All rise! Court is now in session. Presiding over the 2004 Footballguys.com Commissioner's Court will be the dishonorable Chief Injustice Bill "The Commissioner" Davies and Associate Injustice Bill "DeCommish" DeSimone.

TODAY'S DOCKET: State of FFL v. the Even-Minded
THE CHARGE: Un-Fit to be tied

One of the great quotes in sports is, "A tie is like kissing your sister." It was coined by Michigan State University head coach Duffy Daugherty. (FANTASY FOOTBALL TRIVIA NOTE: The Chief Injustice is partial to Duffy because they share the same birthday.)

In fantasy football, there are two common types of ties. The first is in head-to-head games where both teams' starting lineups score the same number of points. The second is in the standings, when two or more teams have the same record. This article attempts to give your league the tools necessary to break ties in the fairest means available. They may not be the best thing out there, but it sure beats kissing your sister. (We've seen your sister.)

HEAD-TO-HEAD TIES

Sometimes after a game is played and all of the scores are counted, both teams end up with the same score. Rather than leaving the game a tie, most leagues try to implement some sort of tie-breaking mechanism.

Although we're certain there are several more out there, two seem to rise to the top in terms of fairness, ease of application and collateral benefit to the league. They are to compare the scores by the players on the bench to one another and to compare those players in a head-to-head fashion.

• BENCH v. BENCH
  With this scenario, if the regulation game (i.e. starters) ends in a tie, the score of the complete bench of one team is compared to the score of the entire bench of the other. The team with the bench that scores the most points is declared the winner in overtime. Many times, leagues will count the bench scores as a 1-0 overtime, so the points do not skew the year-to-date total points. Since some savvy owners may carry mostly kickers and quarterbacks on their bench in the event of a tie, it is important to limit the influence of the overtime performers.



• SUDDEN DEATH BENCH TIEBREAKERS - with pre-submitted reserve lists
  With this scenario, the regulation game (i.e. starters) also ends in a tie. However, the league is designed so that before each game teams must list their bench players in order in the way in which they want their scores considered in a head-to-head sudden death tiebreaker. As soon as one tie-breaking player scores more that his corresponding tiebreaker., the victory is awarded to the team with the highest scoring tiebreaker. Savvy owners may still carry mostly kickers and quarterbacks on their bench in the event of a tie, but it is less likely. Since you are only considering one player at a time, you may choose to include all scores scored in overtime toward the total game score. However, a 1-0 tiebreaker. still gives you a clear victory without inflating the game score too much.



• SUDDEN DEATH BENCH TIEBREAKERS - without pre-submitted reserve lists
  This is the same format as above, only in this case, each team's reserves are sorted after the games are complete, from highest points to lowest. Since most websites do not support ranking reserves, this is an easy way to operate a tiebreaker without a lot of wasted work for everyone every week. In our experience, very few games end in ties (2-4 per year in a 12 team basic scoring + performance league, slightly more often in a basic scoring only league), so this could be sufficient for your league.

One of the other benefits of these formats is that it further encourages all owners to maximize their roster spots. The active fantasy football players are already going to be doing their best to keep good talent on the bench. This will help the less involved fantasy owners keep a closer eye on their bench players. If they have a better set of bench players, they are more likely to be able to withstand an abrupt injury, suspension, conviction or retirement. This will lead to better competitive balance (i.e. parity) and more fun.

COME HERE, GRANDMA, AND PUCKER UP

Not as many people are aware of baseball great George Brett's variation on the "like kissing your sister" analogy. In his infinitely colloquial fashion, Brett is quoted as having said, "If a tie is like kissing your sister, losing is like kissing you grandmother with her teeth out." One of the problems with resolving ties is that someone who once had half a win now has a loss in its place.
Settling ties is done, in large part, because of the belief by the majority of your league that they would win if faced with a tie. This reminds me of a survey done of incoming freshmen at an Ivy League college. When asked if they would finish in the top half of their class, over ? said yes.

The point is that if a tie is bad, a loss is worse.

Each of these methods could result in a tie after the tiebreaker. consideration. Don't be afraid of ties. If there is still a tie after all of this, perhaps it is fate. Perhaps it the wish of the fantasy gods to let your game end in a tie.

OTHER OPTIONS

Here are some of the more popular tie-breaking methods that we don't like as much:

• HOME TEAM ADVANTAGE
  The theory here is that there is a home team and they gain the victory because of the fans. We get the whole, "this is supposed to be fun and imaginative" nonsense. But how absurd is this? If you look closely at the results of many schedule makers, there are an uneven number of home and away games between teams. Most leagues play 13 games in a season so right off the bat almost half the teams that play the game are at a disadvantage. And in most cases, these are designed only to set matchups. It's possible that teams 1 and 12 NEVER and ALWAYS, respectively, have a home game, depending on your schedule-making methods.



• BENCH KICKERS
  Some leagues try to break ties using the kicker on the bench for each team. Although there is nothing inherently bad with this, it does raise some concerns. First, what if your bench kicker is on bye? Second, why kicker? What if you have a player at another position you'd rather play? As long as everyone is in agreement that this is an OK way of doing it, then it is acceptable. The one good thing about kickers is that they score points in odd numbers (3 and 1). This avoids the problem of matching up other positions that are more likely to score the same points (such as 6 points for a TD in basic scoring).



• SEASON RECORD, TO DATE
  The system is designed to reward the teams that are having the best season. It presumably is designed to implement momentum into the game. Hogwash, we say.



• COIN FLIP/DICE ROLL
  The coin flip is the tiebreaker. of last resort. It should be used when all other means of
  breaking ties in your scoring system have been exhausted. And even then, only if your
  league chooses to resolve ties with 100% luck.

  Because so many leagues are on-line without the participants living or working nearby
  one another, a coin flip is usually subject to the trustworthiness and integrity of the
  person rolling the dice. Many leagues are turning to a virtual roll of the dice by going to
  http://www.irony.com/mailroll.html. An owner may roll a dice and e-mail the results to the
  Commissioner and/or his opponent. His opponent does the same. The team with the
  highest roll earns the victory

When addressing tie games during the regular season, we would recommend using one of the three methods we suggested above (Bench vs. Bench or one of the two Sudden Death Bench methods).

Ties during the playoffs can be a bit trickier. Ties during the regular season factor into the team's overall season-long record and can actually make divisions stack up better at the end of the year. However, during the playoffs someone has to win in order to advance. We suggest using one of the two SUDDEN DEATH BENCH methods for the playoffs, regardless of which method you use during the season. When you have exhausted all of your tie-breaking options during the playoffs, you are left with the game of chance (usually the coin flip) to determine the winner. These are the playoffs. Someone has to win.

TIES IN THE STANDINGS

You've played 13 or more weeks to see which teams emerge to the top and sure enough, there's a tie. (For some odd reason, there seems to be a lot more ties for wildcard teams than division winners.) You need to decide who advances to the playoffs and/or how teams should be slotted. Oftentimes, these rankings are also used to determine the following season's draft order, so they are very important.

Like so many things, there are numerous acceptable alternatives. The key is to find one that your entire league can agree upon and stick with it. If it results in a conclusion you don't like, change the rules the following season.

As in all things fantasy football, we recommend using the NFL rules as a baseline - keeping in mind they have a heck of a lot more riding on their rules than we do in our own leagues, we figure they've put a heck of a lot more thought in too. Below, we recommend a set of tiebreakers that starts with the NFL tiebreakers but makes some subtle adjustments to better fit the fantasy game. Of course, your league should come up with whatever rules make you most comfortable, but these are a good start.

Two team tiebreakers are seldom a problem. It is the three or more team ties. When resolving these, you ought to keep the notion of fairness in mind. That includes the notions of equal opportunity and equal protection. If you have multiple teams fighting for a wildcard spot, give some thought to how many games they have played against one another. In order for one team to advance using head-to-head, that team has to have swept all of the other teams in the tiebreaker.

For example, Teams A3, A4, and B3 all have a 7-6 record. Their head to head records are as follows:

• A3 - 2-1 .667 (2-0 vs. A4, 0-1 vs. B3)
• B3 - 1-1 .500 (1-0 vs. A3, 0-1 vs. A4)
• A4 - 1-2 .333 (1-0 vs. B3, 0-2 vs. A3)

Although A3 has the best overall head-to-head records in the group, they cannot win the tiebreaker. since they didn't sweep all of the other teams - in fact, they didn't beat B3 at all!

For a simple set of divisional tiebreakers, a league can use this:

• Regular Season Record
• Head-to-Head Record
• Record in the Division
• Total Points for the Season
• Most Points Against (strength of schedule)
• Coin Toss

For a simple set of wildcard tiebreakers, a league can use this:

• First settle divisional standings using above tiebreakers
• Regular Season Record
• Head-to-Head Record
• Record in the conference (if there are multiple divisions in each conference)
• Total points for the Season
• Most Points Against (strength of schedule)
• Coin Toss

One question that also comes up is if teams are ranked one at a time, or should the league progress down the tie-breaking options until one option simultaneously ranks each of them. We endorse the NFL's handling of multi-team standings ties. The NFL very clearly states that once a team is deemed to have won a tie-break for a wildcard spot, the remaining teams go back to the beginning and so on until all available wildcard spots are filled. Most fantasy football rules are not this clear - but they should be.

If you want to rely strictly on the NFL's set of tiebreakers, they are listed below. You can find a complete set at http://www.nfl.com/standings/tiebreakers.

TO BREAK A TIE WITHIN A DIVISION

If, at the end of the regular season, two or more clubs in the same division finish with identical won-lost-tied percentages, the following steps will be taken until a champion is determined.

Two Clubs

1. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games between the clubs).
2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division.
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games.
4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.
5. Strength of victory.
6. Strength of schedule.
7. Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed.
8. Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed.
9. Best net points in common games.
10. Best net points in all games.
11. Best net touchdowns in all games.

Three or More Clubs
(Note: If two clubs remain tied after third or other clubs are eliminated during any step, tie breaker reverts to step 1 of the two-club format).

1. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games among the clubs).
2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division.
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games.
4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.
5. Strength of victory.
6. Strength of schedule.
7. Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed.
8. Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed.
9. Best net points in common games.
10. Best net points in all games.
11. Best net touchdowns in all games.

Tie breakers for wildcard teams are a little different. They area as follows:

TO BREAK A TIE FOR THE WILDCARD TEAM
If it is necessary to break ties to determine the two Wildcard clubs from each conference, the following steps will be taken.

1. If the tied clubs are from the same division, apply division tie breaker.
2. If the tied clubs are from different divisions, apply the following steps.

Two Clubs

1. Head-to-head, if applicable.
2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.
4. Strength of victory.
5. Strength of schedule.
6. Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed.
7. Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed.
8. Best net points in conference games.
9. Best net points in all games.
10. Best net touchdowns in all games.
11. Coin toss.

Three or More Clubs
(Note: If two clubs remain tied after third or other clubs are eliminated, tie breaker reverts to step 1 of applicable two-club format.)

1. Apply division tie breaker to eliminate all but the highest ranked club in each division prior to proceeding to step 2. The original seeding within a division upon application of the division tie breaker remains the same for all subsequent applications of the procedure that are necessary to identify the two Wildcard participants.



2. Head-to-head sweep. (Applicable only if one club has defeated each of the others or if one club has lost to each of the others.)



3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.



4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.



5. Strength of victory.



6. Strength of schedule.



7. Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed.



8. Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed.



9. Best net points in conference games.



10. Best net points in all games.



11. Best net touchdowns in all games.



12. Coin toss

    When the first Wildcard team has been identified, the procedure is repeated to name the second Wildcard, i.e., eliminate all but the highest-ranked club in each division prior to proceeding to step 2. In situations where three or more teams from the same division are involved in the procedure, the original seeding of the teams remains the same for subsequent applications of the tie breaker if the top-ranked team in that division qualifies for a Wildcard berth.

Whatever method you use, select something before your season starts. There is no good solution if you have not planned ahead, because each "solution" comes with a predetermined outcome. Pick something and go with it. You can always tweak it later.

Adding and tweaking your rules is better than kissing your sister and a lot better than calling upon Grandma to do the honors.