Playoff Scenarios

With just three weeks left in the regular season, it’s time to start thinking playoffs. Nearly everyone is still alive for a playoff birth, but multiple scenarios still exist to determine who those teams will be. Here is a look at each team’s chances and what has to happen between now and December 8th.


EASTERN CONFERENCE

Cal City Gila Monsters
Record: 8-3 (1st place, Eastern Division)
Remaining Schedule: Heat(5-6), Monkey Butts(4-7), Burger Kings(4-7)
Conference Record: 5-0
Power Ranking: 2nd (Off: 4th , Def: 2nd)
Tie Breakers Held: Toast, Beavers (head-to-head)
What needs to Happen: 2 wins takes the division.
Outlook: The Gilas hold all the cards, with a 1-game lead and all the tie breakers. They play no team over .500 the rest of the way, so barring complete collapse they have the division sewn up.

Boston Beavers
Record: 7-4 (T-2nd place, Eastern Conference)
Remaining Schedule: Nuggets (3-8), Burger Kings(4-7), Bunnies(6-5)
Conference Record: 3-3
Power Ranking: 7th (Off: 6th , Def: 7th)
Tie Breakers Held: Monkey Butts (head-to-head), Toast (conference record)
What needs to Happen: Their magic number is 3 combined wins and Toast losses to make the playoffs. Magic number 5 combined wins and Cal City losses to take the division.
Outlook: The tie-break against the Toast is key. If they win out they don’t need help and still have an outside chance at the division title. The final game against the Bunnies could be huge.

Champaign Toast
Record: 7-4 (T-2nd place, Eastern Conference)
Remaining Schedule: Bunnies(6-5), Heat(5-6), Nuggets(3-8)
Conference Record: 2-4
Power Ranking: 1st (Off: 2nd, Def: 1st)
Tie Breakers Held: Monkey Butts (offensive points)
What needs to Happen: Their magic number is 4 combined wins and Beaver losses to make the playoffs. Magic number 5 combined wins and Cal City losses to take the division.
Outlook: They hold no tie-breakers, so even if they win out they will still need some help to get into the playoffs. Toughest schedule of the three, they have no margin for error.

Monee Monkey Butts
Record: 4-7 (4th place, Eastern Conference)
Remaining Schedule: Burger Kings(4-7), Gila Monsters(8-3), Heat(5-6)
Conference Record: 1-4
Power Ranking: 6th (Off: 7th , Def: 6th)
Tie Breakers Held: none
What needs to Happen: No mathematical way to make the playoffs.
Outlook: The best they can do is 7-7 and a 3-way tie with the Beavers and Toast for 2nd place. In that scenario, the Beavers would take the playoff spot with their better conference record.


WESTERN CONFERENCE

Carson City Bunnies
Record: 6-5 (1st place, Western Conference)
Remaining Schedule: Toast(7-4), Nuggets(3-8), Beavers(7-4)
Conference Record: 4-1
Power Ranking: 3rd (Off: 1st , Def: 5th)
Tie Breakers Held: Kings (head-to-head), Heat, Nuggets (conference record)
What needs to Happen: One win clinches the playoffs, two wins takes the division.
Outlook: They hold their own destiny (and all the tie breaks) in their hands. Despite the two tough eastern conference games, they just need to take care of business against the Nuggets and go 1-1 against the East to win the division.

Tempe Heat
Record: 5-6 (2nd place, Western Conference)
Remaining Schedule: Gila Monsters(8-3), Toast(7-4), Monkey Butts(4-7)
Conference Record: 3-3
Power Ranking: 7th (Off: 3rd , Def: 8th)
Tie Breakers Held: Nuggets (head-to-head)
What needs to Happen: Their magic number is 3 combined wins and Compton losses to make the playoffs. Magic number 5 combined wins and Carson City losses to take the division.
Outlook: They’ve lost 3 in a row and have to play the two toughest teams in the league the next two weeks. Still, if they can somehow manage to go 2-1, in the Western conference they have a shot to make the playoffs.

Compton Burger Kings
Record: 4-7 (3rd place, Western Conference)
Remaining Schedule: Monkey Butts(4-7), Beavers(7-4), Gila Monsters(8-3)
Conference Record: 3-3
Power Ranking: 5th (Off: 8th , Def: 3rd)
Tie Breakers Held: Heat (head-to-head)
What needs to Happen: Their magic number is 4 combined wins and Heat losses to make the playoffs. Magic number 6 combined wins and Carson City losses to take the division.
Outlook: The tie breaker against the Heat is huge, however they still have to make up a game on the Heat to get there. The Monkey Butts might come into play as a spoiler if either team ends up losing to them. Realistically, Compton needs to pull off an upset vs. the East to get in.

Las Vegas Nuggets
Record: 3-8 (4th place, Western Conference)
Remaining Schedule: Beavers(7-4), Bunnies(6-5), Toast(7-4)
Conference Record: 2-3
Power Ranking: 4th (Off: 5th , Def: 4th)
Tie Breakers Held: Burger Kings (offensive points)
What needs to Happen: Their magic number is 6 combined wins and Heat losses (plus at least one Compton loss) to make the playoffs.
Outlook: They need a minor miracle to make the playoffs, but they are still alive. They also have the toughest remaining schedule, which does not help. The Heat hold the head-to-head tie-break over them, which just makes things tougher. The one advantage they have is in the event that there is a 3-way tie for 2nd , first tie break could not be resolved and all three teams are tied for the 2nd tie-break (given they beat the Bunnies in wk13), they would need to outscore the Heat by 27pts (offensive) by the end of the season in order to win the 3rd tie-break.