The 2010 season has been an interesting ride, as it always is. Like any sports league, ours has had its share of frustrations and triumphs over the past 12 weeks of fantasy football.
The frustrations were for Practice, mainly. He finally lost his seasonlong battle against an impossible schedule.
And triumphs for Ants and Fartsicle, each near the bottom of the standings earlier in the season. Ants started 0-3 before winning seven of the next nine. Fartsicle was 3-3 before putting together a solid 4-1 stretch. Those two teams have locked up a playoff spot.
They join When and Screech as four of the six teams who are guaranteed a playoff slot. But six total teams are still in contention for one of the top two seeds. Remember, finishing the regular season in first or second gives you a first-round bye and a better chance at the money.
But what about those other two unclaimed playoff spots? Let's look at each team's playoff scenarios, starting at the top of the standings and working our way down.
Remember: The tiebreaker between two or more teams with identical records is total points scored. In the scenarios below, I won't get into what would happen if two teams had identical records and identical points scored. That would take way too long. But, FYI, the second tiebreaker is most total points against.
Playoff scenarios:
WHEN (8-4 record; 1,312 points scored)
Odds of making playoffs: 100 percent
Average finishing position: 1.8
Highest and lowest possible finish: 1st, 3rd
Week 13 opponent: Screech
What he has to do to get a first-round bye:
- WIN
- LOSE, and one of these four...
- Fartsicle and Ants loss
- Fartsicle win, and Ants loss:
- Plus make up 21-point deficit to Fartsicle
- Fartsicle loss, and Ants win:
- Plus maintain 24-point lead on Ants
- Fartsicle and Ants win:
- Plus make up 22-point deficit to Fartsicle, AND maintain 24-point lead on Ants
SCREECH (7-5; 1,364)
Odds of making playoffs: 100 percent
Average finishing position: 2.5
Highest and lowest possible finish: 1st, 5th
Week 13 opponent: When
What he has to do to get a first-round bye:
- WIN, and one of these four...
- Fartsicle and Ants loss
- Fartsicle win and Ants loss:
- Plus maintain 22-point lead on Fartsicle
- Fartsicle loss and Ants win:
- Plus maintain 67-point lead on Ants
- Fartsicle and Ants win:
- Plus maintain 22- and 67-point leads
- LOSE, and all of the following...
- Fartsicle and Ants loss
- Maintain his 22- and 67-point leads on Fartsicle and Ants
- And one of these these four scenarios:
- Trees loss, Steeles loss
- Trees win, Steeles loss, maintain 1-point lead on Trees
- Trees loss, Steeles win, maintain 31-point lead on Steeles
- Trees win, Steeles win, maintain both leads
FARTSICLE (7-5; 1,342)
Odds of making playoffs: 100 percent
Average finishing position: 3.0
Highest and lowest possible finish: 1st, 6th
Week 13 opponent: Hahne
What he has to do to get a first-round bye:
- WIN, and one of these four...
- When win and Ants loss
- When win and Ants win:
- Plus maintain 45-point lead on Ants
- Screech win and Ants loss:
- Plus make up 22-point deficit to Screech
- Screech win and Ants win:
- Plus make up Screech deficit, AND maintain lead on Ants
- LOSS, and all of the following...
- When win (over Screech)
- Ants loss
- Make up the Screech deficit, maintain lead on Ants
- And one of these these four scenarios:
- Trees loss, Steeles loss
- Trees win, Steeles loss, make up 21-point deficit to Trees
- Trees loss, Steeles win, maintain 9-point lead on Steeles
- Trees win, Steeles win, make up Trees deficit, and maintain Steeles lead
ANTS (7-5; 1,297)
Odds of making playoffs: 100 percent
Average finishing position: 3.7
Highest and lowest possible finish: 2nd, 4th
Week 13 opponent: Republic
What he has to do to get a first-round bye:
- WIN, and one of these four...
- When win and Fartsicle loss
- When win and Fartsicle win:
- Plus make up 45-point deficit to Fartsicle
- Screech win and Fartsicle loss:
- Plus make up 67-point deficit to Screech
- Screech win and Fartsicle win:
- Plus make up Screech and Fartsicle deficits
- LOSS, and all of the following...
- When win (over Screech)
- Fartsicle loss
- Make up the Screech deficit and Fartsicle deficits
- And one of these these four scenarios:
- Trees loss, Steeles loss
- Trees win, Steeles loss, make up 66-point deficit to Trees
- Trees loss, Steeles win, make up 36-point deficit to Steeles
- Trees win, Steeles win, make up Trees and Steeles deficits
TREES (6-6; 1,363)
Odds of making playoffs: 93.8 percent
Average finishing position: 5.1
Highest and lowest possible finish: 2nd, 7th
Week 13 opponent: Practice
What he has to do to get a first-round bye:
- WIN, and all of the following...
- When win (over Screech)
- Fartsicle loss
- Ants loss
- Make up 1-point deficit to Screech
- Maintain leads on Fartsicle (21 pts) and Ants (66)
- Plus one of these scenarios:
- Steeles loss
- Steeles win AND maintain 30-point lead on Steeles
What he has to do to make the playoffs:
- WIN
- LOSS, and one of the following...
- Losses by Republic, Explosion, AND Hahne
- Maintain leads on any of these teams if they win: Explosion (26), Republic (81), and Hahne (239)
STEELES (6-6; 1,333)
Odds of making playoffs: 50 percent
Average finishing position: 5.9
Highest and lowest possible finish: 2nd, 8th
Week 13 opponent: Explosion
What he has to do to get a first-round bye:
- WIN, and all of the following...
- When win (over Screech)
- Fartsicle loss
- Ants loss
- Make up 31-point deficit to Screech and 9-point deficit to Fartsicle
- Maintain lead on Ants (36)
- Plus one of these scenarios:
- Trees loss
- Trees win AND make up 30-point deficit to Trees
What he has to do to make the playoffs:
- WIN
- LOSS, and all of the following...
- Trees loss
- Make up 30-point deficit on Trees
- Maintain 51-point and 209-point leads on Republic and Hahne if either of those teams wins
EXPLOSION (5-7; 1,337)
Odds of making playoffs: 37.5 percent
Average finishing position: 7.7
Highest and lowest possible finish: 5th, 10th
Week 13 opponent: Steeles
What he has to do to make the playoffs:
- WIN, and one of the following...
- Losses by Republic and Hahne
- Maintain leads over Republic (55) and Hahne (213) even if either wins.
REPUBLIC (5-7; 1,282)
Odds of making playoffs: 18.8 percent
Average finishing position: 7.5
Highest and lowest possible finish: 5th, 10th
Week 13 opponent: Ants
What he has to do to make the playoffs:
- WIN, and one of the following...
- Steeles loss and make up 51-point deficit to Steeles:
- Plus make up deficit to Explosion (55) and maintain lead on Hahne if Hahne wins (158)
- Trees loss and make up 81-point deficit to Trees:
- Plus make up deficit to Explosion and maintain lead on Hahne if either wins
HAHNE (5-7; 1,124)
Odds of making playoffs: Less than one-tenth of 1 percent. (It ain't happening)
Average finishing position: 8.3
Highest and lowest possible finish: 6th (technically), 10th
Week 13 opponent: Fartsicle
What he has to do to make the playoffs:
- WIN, and one of the following...
- Steeles loss and make up 209-point deficit to Steeles:
- Plus make up deficit to Explosion if he wins (213) and Republic if he wins (158)
- Trees loss and make up 239-point deficit to Trees:
- Plus make up deficit to Explosion and Republic if either wins
PRACTICE (4-8; 1,455)
Odds of making playoffs: None.
Average finishing position: 9.5
Week 13 opponent: Trees
Highest and lowest possible finish: 8th, 10th
