For the general public, a standard fantasy football league suffices. If you’re reading this article, you may have grown weary of normal leagues and would like to try something new. Crash Course, a Fantasy Football Universe series, delves into unique formats. So, let’s start with Stat Showdown: Dominating in Game vs Median Leagues.
How Does it Work?
This is a rather unique spin on a traditional league. It doesn’t change the scoring, the rosters, or even the format. All of that is open to personal preference and skill level. The way this works is that every week in addition to facing your traditional head-to-head opponent, you will also be awarded a second win or loss based on how your score ranked among the other teams in the league.
For example, in a 12-team league, the top six teams in scoring that week will be given a win, while the bottom six are given a loss. This is added in to take the luck of the schedule out. On a week where you are the second highest scoring team but lost to the highest scoring team, rather than receiving a 0-1 record for the week, you would be 1-1. It’s a solid way to ensure that the best team comes out on top and avoids situations where a bad team that got lucky with the schedule ends up with a top seed in the playoffs.
How is it different?
As I stated above, the only difference is with the additional win or loss awarded to each team every week. In a league with a 14-game regular season, a perfect record would now be 28-0 rather than the standard 14-0.
Many managers are against this as they find it to be unrealistic of the actual NFL chaos, but it simply ensures that the good teams are rewarded for being good.
How does the Draft work?
The draft doesn’t change at all in this format. It’s still subject to your settings. There is no change at all, aside from the way the head-to-head matchup is scored.
A look at the Rosters
Rosters are open to league preference as usual, and in this case, are not impacted at all by the change in format. This scoring change has minimal impact on the league except for making it easier for teams to make up a multi-game deficit in the standings to claim a playoff spot.
How does the Waiver Wire work?
As always, the waiver wire settings are a matter of personal preference and vary depending on the league. In the end, the game vs median has no impact on how the waiver wire works other than to say it tends to be a more competitive league where the good teams flourish and the bad teams perish, so hypothetically more teams may be checked out leaving you more options on the waiver wire.
How the scoring works
As I stated above, this is a scoring change but it does not change the points scored, but rather the way wins and losses are awarded.
You are awarded one win or loss based on who wins between you and your opponent and one more win or loss based on whether or not your score for that week is in the top or bottom half of the league.
The Consensus Strategy
- Shoot for Consistency: While upside wins championships, the up-and-down nature of some of the more inconsistent players can leave you subject to many 0-2 weeks. Your goal each week should always be to score enough points to go 1-1 at a minimum. Starting a few upside players is great but you should always start a few consistent options with a steady floor that will allow you the potential to salvage one win in a week where your studs have failed you.
- Draft Depth at Each Position: As with the above strategy, this is all about protecting yourself from getting skunked in a week. You don’t want to leave yourself without a player due to bye or injury and leave yourself with no shot at claiming either victorie in a matchup.
My Strategy
- Don’t Focus Only on Opponent: Beating your opponent head to head is always nice, but don’t get discouraged in a matchup where you are a heavy underdog against a juggernaut team, rather start your best lineup that could conceivably still get you a point vs median. On the flip side, don’t get overconfident and start riskier players just because you are a heavy favorite, it can lead to a bust week that costs you what should have been an easy split matchup.
- Manage Bye Weeks: This strategy piggybacks on the draft depth strategy. In a format where you want to maximize your weekly output to accumulate as many wins as possible, it’s important to not leave yourself vulnerable to a “Byepocalypse”.
In Closing
This format is what I consider to be the true way to find out who the best team in the league is. Sure, you are still subject to a little bit of luck but in the end, the best teams normally go the distance in this format while the luck eventually runs out for the teams living on hope.
If you try to convince your league mates to change to this format, Good Luck! It’s a tough sell to most managers.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of the Crash Course Series.
