My apologies for the lack of writing again. Below is a quick summary of the weeks that passed, some first-round playoff information that isn't as relevant, but still may be interesting, and a semi-final preview.
Round 1 Playoff History
It’s obviously a bit late to do a playoff preview since the first round is over. So I’ll provide some context around the teams, their playoff history, and how shocked we should or shouldn’t be about the results.
Of the 6 teams in the playoffs, Skyler, Rob, and Tommy are all back in after taking a 1-year break. TJ and Matt have been to the playoffs in back-to-back years, and this is Brady’s 4th consecutive year, which as far as I can tell, ties Jordan's and Ren’s runs (2011-2014) for the third most consecutive appearances. Chad had a 5-year run (2012-2016), and the record for consecutive playoff appearances is Skyler at 7 (2010-2016).
For the matchups that occurred, TJ was 1-0 over Skyler this season and Matt was 1-0 against Tommy. TJ would have been 9-5 over Skyler had they only played each other every week this season. Matt would have been 8-6 over Tommy had they only played each other every week this season.
For posterity's sake (aka the NFL website goes down and we need a backup history of what happened), Skyler beat TJ in the blowout and the battle of ineptitude, and Matt beat Tommy in the bonanza, the nailbiter, and the Monday Nightmare/Miracle.
Matt remains King of the Court, and was the highest scorer of the week, the MVP is CMC, and the LVP is Jamar Chase, which feels dirty because he got hurt. Unlucky was Tommy, and lucky was Skyler. Matt is the highest-scoring team, and TJ is the lowest-scoring team.
Semi-Finals Preview
Back in the spring of 2022, we had a March Madness Final 4 of Duke, UNC, Kansas, and Villanova. It was considered the first Final 4 of historical college basketball blue bloods. This year, our Final 4 is made up of our league’s blue bloods since the 4 teams remaining are the only teams that have multiple championships. Each team has at least 2 championships, and the 4 teams combine for 10 championships, with an 11th coming in 13 days. This is our ‘Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time', but instead of Alex Trebek, Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter, and James Holzhauer, we have Skyler, Rob, Brady, and Matt. Skyler can create the 5 Times club or one of Rob/Brady/Matt can join the 3 Times club. Matt could also join the back-to-back club.
As far as appearances in the Final 4 (including 2023), Skyler has 9, Brady has 6, and Rob and Matt each have 5. Fun Brady fact – in 2016, Skyler had 6 appearances, Rob and Matt each had 2, and Brady had 0. Brady has made the semi’s 6 of the last 7 years, which is an incredible run. Brady, Rob, and Matt each have a winning record in the semi-finals, while Skyler only has a .500 record. In raw numbers, Brady has lost twice (5 previous appearances), and Matt and Rob have only lost once (4 previous appearances). Skyler has lost 4 times (8 previous appearances). If Brady, Rob, or Matt lose, they will move down to .500, and if Skyler loses, he will have a losing record in the semi-finals.
Two of the final teams remaining are from the North division, and two are from the South division. Depending on how things turn out, we could have our first championship game where both teams are from the same division. FantasyPros currently has the South teams as the favorites in both games (Rob at 75% chance to win and Matt at 51%). If both Matt and Rob win, this would be only the 3rd time in recorded history that the North didn’t have a representative in the championship (2022 and 2019). If both Skyler and Brady win, it would be the 6th time (2021, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2010) a team from the South didn’t play in the championship.
With the West eliminated, they will continue their streak of not having a champion since Tyler won it all in 2013 – a streak that is now 10 years old. My math might be wrong, but I believe Bella is the oldest kid of the league members, and I believe she was born in the summer of 2013, and Jackson was born in late summer/early fall. Again, my math might be wrong, but as a league, we have over 30 kids, and the last time a team in the West won a championship, we had a combined 2 kids, and they were only a few months old. Anyway, the West has missed the championship 7 times (2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2023).
For the matchups that occurred this year, Rob was 1-0 over Skyler this season and Brady was 1-0 against Matt. Rob would have been 10-4 over Skyler had they only played each other every week this season. Matt and Brady would each be 7-7 had they only played each other every week this season. The regular season lifetime record between Skyler and Rob is 9 wins for Skyler and 5 wins for Rob. Skyler has beaten Rob once in the playoffs, and Rob has beaten Skyler once in the consolation. They had no other postseason matchups from what I could tell. Matt and Brady never played in the regular season until 2021 – since that schedule expansion, Brady has 2 wins and Matt has 1 in the regular season. Brady has beaten Matt once in the playoffs, and Matt has beaten Brady once in the consolation. They had no other postseason matchups from what I could tell.
Game Previews
Skyler vs Rob: Skyler has 0 players on Thursday, 0 players on Saturday, 0 players on Sunday Night Football, and 4 players on Monday (Christmas Day). Rob is busy playing games with his lineup, but he could realistically start 1 player on Thursday, 2 players on Saturday, 0 players on Sunday Night Football, and 3 players on Monday (Christmas Day).
Matt vs Brady: Matt has 1 player on Thursday, 0 players on Saturday, 0 players on Sunday Night Football, and 4 players on Monday (Christmas Day). Brady has 0 players on Thursday, 3-4 players on Saturday, 0 players on Sunday Night Football, and 0-1 Players on Monday (Christmas Day).
Best of luck to everyone not named Rob.
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