COWS Dynasty League Rules

  1. This is a DYNASTY league; with a minimum commitment of 5 years, renewable year-to-year after the 5th year.
  2. We will use ESPN.COM for all statistics and standings. Any site-wide rules they have will supersede the rules here; however, most league settings are configurable, and will be outlined here.
  3. League will consist of 10 teams.
  4. First year draft will be in a random order, determined at least 1 week prior to the draft party. First year draft will be in serpentine order (1, 2, 3…,9, 10, 10, 9, 8…, 3, 2, 1, etc.).
  5. Draft for this year will be at 5:30pm, Wednesday, August 29, 2012, at a place TBD.
  6. Subsequent year’s draft order will be as follows: The draft order will be the same for each round (1, 2, 3,..., 9, 10, 1, 2, 3 ..., 9, 10). The draft order for subsequent years will be from the results of the previous year as follows: (the principal concept is other than the first 3 places, rewards come for doing well in the playoffs, no matter your position)
    PositionPrior Year's Playoff Result
    1Consolation bracket, championship game winner (7th place)
    2Consolation bracket, championship game loser (8th place)
    3Consolation bracket, consolation game winner (9th place)
    4Consolation bracket, consolation game loser (10th place)
    5Championship bracket, 5th place game winner (5th place)
    6Championship bracket, 5th place game loser (6th place)
    7Championship bracket, 3rd place game loser (4rd place)
    8Championship bracket, 3rd place game winner (3th place)
    9Championship bracket, championship game loser (2nd place)
    10Championship bracket, championship game winner (1st place)
  7. Roster Limits: QB, 3; RB, 5; WR/TE, 8; K, 3; Defense/ST, 3; IR, 4. Maximum total players (active), 16. Weekly teams will consist of 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 Flex RB/WR, 1 K and 1 Defense/ST.
  8. Scoring: Passing: 1 point per 25 yards thrown; 6 points per TD thrown. Receiving: 1 point per 10 yards caught plus 1 point per reception; 6 points per TD caught. Rushing: 1 point per 10 yards run; 6 points per TD rushed. Kicking: 1 point per XP made, 3 pts for FG 40 yards or less; 4 pts for FG 41 – 50 yards; 5 pts for FG 51 yards and longer. No penalty for missed kicks. Defense/ST: 6 points for Defense/ST TD; 1 point per sack; 2 points per interception; 2 points per fumble recovery, 1 point per sack; 5 points per safety, 10 points for scoring, losing 1 point for every 3 points given up (negative scoring is possible). Fractional points will be truncated.
  9. Trade Deadline: Trades between players will end after Week 12.
  10. Trade Approvals: Trades between players are subject to a 1-day review by league players. Any objection must be made to the commissioner, who will decide if a trade is valid. The only consideration for a trade to be valid is that it not be a collusive trade, which harms the balance of the league. Decisions by the commissioner may be appealed to the disputes committee (see below).
  11. Divisions: There will be 2 divisions, consisting of 5 teams In each division. Schedule will be determined randomly in the first season. In subsequent seasons, teams will be divided based on their draft order (from rule 5), with teams drafting in position 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 being in Division A, and teams drafting in positions 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 being in Division B. Each team will play each team in their division twice, and play each team in the “other” division once. Tie-breakers will be by highest PF, then lowest PA.
  12. Playoffs: At the end of Week 13, the winner in each division will receive a 1 week bye. The next 4 teams (regardless of division) will qualify as wild-card entries into the playoffs, and will play each other in Week 14 (3 v. 6, 4 v. 5). In week 15, the top qualifier will than play the lowest remaining seed, and the second qualifier will play the highest remaining seed. Week 16 will include the surviving teams from Week 15. Consolation Bracket: In Week 15, the 7th place (overall) will play the 10th place team, and the 8th and 9th place teams will play; the winner of those games will play in Week 16, and the winner of THAT game will win the overall #1 position in next year’s draft (see above, subsequent draft order). Also in Week 16, the losers of the Week 15 games in the championship bracket will play for the 5th and 6th positions.
  13. Payoffs: The league champion will receive 50% of the overall pot. 2nd place will receive 30% of the overall pot. 3rd place will receive 10% of the overall pot. “Bad Beat Prize” (highest LOSING score of the season, NOT including playoffs) 10% of the overall pot. All monies put into the pot will be returned as prizes. Prizes will be paid promptly after Week 16’s scores have stabilized.
  14. League Fee: The fee for playing in the league is $50/year. Payment is expected at the draft party. Check or cash acceptable. Paypal payments before the draft party are acceptable.
  15. Continuity. It is imperative for the health of the league, that you commit to keeping you team for the duration of the existence of the league. If you must drop out of the league, it is your responsibility to find a new owner for your team. Death IS an excuse for not recruiting a new owner; however no other excuses will be considered justifiable.
  16. In the unlikely event that an owner drops out, and another owner cannot be recruited, 1 owner may own 2 teams, but this is strongly discouraged.
  17. Carry-forward of players: Players may choose to carry-forward up to 4 players to the next year’s roster. However, the original draft round of that player will be forfeited in that year’s draft. In other words, if you carry-forward a first-round pick, then you will NOT get a first-round pick next year. If you carry-forward a 12th-round pick, then you only don’t get to pick in the 12th round. The only players eligible for carry-forward must be on your roster at the end of the season (including IR positions). You may ONLY place a player on IR if they were on your roster, at the time they went on IR in the “real” world; however, you MAY place a player on IR (even if they are not on IR in the “real” world), but once placed there, they may NOT be re-activated during this season. (need to think this through better). Only players on rosters before the playoff rounds are eligible for carry-forward.
  18. Declaring carry-forward players: The due date to declare carry-forward players is August 1st. Email the commissioner with your choice. All carry-forward players will be declared openly on August 2nd, or when all players have made their declarations. (possibility I’ll create something that they can use to declare… we’ll think about it).
  19. Disputes. Disputes will first attempt to be resolved by the League Commissioner. At the draft party, 3 owners (other than the commissioner) will be appointed to a “Disputes Committee”. Appeals of a Commissioner’s decision may be made to this committee, and their decision is final.
  20. Off-season trades. Any trades made will imply that the player being traded for is a carry-forward player, and will count against that owner’s quota of carry-forwards. The same draft penalty exists for the position that player was ORIGINALLY drafted in. Trading of draft picks IS allowed; it may be picks for picks, picks for players, and players for players; however ANY TIME a player is traded, that becomes a carry-forward player for the receiving owner.