Who makes the playoffs and who doesn’t will all be decided tonight. Let’s explore the different possible outcomes!
Current Playoff Seeds
If the current projections roughly hold, here’s who would make the playoffs.
(Parentheses beside team name contain the projected record and projected Points For after the games complete)
Seed | Team Name | Criteria |
---|---|---|
1st | Bling Bling (10-3, 2329.18) | Division winner with best record* |
2nd | Pegasus (8-5, 2181.92) | Division winner with second-best record* |
3rd | speed-demons (8-5, 2154.06) | Division winner with third-best record* |
4th | Total domination (8-5, 2066.69) | Division winner with worst record* |
5th | Detroit Wolverines (9-4, 2183.15) | Team with best record among remaining* |
6th | Tricksters (7-6, 2269.66) | Team with most points for among remaining |
*Ties broken by Points For.
The teams listed above are hoping that Sleeper’s projections come to fruition. If they do, those seeds would be secured. Below, I’ll talk about what other teams in the race are hoping for instead.
Teams in the Hunt
Following what I did in the above table, each team will have their projected record and Points For next to their name.
Kali Warriors (6-7, 2249.56)
The Kali Warriors are so close to a playoff berth. With a projected 2249.56 Points For when all is said and done, they would only be 20.1 points shy of the #6 seed. Here are the possible outcomes Kali Warriors is hoping for tonight.
- The Tricksters’ score is locked in (barring stat corrections), so 2269.66 is the bar to reach. Kali Warriors needs their two remaining players to outscore their projections by at least 20.1 points and for other teams’ projections to roughly hold true. Their last two players are fully capable of doing that–Bobby Wagner and Everson Griffen have shown that they can put up big numbers.
- They’ll be watching Not Lucky very closely; as long as Tyler Lockett doesn’t go nuclear tonight, Not Lucky won’t be a threat (at least not any more of a threat than the Tricksters are).
- Alternatively, if the Golden Eagles pull off an upset tonight (which is definitely possible with players like Stefon Diggs and Jadeveon Clowney yet to play), the speed-demons would be knocked out of their division lead, freeing up the #6 seed, since the Tricksters would then claim the division.
- This would leave the competition for #6 mainly to Not Lucky and Kali Warriors, and Not Lucky’s projected 2252.04 PF is a much lower bar to clear for Kali Warriors.
Not Lucky (7-6, 2252.04)
Not Lucky is similarly so close to a playoff berth. With their projections, they would only be 17.62 points shy of the #6 seed.
- Not Lucky is pretty much hoping for the same thing the Kali Warriors are. They want Lockett to go nuclear tonight and score 31.28 points and for Kali Warriors’ projections to hold true. That number is definitely within reach for a stud WR; the question is whether Lockett will be able to pull it off, as he’s been dealing with a leg injury in recent weeks. He’s supposedly back to full strength, but that remains to be seen.
- Not Lucky is also otherwise hoping for a Golden Eagles upset tonight; if that upset happens and everyone else’s projections hold true, Not Lucky would be the one to claim the coveted #6 seed.
I don’t know about you guys, but I’ll be glued to the TV tonight. See you on the other side!