Anyone interested in a playoff league?
I have created a private league modeled after the RTSports Playoff Challenge, which I have been doing for the last five years or so and even won a time or two. It's pretty fun and creates extra interest in the playoff games. The cost is just $20.
It's a little different than our normal rules. There is no draft, you just go on to the league site on RT and pick your rosters before the start of the playoff games Saturday.
In this league, you pick 16 players to your roster and you start 9 of them each week of the playoffs. Rosters don't change the rest of the playoffs, so players get knocked out when their teams lose. The winning teams usually have a few guys left at key spots all the way through the Super Bowl.
You can pick any 16 players you want at any of the positions you want (you have 1 QB, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 1 TE, one Flex, K an D for starters), and it's OK if we all have some of the same players. There is strategy in who you pick and who you start.
Oh, and one big thing, it's not just TDs, there are yardage points, and PPR rules (1 point per catch), so all your players score something. Winnings depends on how many play. If it's just four of us, it might be winner take all. If there's 10 or 12, we'll pay out three spots. I have to send out individual invites so if you want a link to the site to check it out, let me know and you will get an email. If not, no worries.
Happy New Year everyone. Here's the financial recap for the 2025 season:
10 teams with $110 entry fee = $1,110 total pot. The site was $80, so total prize fund is $1,020.
The Survivor pool champ (Weemsters) gets $50 and the Pick em champ (TBD) gets $50, which leaves $920 for the league payout.
1st place, 40 percent - $368 (Big Czeck)
2nd place, 20 percent - $184 (Roosters)
3rd place, 10 percent - $92 (OG Cardinals)
Scoring champ, 10 percent - $92 (Bucking Broncos)
Super Bowl winner, 20 percent - $184 (Big Czeck)
Total winnings -- Big Czeck wins 60 percent for total of $552. Others as shown above. Congrats again Big Czeck!
Going to send out winnings today by however you paid your fees, either Venmo or PayPal. We'll check back in after we see who takes the Pick 'em title.
Dale, appreciate you being the commissioner again.
Congrats to The Big Czeck, our 2025 champion and Super Bowl winner. No tiebreakers needed, as Czeck beat the Keltner Bucking Broncos 53-39 to win the Super Bowl, and stand alone atop the overall standings with a 12-5 record.
Big Czeck is the seventh different league champion in the last seven years. It was their first season championship since 2015, when they won with a 11-4-1 record. Czeck wins 60 percent of the pot, 40 percent for the season title, and 20 percent for the Super Bowl title.
Three other teams also finish in the money. The Trojan Roosters, after taking third last year, take second place this season at 11-6, one game behind the Czeck. The Roosters, though, haven't won the title since 2014. The Roosters take 20 percent for second place.
The OG Cardinals are back in the money after taking second place in 2023. They finish third place this year at 11-6, but lost the points tiebreakers to the Roosters. The Cardinals take 10 percent.
And our scoring champion this year is the Keltner Bucking Broncos, who scored 764 points, 20 more than second place Big Czeck. That's an average of 44.9 points per game. It's the first scoring championship in Bucking Broncos franchise history. A 1-5-1 start to the season, though, doomed the Broncos, who went 8-2 over their last 10 games. The Bucking Broncos win 10 percent of the pot.
There is still one thing left to determine this season, and that's the pick'em contest, which includes the final week 18 season of the NFL. The Weemsters hold a two-game lead over the Roosters heading into the final week, but another week like this last one could open the door for the Broncos, sitting six behind.
I will followup in the coming days with a post on the payouts and get all prize money sent to the winners.
The league's two highest scoring teams will play in the Super Bowl matchup this week, while three teams still have a shot at the overall season championship.
Heading into the final week, Big Czeck is in the driver's seat. With a win. Czeck will sweep both the playoff championship and overall regular season crown, earning 60 percent of the pot. They also have a shot at the scoring title.
Big Czeck will play the league's hottest and highest scoring team, Keltner's Bucking Broncos, in the Super Bowl. The Broncos have won three straight playoff games and surged to the scoring lead, where they have a 34-point lead over Big Czeck. Nobody else has a realistic shot at the scoring title besides those two teams. If the Broncos win, they take the 20 percent for the Super Bowl title, and have a chance to third place overall, but could be left out of the money in the overall standings, depending on what else happens.
In other games, it's power seeding with the top remaining seeds facing each other. That means it's second place OG Cardinals vs. third place Trojan Roosters. The Cardinals can win the season championship with a win and a loss by Big Czeck. But both the Cardinals and Big Czeck are guaranteed no worse than third place even if they lose. In fact, Big Czeck is guaranteed a spot in the top two no matter what, and can still win the overall championship even if it loses in the Super Bowl if the Cardinals also lose, and Big Czeck holds its point lead over the Roosters.
The Roosters can guarantee second place with a win over the Cardinals, and could have a shot at first place if it outscores Big Czeck by 34 points -- a long shot, but possible.The Roosters lose and likely fall out of the money altogether.
The St. Louis Browns can finish in third place with a win and a loss by both the Roosters and Broncos. Every other team has been eliminated. The Broncos take third with a win and a loss by the Roosters.
The Weemsters hold a two-game lead in the pick'em contest, but there are still two weeks to go in that contest, as that goes through the final NFL game of the regular season. Everything else, including the scoring title, concludes this week.
A crazy week in the playoffs last week and a shakeup in the standings. Was a big week for Big Czech who won their playoff game and also moved into first place in the standings. The Czech control their destiny now. Win out and they can sweep the overall championship and playoff title both.
Meanwhile, the former first place OG Cardinals got shutout 50-0 in the playoffs. Yes, a few shutouts have happened over the 45-year history, but I don't think ever in the playoffs before. Despite the loss, the Cardinals are still in good shape in the overall standings, tied with the Czeck but behind them in points. They can still win the season's championship by winning out, and Czeck losing once.
The cinderella this year is the defending champion Winged Warriors, who at 5-10 are out of the overall picture but moving on to the semifinals in the playoffs. The Bucking Broncos also won their second playoff game in a row and are the leading scorer in the league. They could still have a shot at first place if they win out and they get a lot of help. The Madd Dogs, who were the dominant team the first half of the season, are back in the thick of it with a playoff win. They face the Broncos in what will be an elimination game in the playoffs, and likely for a money spot in the season standings. Six teams are within a game-and-a-half of first in the overall standings with two weeks to go, so this week will likely knock out a few contenders and elevate some others.
Thanks again Steve. Matchups fixed now. Seeding is 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, etc.
Scoreboard has the Big Czech playing a double-header this weekend.
