SB Nation The FanHouse^® Leagues

A pair of upsets last week set up what looks like a dream matchup for the league’s favorites. Top seeded Urban Achievers will face Domed, the fifth seed, in the semis. The Achievers are favored by 12 points, and with Kurt Warner throwing against the Patriots week secondary, they’re a safe bet to make the championship. Unless the snowy cold conditions predicted for New England this weekend force the Cardinals to concentrate on their running game.

The sixth seeded Rejects bested number three Gift of Gab last week, and now draw the second seed FantasyFootballGuru. The Guru is favored by 10, but anything could happen.

Over in the consolation round, #10 Ramz in the Rox take on the #7 UK Rampagers. The Rox will need Brandon Jacobs to play and Roy Williams to actually play like the player Dallas traded away all their draft picks for if they expect to overcome the 16 point favored Rampagers. Never count out a team with Peyton Manning at QB though.

Low man on the totem pole, #12 Mr. Irrelevant, will look to escape that dubious title against the #8 doobs. But having Steven Jackson in your lineup this season is no guarantee…as we all know all too well.

All of this sets up what could be a weird championship week coinciding with the NFL’s last week of the regular season. So many of the top performers will be sitting, resting ahead of the real playoffs as we try and battle it out for TST fantasy infamy. Ought to make it more challenging at the very least.

Best of luck, suckas!

The playoff seeding is set, and there’s little that any team’s results can do to shift the order around for when the playoffs start next week. 

There’s the potential for some movement in the consolation bracket, so don’t forget your lineups. Why bother? Well, I’m pleased to say I have prizes, rich with kitsch value sure to strike a cord with long-suffering Rams fans. 

Four more weeks to the playoffs, four more weeks. Seems like just yesterday we kicked this whole thing off.

In this league, six of the twelve teams make the playoffs, more like the NHL than the NFL, but we’ll take it. If you click on the “playoffs” tab under the “League” area, you get a snapshot of how the playoffs are shaping up. As you can see, two teams with 8-2 records, the Guru and the Achievers, own sizeable leads, enough that the playoffs are a sure bet. However, they’re not so far in front that someone else can’t catch them for a first round bye. Breakdown is just one game back and has a favorable matchup this week, and with the two 8-2 team battling it out, Breakdown ought to find themselves tied for second best overall record at 8-3.

In the marquee matchup, the two 8-2 teams battle it out. If you buy into the scoring system’s predictions, a razor thin margin of three points barely favors the Achievers.

Week 11 starts tonight with the Jets at New England. Don’t forget to set your lineups. Best of luck.

Starting to see some separation in the standings with two 6-2 teams climbing ahead. Still there’s plenty of time left to go and claim the big prize (hint: it’s bobble-y).

This week’s four start matchup:

Urban Achievers (6-2) vs. RamzintheRox (2-6)

Sure, the records are flipped and the automatic prediction favors the Achievers, but pay close attention to the players. Rox start Manning against the Patriots in a grudge match, but the Pats secondary, as we know, is weakened considerably. The computer is undercounting Manning’s likely performance. The Achievers’ starting QB, the Texans Matt Schaub faces a tough Minnesota defense; the computer’s overcounting his score. Both have running backs and RBs in the flex spot that have very favorable matchups and could rack up some serious points. 

At WR, both are depending on Cowboys that have been only so-so lately: Achievers with T.O. and Rox with Williams, who did score last week. At their other WR spot, two guys, same game with Rox starting Minnesota’s Berrian and Achievers with Houston’s Andre Johnson. Tough matchup for Johnson, but if anyone’s going to catch a ball or two, he can. It’s a game that may be decided by the secondary players at TE, K and DST.

I predict the upset. RamzintheRox squeak by, 91-85. 

 

We finally got some separation this last week in the creatively named division 1 with losses by both Domed and the Rejects. It’s still a tight race, and it seems like contenders are playing contenders this week. No rest for the weary!

Things look similar in division 2, with three of four teams separated by just a game. Nobody’s out of it yet though. The Gift of Gab (4-3) takes on FantasyFootballGuru (5-2). The Guru may want to double check his QB situation, with O’Sullivan and Pennington.

Division 3 leader Breakdown takes on division 2 leader Gridbrids in what looks like a tough game.

The game of the week though looks to be a matchup between a couple of 2-5 teams as Chrisrmsfn takes on Mr. Irrelevant. Players with favorable matchups and a wild card or two on each roster. Irrelevant, don’t forget to set yoru lineup.

Week three is upon us, and the standing in the TST league are tight.

We’ve got three 2-0 teams and three 0-2 teams. It’s so early in the season those number could change fast. 

Probably the toughest looking team in the league right now is Breakdown, with a tough group of WRs and Adrian Peterson, who could be injured at any moment. Facing off against Breakdown this week is doobs (1-1), the underdog but not by much. Doobs will look to Westbrook and a good matchup for Jay Cutler against the Saints to tie it up with Breakdown in division 3. Staying in the same division, the Urban Achievers need to get a win to keep from a 0-3 opener. His opponent this week, Mr. Irrelevant, has a tough matchup for his #2 RB, Willie Parker, and that could be the difference.

In division two, the Gridbirds (1-1) anxiously await new on the status of LT – who along with Tom Brady is dashing many a fantasy hope this year – in a tough game against the undefeated Gift of Gab. The UK Rampagers and Chrisrmsfn have a tight game, with the Rampagers needing to get a notch in the win column. 

Domed, led by Ram-killer Donavan McNabb, are looking to Frank Gore to rake up big numbers against the Lions for a shot at the lead in division one in a matchup against the 2-0 Rejects. That screaming you hear is RamzintheRox (0-2) cursing Peyton Manning, his QB. Rox needs Manning and his Colts to find a groove against the Jags in order to get a win at FantasyFootballGuru.

Set your lineups and get ready to obsess over things you can’t control…fantasy football season starts tomorrow night!

Right now, there are some good teams on paper, but I’d have to say that FantasyFootballGuru looks like the cream of the crop. Time will tell if that holds.

Best of luck everyone.

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