Week 16 Playoff Scenarios

Heading into Week 16, we have a lot of possible ties to break. Let's start with the National Conference as that's the easier one.

National Conference

BYES: New Jersey, Washington
Division Winners: Florida, South Champ
Wildcards: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia

MFN says New Jersey has home field clinched, although I can't confirm that. I can confirm the Generals and Federals get the BYES, as they both beat Florida in the regular season.

Florida will be the #3 seed and the South winner will be #4. Pittsburgh is currently the #5 seed, but the Maulers will fall to #6 if they lose and Philadelphia wins. The Bell are currently the #6 seed.

So who wins the South? If it's a 3 way tie, it goes to the team with the best record among them in games against them. They all split with each other, meaning all 3 teams have 2-2 records in their round robin, so we go to the next step, which is division record. That eliminates Shreveport, and it goes to a 2 team tiebreaker. Whether it's common games or conference records next, New Orleans wins the tiebreaker over Birmingham.

New Orleans beat New Jersey and they're in. Lose, and they need both Birmingham and Shreveport to lose.

Birmingham beat Jacksonville and have New Jersey beat New Orleans.

Shreveport beat Washington and have New Orleans and Birmingham lose

American Conference

Home Field Advantage: Portland
BYE: Winner of Memphis/Houston
Division Winners: San Jose, Michigan
Wildcard: Loser of Memphis/Houston
In the Hunt: Cleveland, Oakland, Honolulu, Chicago* (MFN says eliminated, I beg to differ)

This conference isn't too difficult either, although I still think Chicago has a chance. We have 2 "playoff preview" games that will determine seeding and BYEs. Memphis and Houston have their rematch, and the winner will be the #2 seed while the loser will be #5. Should they tie, Memphis would win the division. We also have San Jose @ Michigan, with the winner avoiding getting Memphis or Houston Wildcard Weekend.

The #6 seed is open with 4 teams fighting for it. When it comes to tiebreakers, you have to eliminate all but 1 club from each division, so if Cleveland and Chicago both finish 8-8, the Blitz will be the 2nd place team in the division, Cleveland 3rd based on division record.

Cleveland beat Portland and they're in. Lose, and they need Oakland, Honolulu and Chicago to all lose.

Oakland beat Orlando and have Cleveland lose.

Honolulu beat Los Angeles and have Cleveland and Oakland lose

Chicago beat Detroit and have Cleveland, Oakland, and Honolulu all lose