Playoff system in Fantasy Football
Description
This article lists the playoff system for Public and Custom leagues.
Resolution
In Fantasy Football, the playoff systems are the same for all Public Leagues (Four teams; Weeks 15 & 16), but vary for Custom Leagues, as they are configurable. However, all leagues must follow one of the structures detailed below.
In the table below, P1, P2, etc., refer to regular playoff rounds, while C1, C2, etc., refer to the consolation bracket.
| None: | Your league may choose not to have playoffs at all. |
| Four Team Playoffs: | First Week |
| P1: #1 seed vs. #4 seed | |
| P2: #2 seed vs. #3 seed | |
| C1: #5 seed vs. #8 seed | |
| C2: #6 seed vs. #7 seed | |
| Second Week | |
| Championship: Winner P1 vs. Winner P2 | |
| Third Place: Loser P1 vs. Loser P2 | |
| Fifth Place: Winner C1 vs. Winner C2 | |
| Seventh Place: Loser C1 vs. Loser C2 | |
| Six Team Playoff with Four or fewer Team Consolation: | First Week |
| P1: #1 seed vs. bye (no game) | |
| P2: #4 seed vs. #5 seed | |
| P3: #3 seed vs. #6 seed | |
| P4: #2 seed vs. bye (no game) | |
| Second Week | |
| P5: #1 seed vs. Winner P2 | |
| P6: #2 seed vs. Winner P3 | |
| Fifth Place: Loser P2 vs. Loser P3 | |
| C1: #7 seed vs. #10 seed | |
| C2: #8 seed vs. #9 seed | |
| Third Week | |
| Championship: Winner P5 vs. Winner P6 | |
| Third Place: Loser P5 vs. Loser P6 | |
| Seventh Place: Winner C1 vs. Winner C2 | |
| Ninth Place: Loser C1 vs. Loser C2 | |
| Six Team Playoff with Six Team Consolation: | First Week |
| P1: #1 seed vs. bye (no game) | |
| P2: #4 seed vs. #5 seed | |
| P3: #3 seed vs. #6 seed | |
| P4: #2 seed vs. bye (no game) | |
| C1: #7 seed vs. bye (no game) | |
| C2: #10 seed vs. #11 seed | |
| C3: #9 seed vs. #12 seed | |
| C4: #8 seed vs. bye (no game) | |
| Second Week | |
| P5: #1 seed vs. Winner P2 | |
| P6: #2 seed vs. Winner P3 | |
| C5: #7 seed vs. Winner C2 | |
| C6: #8 seed vs. Winner C3 | |
| Fifth Place: Loser P2 vs. Loser P3 | |
| Eleventh Place: Loser C2 vs. Loser C3 | |
| Third Week | |
| Championship: Winner P5 vs. Winner P6 | |
| Third Place: Loser P5 vs. Loser P6 | |
| Seventh Place: Winner C5 vs. Winner C6 | |
| Ninth Place: Loser C5 vs. Loser C6 | |
| Eight Team Playoff: | First Week |
| P1: #1 seed vs. #8 seed | |
| P2: #4 seed vs. #5 seed | |
| P3: #3 seed vs. #6 seed | |
| P4: #2 seed vs. #7 seed | |
| Second Week | |
| P5: Winner P1 vs. Winner P2 | |
| P6: Winner P3 vs. Winner P4 | |
| P7: Loser P1 vs. Loser P2 | |
|
P8: Loser P3 vs. Loser P4 |
Please note the following:
- Leagues with an eight-team playoff bracket do not include a consolation bracket.
- If you are in a Custom League that has enabled playoff reseeding, please note that the second-round matchups in both the championship and consolation brackets may change to have the highest- and lowest-remaining seeds play in one semifinal, with the two remaining seeds playing in the other semifinal.
- Players are not released from teams that do not make the playoffs. Commissioners may choose to lock eliminated teams from adding or dropping players from their roster by enabling the "Lock Eliminated Teams" league setting.
- Note: Eliminated teams refers only to teams that did not qualify for either the championship or consolation bracket. Any teams with an active matchup or on a playoff bye will not be locked.
- If a team in your league has been locked or is inactive, it is not possible to remove this team from the league standings or playoffs.
- The Fantasy Football playoffs do not include any real-life NFL playoff contests. All Fantasy Football playoffs will conclude by the end of the NFL regular season.
- To support the ideas of fair play and sportsmanship, we encourage all managers to retain their players even after they have been eliminated from championship contention.