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| Mojo D's NFFA playoff calculations . |
By R.E. Porter
Associated Web Press
The employee who answered the phone at Ballers headquarters yesterday said team owner Mojo D could not be disturbed. The AWP learned that Mojo D was busy mapping out all the NFFA playoff scenarios. The employee said one whole wall was covered with the owner’s calculations, adding that it looked like “a scene from A Beautiful Mind.”
No, Mojo D hasn’t lost it — the playoff outlook is that complicated. Going into the final weekend, the situation is more volatile than ever with only the Sylvan Goats guaranteed a playoff berth. Here’s how it all breaks down:
In: Sylvan Goats (10-4)
With their win over the Animals last weekend, the Goats clinched the Linardo division title and the number one seed.
Out: Village Green (5-9), West Nashville Beelzebubbas (5-9)
With their losses in week 14, both the Green and ’Bubbas were eliminated from the championship playoffs and are both guaranteed to have one of the first three picks in the 2022 draft.
Win and In: Ballers (8-6), Boca Chica Daddies (8-6), London Bakers (7-7)
The Ballers, Daddies and Bakers are all in with a win in week 15. The Ballers and Daddies would clinch the two wild card berths, and the Bakers would clinch their first Jorge division title. A loss, however, puts all three teams in jeopardy of missing the playoffs, and that’s where it starts to get complicated.
The Bakers’ situation is the simplest: If they win, they clinch the division at 8-7 and the number two seed even if they finish in a tie with the Black Dogs because they swept the Dogs in their two regular-season meetings giving them the head-to-head tiebreaker. If the Bakers lose, they’re out. Their only path to the playoff is as Jorge division champs. If the Bakers lose to the Animals and the Black Dogs defeat the Beelzebubbas, the Dogs will finish 8-7 and edge the 7-8 Animals and Bakers for the division crown. If both the Bakers and Black Dogs lose, they will finish in a three-way tie for the division title with the Animals, and the Animals will clinch the division via the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The Ballers and Daddies can still make the playoffs even with a loss, but it depends on what happens in the Jorge division race. If the Bakers win and the Black Dogs lose, both the Ballers and Daddies are in as wild card teams. The same is true, if the Black Dogs win and the Bakers lose.
But if both the Bakers and Dogs win and both the Ballers and Daddies lose, the Bakers will clinch the Jorge division crown and the Black Dogs will finish in a three-way tie with the Ballers and Daddies for the two wild-card spots. In that scenario, the Dogs win the first spot by virtue of sweeping both the Ballers and the Daddies in the regular season, which would leave the Ballers and the Daddies vying for the final spot. They split in the regular season, so the second tiebreaker (total points scored) would come into play. The Ballers have an insurmountable lead over the Daddies in points scored, so the Ballers would clinch the final spot.
If the Bakers and the Black Dogs and the Ballers win in week 15 and the Daddies lose, the 8-7 Bakers will clinch the Jorge title, the 9-6 Ballers will clinch the first wild card berth (number three seed), the 8-7 Black Dogs will clinch the second wild card spot (number four seed), and the 8-7 Daddies will be eliminated by virtue of losing the head-to-head tiebreaker to the Dogs. If the Bakers, Dogs and Daddies all win and the Ballers lose, the Daddies and Ballers will switch places, with the 9-6 Daddies clinching the first wild card spot and the 8-7 Ballers being eliminated via the tiebreaker.
Need Help Even With a Win: East Nashville Black Dogs (7-7), Cambridge Animals (6-8)
The Black Dogs are better positioned to make the playoffs than the Animals with paths to both the Jorge division crown and the final wild card berth. The Animals have only one road to the playoffs and that’s by winning the Jorge division. To do that, they will have to defeat the Bakers this weekend and get help with a Beelzebubbas win over the Black Dogs. If that happens, the Animals will finish in a three-way tie at 7-8 with the Bakers and Dogs and capture the division by virtue of the best head-to-head record between the three teams, which in turn would keep their dream of back-to-back championships alive — something that's never been done in the league's 20-year history.
Like the Animals, the Black Dogs have to win in order to keep their playoff hopes alive. If they beat the ’Bubbas and the Bakers lose to the Animals, the Black Dogs will be division champs. If the Black Dogs win and the Bakers win, the Bakers will clinch the division and the Dogs will need either a Ballers’ or Daddies’ loss to clinch a wild card spot. If the Bakers, Ballers and Daddies all win, the Black Dogs will be eliminated.
