13-team league?

[soulrebel]

So, we're getting ready to start up Season 2 in my local 12-team, which I started last year and was commissioner for. In our league, the champion has to be commissioner for the following year, so I'm handing the reigns off to another owner, but am still helping with setting up the league on MFL, and obviously have a vested interest in the league.

 

This week, a few people raised the idea of expanding the league to include more teams/owners. The main arguments are to accommodate some friends so they can join, extend the season a bit longer, and increase the amount of money in the pool. So, we discussed going to a 14 team league, but now the idea on the floor is to go to 13 teams. Here's the argument that was presented:

 

I do believe we could take on one additional team with out watering down the talent pool. It would mean two extra weeks for our season which is nice and as Sean has said additional prize money. An odd amount of teams would require one bye week for each of us. The NFL is a 17 week season we want to finish our season by week 16 which means playoffs week 14 + 15. That leaves us with 13 weeks for games. We currently only have 12 teams so the max we can play each other is 11 weeks. One extra team = two extra weeks of talkin sh!t.

 

Personally, I feel like 12 teams is the right amount for FFL, so as not to water down the talent pool, and give each owner a chance at fielding a solid team from week-to-week (especially late in the season after injuries destroy your roster). Adding one more team seems fairly arbitrary and unnecessary. I'm all for extending the season (our championships were in week 14 last year), so I'd be up for setting up divisions and adjusting the schedule so we can play a few more games. I don't want to have a bye week to extend our season, as was suggested.

 

What do you guys think? I've never even heard of a 13-team league, and I'm not 100% clear on the implications for the schedule, league, etc, or if its even an option on MFL. For what it's worth, we are in a standard PPR league, 1QB/2RB/2WR/1TE/1K/1DEF. We haven't held our draft yet, and are considering a few other rule changes that will be put up for a vote ... but I don't want to think about those other rules until we know how many teams we'll have.

 

Should we just put this idea up for a league vote? I'm pretty torn on this, and I think if it was put to a vote, they'd go with adding more teams ... mainly because they just see it as more money for the winners. I suggested just increasing the entry fee to do the same thing, and I just don't see the need to add another team. Does anyone have experience with 13 or 14 team leagues and could tell me why they're a good option? Or have a suggestion for how we could set up the 12-team league/schedule so the championships are in week 16?

 

Thanks in advance for any input!

Edited August 10, 2008 by soulrebel

[SLGRAF]

I think it is an interesting idea, in that you would be playing every other team once, and only once, which means no one could complain about fantasy teams' schedules affecting the outcome of the season. And, if might be good to have a mental break from FFL in the form of a bye week. But, the difficult part would be figuring out how to setup divisions. I guess if you had a six and seven team division, and said the division winners got a playoff bye, and the next four teams played in the first round, regardless of division, that would work. As far as the depth of talent, I think there is enough talent in the NFL to field 13 fantasy teams.

[Footballjoe]

you could set it up so that there are no divisions and have the top 4 - 6 teams make the playoffs.

[soulrebel]

Yeah, we currently have no divisions, and only play each team once for 11 reg season games + 3 playoff games.

 

I was thinking if we stick with 12 teams, we could have 4 divisions of 3 teams, play every team once and each team in your division twice for a total of 13 reg season games. Division winners make the playoffs (top 2 division winners get a bye) + 2 wild card teams. Playoffs in weeks 14-16 of the NFL season.

 

I just can't come up with a real good reason to add a 13th team, though.

[Pirate lookin' at 40]

I would go to 14 or stay at 12. With 14, you could play each team once for a 13 week regular season. Yes, it thins the talent pool out, but it works. No way would I go with 13 teams.

[Big Country]

Options - Stick with 12, set up divisions to extend regular season to 13 or so weeks, with 3 weeks for playoffs. In addition to the playoffs, you can concurrently run a toilet bowl for the bottom 6 teams and either have a consolation prize if you have winners advance, or, some penalty if you have loser;s advance, such as whomever "wins" the toilet bowl brings the beer for the next draft if live, or some other appropriate "penalty".

 

14 teams - straight 13 week schedule, play each team once, then 3 weeks of playoffs. Top 2 overall teams get byes.

 

13 teams - Same as above, just either a week with a bye, or, a week where that team plays the league average score. Other option is a doubleheader. One team a week plays two games. This means though that each team plays each team once and one team twice. Could start some nice rivalries.

[soulrebel]

Thanks everyone ... after digging into the league setup, and looking at our scheduling options, we're going to go ahead and put it up for a vote. I'm hoping for a 12-team league w/divisions, extended to a 13 week season. But we'll see how it plays out.