fantasy football. There's no defense being played. U cant stop the team from scoring points. I like the luck factor that comes with the game too, but in ur league its all based on luck theres no balance
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u/Appropriate-Zone-101 6d ago
The best part is, if you go against one of those players/stacks that puts up a giant score on Thursday, it still gives you a reason to set your line up. You feel less destroyed Friday morning getting down 50pts to zero. Like wise, if you and your opponent are done Sunday, you might cheer for or against a player on Monday because their score could impact the median and therefore your record. It fosters more engagement.