LBXVI: League Modifications

For season sixteen of the Larkspur Bowl changes have been made:

• Contracted from the traditional fourteen teams to twelve teams across two divisions
• Expanded the regular season from thirteen games to sixteen games, with ten intra-division games and six inter-division games. 
• Reduced the number of playoff teams from six to four, with the semifinal played in week 17 and the Larkspur Bowl Championship played in week 18.
• Mothballed the consolation bracket's vitality, impacting future draft scenarios

The first eleven weeks of the season have been scheduled randomly, with each team playing each team in the league once; the trade deadline will be November 23rd, which is the Saturday heading into week twelve. Following the deadline, the final five weeks of the season will feature a second matchup with each divisional rival, with the winners of each division securing a playoff spot on opposite sides of the bracket. 

The remaining two playoff spots will go to the best two teams (regardless of division) by win-loss record. A two way tie will go to the head-to-head victor, while if three or more teams are tied, the tiebreaker will revert to total points. 

Legends Division:

-Phoenix (6 appearances, 4 titles)

-Hill Valley (6 appearances, 2 titles)

-Jersey (2 appearances, 2 titles)

-Pawnee (3 appearances, 1 title)

-New York (2 appearances, 1 title)

-HCM City (2 appearances, 0 titles)

Challengers Division:

-South Park (1 appearance, 1 title)

-Mar-A-Lago (1 appearance, 1 title)

-Deputy (1 appearance, 0 titles)

-Binghamton (0 appearances, 0 titles)

-Philadelphia (0 appearances, 0 titles)

-Savannah (0 appearances, 0 titles)

At current the roster and scoring will remain the same- options will be weighed, discussed and potentially adjusted in the coming days. 

UPDATE: Kicking points have been tweaked, where field goals will get .1 points per yard. So a 37 yard field goal is worth 3.7 points and a 54 yard field goal is worth 5.4 points. PATs remain at 1 point, missed field goals and PATS, of any distance, will result in a one point deduction.

The LBXVI draft is scheduled for Tuesday August 20th, at 7:45pm. The room opens at 7:30pm and all teams (or a proxy) are expected to be present for the draft. If there is a vital issue with this draft date/time, please flag it ASAP, as scheduling becomes more of a concern the longer we wait. The first game of the NFL season is Thursday, September 5th.

The draft slot order is as follows, with Manitoba and Carmel removed from the proceedings:

LBXVI DRAFT SLOT ORDER:

1. NEW YORK'S FINEST
2. PHOENIX UPRISING
3. SOUTH PHILLY RUM HAM
4. SAVANNAH PETES
5. HCM CITY LEAD FARMERS
6. MAR-A-LAGO TREASON
7. SOUTH PARK COWS
8. PAWNEE PRIDE
9. BINGHAMTON SNIPERS
10. DEPUTY VAN HALENS
11. HILL VALLEY McFLYS
12. JERSEY SANITATION CREW

I will be in touch with each team to affirm their draft slot in the near future, before finalizing the draft.

FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS:

Without the consolation bracket to help determine draft order, I'm putting together a proposition to move to an AUCTION DRAFT next season, ahead of LARKSPUR BOWL XVII. Along with the auction draft, a FAAB waiver budget would be implemented in lieu of a cycling waiver order. Both features give every team an equal chance at all player assets, putting additional emphasis on resource management rather than the more simple (but parity inducing) serpentine model we've employed to date.

With an auction model, each team gets the same budget for drafting, this currency is then used to 'bid up' players, with each bid invoking a short timer. On each team's turn, they nominate a player and put down an initial bid, with other teams then bidding up at increments of 1 or more. Teams are forced to consider in real time how high they are willing to go for their targets, leaving a reduced budget to fill out the team. The auction system forced players to keep $1 in reserve for each of the roster spots so that at the end of the draft when budgets are depleted, players draft in serpentine order, for what is left. Order will be randomly decided upon, as it is mostly inconsequential and secondary to finances.

Similarly, FAAB is a currency where teams put a blind bid in on waiver claims- the highest bid is awarded the claim overnight. In this way, over the course of the season, using (or not using) claims is a full season strategy, rather than rising up the order until you cash in your ticket.

Aside from these implementations, two other factors would be discussed:

• Expanding back to fourteen team in 2025, depending on this year's results, the player pool, and the yearning of outsiders to join the fray.
• Deciding upon "KEEPERS," players that a team retains from season to season. There are several ways to utilize keepers, and with an auction draft in place, implementing Keepers would give the draft an added level of nuance. Keepers would not be decided upon until after LBXVI, but well in advance of the 2025 draft.