Week 13 Preview

Rivalry matchups, playoff implications, and more!

I realized after the first rivalry week I didn’t hype it up much beforehand or mention it in the recap, whoops. So let me just say…

WEEK 13 IS RIVAL WEEK 2.0!!

And a damn fun week it should be. Literally every matchup will be a factor in deciding who makes it into the Championship Playoffs. Thankfully, the bottom four teams have their draft positions locked (due to record and points scored) so, combined with the $10 Rival Week Prize, they have every reason to compete in their matchups instead of tanking.

This has also become the perfect scenario I envisioned when creating the playoff restructure, as the 7th–10th spots all have a chance at playoffs, and will all have a worthy consolation prize in playing for the additional First Round Pick if they fall short.

This week really is the perfect storm of matchups. The top 6 teams in the standings are playing each other, which will open up playoff spots for the 7th–10th teams, who are all matched up against the 11th–14th teams. Keeping up? Let’s just dive into each matchup this week and see what’s at stake.

1. Kurtis (9–3, 1460.88) vs 2. Binh (8–4, 1445.22)

Kurtis is the only official playoff lock due to his record, but this matchup still has playoff implications.

If Binh wins, the 1 seed is his if he also outscores Kurtis by 15.66 points. Fun fact: Binh is averaging 127.95 points in the last 4 weeks. Kurtis — only 101.49.

If Kurtis wins, Binh could technically fall out of the playoffs, but considering that would take mutiple teams outscoring him by 120+ points, I think it’s safe to say Binh doesn’t have to worry about that. However, he should keep an eye on Josh, who’s 57.50 points behind him. Josh could jump all the way to the 2 seed if he wins, Binh loses to Kurtis, and Josh outscores Binh by that margin. Unlikely, but considering Josh put up 168.48 points last week, not out of the question!

3. Tani (8–4, 1250.70) vs 4. Jeff (8–4, 1076.28)

Winner is guaranteed entry into playoffs, loser could fall as low as 10th! How?

If Tani loses, there are five other potential 8–5 teams (six teams at 7–5, but Lando and Josh play each other) gunning for his playoff spot. With the exception of Bunger, all of those 7–5 teams have more points scored than Tani, so he will need a high scoring loss and some duds by the other teams to still make it.

If Jeff loses, he can likely kiss his playoff spot goodbye, as his point production isn’t close to any other playoff hopeful team. The only scenario in which he keeps his spot after a loss would be losses by all four 7–5 teams in the 7th-10th slots.

5. Josh (7–5, 1387.72) vs 6. Lando (7–5, 1327.92)

Similar to the Tani and Jeff’s matchup, winner should make playoffs, loser is likely out.

Technically, whoever wins could still miss playoffs as there could be as many as six 8–5 teams, but Lando and especially Josh have the points scored to give them a tiebreaker advantage.

Whoever loses would fall to 7–6, so to still make the playoffs Lando/Josh would need all four 7–5 teams in the 7th-10th spots to lose AND make sure that they score enough to keep their points advantage.

7. Anton (7–5, 1306.32) vs 12. Joe (3–9, 1070.52)
8. JR (7–5, 1285.20) vs 13. Marlo (1–11, 1136.66)
9. Kevin (7–5, 1262.54) vs 11. Jason (5–7, 1170.54)
10. Bunghole (7–5, 1213.70) vs 14. Mikey (0–12, 1035.90)

Four teams currently out, yet all four very capable of getting in.

First order of business for the 7th-10th teams is to win. From there, their playoff spot will hinge on which of the other 7–5 teams won, and how their point totals stack up.

If one of these teams lose, they need everyone else to lose as well in order for the points tiebreaker to decide the playoff spots.

In conclusion, it’s too complicated to describe all of the exact scenarios, but here are some interesting point differentials to keep an eye on this weekend.

Bunghole — 37.00 behind Tani, 48.84 behind Kevin
Tani — 11.84 behind Kevin, 34.50 behind JR
Kevin — 22.66 behind JR, 43.78 behind Anton
JR — 21.12 behind Anton, 42.72 behind Lando
Anton — 21.60 behind Lando
Lando — 59.80 behind Josh
Josh — 57.50 behind Binh
Binh — 15.66 behind Kurtis

Hopefully the craziness extends through Sunday, and Monday Night Football has huge implications for our Playoffs.

Let Rival Week 13 begin!