2021 COLLEGE LEAGUE RULES
All questions, disputes and
interpretations of these rules subject to commissioner’s rulings.
All commissioner rulings
will be final.
Rule changes for the 2021 Season are in red
After the cancellation of the 2020 Fantasy College season, we begin the 2021 College season knowing the effects of the Covid pandemic will continue to evolve. I am hoping to address the major concerns before the season starts, but I know there will be additional issues for the NCAA and our fantasy league to overcome. As we have seen in all sports leagues, there will be good/bad weeks and fantasy team's will be impacted to varying levels. There are still too many what if's to try and cover every scenario. The league will act in an appropriate manner when it comes to Covid-related rulings. Thanks for everyone's patience and understanding this year as we continue to navigate the Covid world.
Due to the ongoing Covid pandemic the following rules
will be in place for the 2021 season:
1. If the NCAA season is cancelled or
becomes too difficult to continue prior
to the completion of week 10 (the end of our regular season), our league will be
cancelled. All entry fees will be refunded or credited towards a future season
or league. No payouts will be issued for any side pots, division winners or
playoff prizes.
2. If the NCAA season is cancelled during weeks
11-13 (our playoff weeks) payouts will be awarded as such : A) side pots and
division winners paid based on regular season results. Weekly points pool would
also be final based off regular season results. B) Playoff teams will receive
payouts based upon finish of played playoff round(s) or seeding for unplayed
playoff round(s). For example, the first round is played but then season cancelled,
payouts for first round teams eliminated are paid as normal, remaining teams would
be paid based upon their seed.
3. Due to the unknown nature of how
Covid protocols (positive test or close contact exposure) will affect the league on a daily/weekly basis, any verifiable
Covid protocol issue for a player can be used to place a player on the IR. It must be
a substantiated Covid protocol issue, not just a player was given a day
off for rest.
4. Due to the high likelihood of players to miss games during the
week, rosters will be expanded by one optional SUB player from any position. The additional
player will be in the "SUB" roster position to help with the potential missed games. The
normal two optional position roster spots (RB/WR/TE) remain the same and will be used
FIRST for missed games. The new "SUB" position player will fill in for any starting
position player that missed a game(s) and does not have a sub available for any reason.
We want teams to be competitive and hopefully have the full amount of games played each week
with the extra sub if necessary. You will need to factor in this new sub
position when setting your lineup each week.
5.
Players (including K and DEF) may become eligible for the Covid IR during the
season. If a NCAA game is cancelled during the week, players in that cancelled
game are immediately eligible for the Covid IR. If a NCAA team team(s) has
announced positive Covid test(s) in a given week, players may become Covid IR
eligible depending on the specific situation. If a NCAA team(s) is continuing to
practice and holding team events with the intention of playing that week,
players will not immediately be Covid IR eligible. If a NCAA team(s) announce
their next scheduled game is now in question due to cancellation of
practices/team events, players from both teams involved in that week's game
become Covid IR eligible. The Commish will continue to update the league when a specific game
moves into the
Covid IR eligible status based upon available confirmed info.
6. Once a specific game moves into the Covid IR eligible status, teams can pick
up a new player and place players on the Covid IR immediately.
7. There is a
possibility we may not know the exact status of a game when lineups are due
Saturday at 10am as games could be pushed back a day or two, or eventually
cancelled. When setting your lineup Saturday at 10am, you must state if they
want to activate and use a Covid IR player as a starter or sub if the game is
played during the current week. Teams must clearly state their lineup intentions
Saturday morning. It could be as simple as starting a Covid IR player if they
play during the current week, or starting a new player picked up if a game is
cancelled for the current week. It could be more complicated if a NCAA team has
limited or doesn't practice at all before their game is played and teams don't
want to use one of their players. You may have to send me two lineups, one
lineup with new players in it, one with Covid IR players in it, or a combination
of the two. Bottom line is it MUST be
clearly stated by 10am Saturday what you plan on doing. I will not
automatically assume you are starting the new player picked up if there is no
game, or the original player if there is a game. Teams can not wait, see how
players play, then decide whether to use Covid IR players.
8. If a game
is cancelled but a NCAA team had no
Covid issues (for example, CU/CSU is cancelled, but CU had no Covid issues, only
CSU did), players (from CU in previous example) that were placed on the
Covid IR will be automatically activated on
Monday of the next week prior to transactions and the specific replacement
player acquired for them will be dropped. These dropped replacement players will
be available to the league immediately on Monday.
9.
If a game is cancelled and the NCAA team had Covid issues (CSU in example above),
these
Covid IR players may remain on the IR until more clarity is given to their next
game.
10. If teams activate a Covid IR player to play during the current
week, a player must be dropped and that dropped player is immediately available
on the next transaction day, no two day waiver period.
11. Any player on the
Covid IR that has an additional IR
eligible issue (i.e. regular injury, suspension, the player tested Covid
positive and is out 10 days minimum, etc.) may remain on the IR and does not have to
be activated as designated above.
1. Starting immediately all fantasy league
transactions will be processed at 8pm daily.
2. If teams activate a IR player (Covid or injured) to
play during the current week, a player must be dropped and that player is
immediately available on the next transaction day.
These 2021 season
ONLY
rule adjustments
supersede any rules listed below.
Additional mid-season rule changes will
be updated as necessary.
Commish: Jeff Snyder
Season
The season will consist of 10 weeks of
regular season play beginning with the week of Saturday
September 4th, 2021. There will be 3 rounds of playoffs to
determine the league champion. The participants in the playoffs will be the
2
division winners along with 4 wild card teams for a total of 6 teams that will
participate in post season play.
The weekly team point totals will be ranked 1-10, with
the top 5 receiving a bonus win. In the event of a tie for the
5th and final spot in the
top 5, both teams will receive the bonus win. The cutoff for
college games to be used on a given week is Monday. Any college game played on
Tuesday or Wednesday will count for the following Saturday week.
Any college games that occur outside of the
league's 13 week schedule will not be used,
including games on Saturday 8/28/21 that will NOT be used.
Scoring
The scoring system is available on the main page of the league website. This scoring system will be
used to determine the winner in each game played.
Results for the week will be posted by the Commish on Sunday or Monday of each week. In the
event of a discrepancy in the scores, the commissioner will verify the scores
through various websites and the decision will be final. (Due to the nature of
college score reporting, the use of several websites may be required to get an
official result) In the event of a tie game, both teams
will receive 1 point for the tie. In the playoffs, the higher seed will get the
win in the event of a tie game. When looking at the QB stats for yardage
thrown, look at the individual player stats, not the team net yards passing. Net
yards includes yards loss by sacks. We will however use net yards for player
rushing totals. An offensive fumble recovery for a TD, regardless
of who fumbles it, is worth 6 points for the player that recovered it. Starting in 2013
there is a new scoring chart for scores that occur in overtime. This affects TD
Pass, TD Run and TD Reception, Field Goals and PAT's. Please refer to the league
scoring system.
If any owner notices a discrepancy in something that was updated on the website, they will have one week in which to notify the league of the problem. This applies to scores of games, scores of players, game results or side pot issues. After a period of one week, the updated results becomes OFFICIAL unless an official scoring change was made by the NCAA.
Rosters
The teams will consist of 10 players, distributed as follows:
(2) QB (2) RB (2) WR/TE (2)
Optional (RB or WR/TE) (2) K
(2) Team Defense
A specific player will be used at the QB position. Only stats accumulated by that specific player at QB will be counted. At the draft, once a specific player is taken from a school, no more QB's from that school may be selected. For example, Tebow of Florida is selected. No additional Florida QB's may be selected at that point. During the season the same rule applies, only one QB from a school may be on a active roster at any time. If a QB is placed on the IR and the replacement is a QB from a different school, a QB from the school of the now IR QB may be claimed as the QB on IR is no longer on an active roster. Team K's will be used. Teams will receive all K stats from the college team that have as their Team K, no matter how many individual K's a college team may use in a given game. Team defenses will be treated as any other individual player on a roster, and eligible for the High Player Score Game side pot. If a player is considered a H-Back, we will use him as a RB. TE's will be combined with WR into a single position and treated the same. Prior to the draft, the Commish will review player positions and determine if there is any misclassified players based upon verified news and projected stats from various websites. This may include but not limited to players changing position and WR who are projected to receive significant rushing attempts. The Commish will notify the league prior to the draft of any player position changes from what the popular websites are showing. Once the season starts, the Commish will review any players that make a position change or players that are listed at multiple positions before the season started but now playing one role a significant amount of the time. For example, and player is listed at WR or WR/RB but not on our original pre-draft designation for a variety of reasons. During the season this player is now playing significant time at RB. The Commish will rule on the player during the season and most likely rule the player a RB. We do not want teams to have the unfair advantage of potentially starting 4 RBs. If there is any questions in regards to a players position eligibility, please contact the Commish.
Due to the lack of an official NCAA injury report, injury verification of players will done in several ways. Many injuries are obvious in nature as it is seen on TV and in news headlines that is easy to verify. (i.e. star Player X suffers a torn ACL and is done for the year) There are multiple websites that offer college injury reports. While some of these websites are credible, they are often not 100% accurate. Injury reports from credible sports websites are best used, websites hosted by fans or non-major sports websites are not encouraged to be used. (i.e. Jim & Bob's college injury news website that obviously has no significant affiliation to a major website) If you have questions about a injury report website please ask the Commish to verify the credibility of the website. The injury designation of probable, questionable, doubtful or out often varies on a player from the different websites. We will not use any type of injury designation, a player is either injured or not injured. There is many college news websites that offer player injury updates, as well as each school's website sometimes offers injury news. These websites offer news and updates, just not an official injury report of any kind. If injury news can be verified from these websites it will substantiate an IR move or franchise player protection. Injury news must be substantial, not just Player X missed a series but returned and finished the game without any further evidence of injury. Schools often withhold injury info and players with significant injuries are not reveled to the public. If a player does not play in a game with no explanation from the school, this would also qualify a player as injured. We will not use websites such as fan forums or message boards to verify injuries. (i.e. I read on School X's fan message board that Player X was seen talking to a trainer, that is why they missed the 4th quarter) Given the complicated matter of college injury news just detailed, the Commish may have to use his best judgment on specific unclear situations, often siding on a cautious approach as the NCAA and schools often prefer to not reveal any credible information.
Teams must declare 1 player at the RB & WR positions to be a Franchise Player. Franchise RB & WR must be from your active roster, IR players are not eligible. If a franchise RB or WR meets the injury qualification all RB or WR from the same NCAA team not already on an active roster will be ineligible to be picked up by another team. Teams will retain rights to the backups until the franchise player plays in a game, with one exception. The exception is a player who tries to play through a injury in a limited role, these players will continue to receive franchise protection. For example, Player X suffers a injury and misses 2nd half of a game. He meets the injury qualification for the next week, but does play in the next game, but only in a part time role due to injury limitations. This player would continue to receive franchise protection. The Commish may have to use his best judgment on specific situations, often siding on a cautious approach. If a team places an injured franchise player on the IR and replaces them with a player other than a backup from the same NCAA team, they forfeit their rights to all backups from the same NCAA team. If a player is benched but active, you do not have rights to his backups. Franchise players may be changed each week at the 12 midnight Friday lineup deadline. The only exception will be if a team's franchise player is placed on the IR during the week, the team may declare a new franchise player at that point. If no new franchise player is declared when making the transaction, the team must wait until the next lineup deadline to make the change. Once playoffs start franchise players can not be changed unless a IR move is permitted.
Rosters are frozen once they are submitted for the first week of post season play and scrub bowls. In the event that a team can not submit a full starting lineup due to injured players, teams will be allowed to make a change(s) in order to submit a full starting lineup. If a team can submit a full starting lineup from their existing players, no transactions are allowed. If a QB or a franchise RB or WR meets the injury qualification, teams may replace the QB or franchise RB or WR with a player from the same College team, at the same position.
Draft
The draft will consist of 12 rounds of
10 picks with teams picking in reverse
order in even numbered rounds. Example: If you have the first pick in the first
round, you will have the 20th overall pick in the 2nd round. Draft position will be
determined and will be posted on the website. You are permitted to make trades
of your draft positions.
Line-ups
Lineup changes are due to
the league by 10am mtn time Saturday. The "default lineup" for teams each
week will be the previous week's lineup. (The only exception to this rule is
week #1, when a full lineup is required to be submitted) If no legal changes are
made to a lineup by the Friday deadline, the previous weeks lineup status, sub priority
and franchise players will be used. If there is a Thursday or Friday night game,
or a game that starts before 10am on Saturday, teams will
have until kick-off of that game to make any lineup changes. If no changes are
submitted before an early game, the previous weeks lineup, sub priority and
franchise player status will be used for player(s) in the early game(s).
The rest of the teams lineup changes may still be submitted by the Saturday
morning
deadline.
Starting line ups will consist of several options:
(1) QB (1) RB (3) WR (1) K
(1) Team Defense
(1) QB (2) RB (2) WR (1) K
(1) Team Defense
(1) QB (3) RB (1) WR (1) K
(1) Team Defense
Only points scored by these players will be tabulated into the game results.
Teams must also prioritize their back up RB/WR with a #1 and #2 sub designation. Due to bye weeks team may only have one or no subs available. A specific player must be named as the backup to the starting QB each week. Teams must also prioritize their back up QB priority with a #1 and #2 sub designation. Teams must chose whether the #2 QB on their roster or the specific named player as backup to the starting QB is their first choice as sub. If no new sub priority is submitted, previous week sub priority will be used. If roster changes are made or players are on a bye, the Commish will never assume sub priority, it must be clearly designated. (i.e. sub #2 was dropped, the new player acquired does not automatically assume the #2 sub designation) In the event that a player does not play, regardless of reason, you may use a backup. The player must be inactive for the game or dressed but DNP. If the starter plays a single down the use of a sub is not permitted. Teams do not get a sub if they started a player who was on a bye week. It will be an owner's responsibility to substantiate the status of a starter in question. A player simply not appearing in a box score is not a verifiable source. Verifiable sources for this will include major sports news websites and official school websites. Sources not eligible to use as verification include message boards, blogs and fan run websites. The Commissioner reserves the right to determine if the source and information meets the substantiation requirement. If there is no subs available due to bye weeks or subs are also DNP, then the a DNP (0 Pts) will be taken by the starter. The same DNP substantiation rule will apply to a team's starting QB. If the player starting at QB meets the DNP criteria, the priority sub QB will be used. If a team is forced to use a backup in place of an injured starter, they must still maintain a legal lineup. If a WR gets hurt, and their #1 priority sub is a RB, but they already have 3 RB's started, they must go to the #2 priority as teams can not have 4 RB's started under any circumstance.
Entry Fees
There will be an entry fee of $170 due on draft day. Teams that are
drafting online only must pay their entry fee by draft day. In the event that the entry fee is not paid by
draft day
your team will be restricted from making any transactions until the entry fee is
paid or arrangements have been made with the Commish.
*Entry Fee Breakdown: $1700 Entry Fees Collected
-$170 Commish Fee
-$60 Website Services
-$20 Trophy Engraving
-$150 Scrub Bowls *($5/week to be refunded to active playoff teams.)
-$845 Playoff Team Breakdown (6 Teams)
-$50 Division Winners (2 Teams)
-$205 Side-Pot Winners
-$200 Post-Season Pool
There will not be any charges for transactions during the year. This should help owners in keeping the best team on the field during the entire season, especially when the playoff spots may be in jeopardy.
Prize Money
The total of all eligible fees collected will be returned to the
league in the form of prize money. All six (6) of the playoff teams that qualify
for the post season will share in the prize money. The league prize fund
breakdown is available on the league website. All side pots will conclude at the
end of the regular season.
Weekly Points Pool
The top 3 teams scores each week will receive the
following prize: 1st $9
2nd $6 3rd
$3
The bottom 3 teams will have to pay the following amounts:
10th $9
9th $6 8th $3
This will be a running total throughout the year and will be available on the
website. Payoffs will be at the following years draft. Any winnings or losses
from the prior year, would be the responsibility of the owner that incurred
them. If a team chooses not to come back to the league the following year, they
would receive any winnings they may have won, as well as must pay any losses
they may have had. If a team does not pay off any losses, they would not be
permitted to participate in ANY UAL Fantasy League until their debt is settled.
Post
Season Play
Each Division Winner and 4 wild card teams qualify for the playoffs. The
two division winners will receive a bye in the first round of the playoffs.
In Round One the #1 seed will play the #4,
and the #2 seed will play the #3 seed. In Round Two,
the highest seed
remaining will play the lowest seed remaining, and the two remaining teams will
play each other. In Round Three, the two winners from round two will play for the league
championship. When determining final order of
finish, a wildcard team can never be ranked higher then a divisional winner,
regardless of the teams final record. "Home-field advantage" will
apply in the playoffs ONLY, with
the higher seeded team receiving the advantage in a tie game.
Tie
Breakers
If at any time during the season a tie occurs with respect to records, the
league will use the same formula through out:
1) total team points (wins/ties(1/2 point) + top 5 finishes)
2) winning percentage ((wins + 1/2 point for
ties)/games played)
3) head to head
4) record within division (*only in the event of a tie between two teams in the
same division)
5) most points scored
6) most points scored against
7) coin flip
Transactions
****All transactions should be e-mailed to the commissioner at
ualcommish@gmail.com. If necessary, transactions may be called in to the commissioner at
303-868-7039.****
Free Agents
The cut off time for free agent moves is 9:00 PM each day. There will be no transactions after the draft.
The first
transaction day will be Tuesday night Sept. 7th
2021 after week one is complete. At this point any players that were
not drafted are considered free agents. Teams may acquire a free agent
provided they release a player to maintain a legal
roster.
All free agent acquisitions are on a daily basis. There is NO TRANSACTIONS permitted on Sunday of each week. This will allow for all teams to review the weekend stats, and also allow the
most current standings to be used in case of multiple claims of a player.
There is a limit of 4 free agent acquisitions per year at
the following positions: QB, K, DEF. Players that meet the injury qualification
may be claimed as free agents, but they can not be placed on the IR until they
play in a game first, then can be placed on the IR the following week. Transactions placing a player on the
IR do not count towards the 4 transactions limit, only moves where a player is
dropped for a free agent. Changing from one QB to
another QB at the same school does not count as a free agent move.
In the event of a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday game, any players involved in that early game, whether they are started or not, can not be released for a new player during that same week. (i.e. player started on Thursday, and then dropped on Friday for a new player). Once the early game is played, those players are locked out until the next transaction period on Monday, the same way players involved in the regular Saturday games are. Teams with players involved in early games can still make roster moves up to the Friday night lineup deadline for players not involved in the early games, including changes to add a sub in case a starter in an early game is dnp.
In the event that more than one team wishes to acquire the same free agent during the same period, priority will be determined on a rotating priority basis. During week #1, priority will be determined by reverse order of drafting positions. The initial priority list will be set on Tuesday Sept. 7th based upon the reverse order of the standings from week #1. Once that initial priority list is set, when a claim for a player/unit is made, the team that has made a claim and received a player/unit will drop to the #12 spot on the priority list. Teams will only drop to the bottom of the priority list on free agent acquisitions. Teams making a IR move will keep their spot in the priority list. Priority is determined by which team is higher on the priority list. The priority list will not be reset at any point during the year, just continuing throughout the year. The priority list will appear on the transaction page on the website and updated regularly.
If a team wishes to place a bid on more than one free agent or waiver wire player during any given claim period, the owner must rank the players in an order of preference. The league will award players in a draft like manner, with the highest ranked bidding team on the priority list getting their first choice of players then the next highest ranked team getting their choice, and so on. If a team makes multiple claims, the claims will be processed one "round" of claims at a time, with the priority list reset after each "round" of claims. Teams will each get one move processed before going to the second round of claims. For example, two teams make two claims each on a given day. The highest ranked team gets their choice, then the #2 ranked team on the priority list gets their choice. The teams are re-ranked on the priority list, and then round two of claims begins with the team highest on the priority list. Players must be on an active college roster in order to be claimed as a free agent.
After week #10, all playoff teams will get priority on free agent claims. All free agent claims made by Scrub Bowl teams will be processed on Friday night after playoff teams.
Waiver Wire
When a player is released by a team he will be
considered "on waivers". Players will remain on waivers for 2 days, and then be
available to be claimed. For example, a player dropped on Tuesday can be claimed
on Thursday at the 9pm deadline. Players dropped on Thursday can be claimed at
10am Saturday lineup deadline. Players dropped on Friday or Saturday will be
available Monday at 9pm. The same rule for multiple claims applies for the
waiver wire as for free agents. If a
player goes unclaimed during the waiver period he will then be classified as a
free agent. If a player that is on waivers is playing in a
Thursday game, all claims for that player must
be received by 6pm Thursday night. These players will be
eligible to be used in a team's lineup for that Thursday game. When you acquire a player through
free agency or waivers, you MUST retain him on your roster for that week's scheduled game.
The only exception is in an injury situation, where an injured player may be
replaced or a player is activated off the IR. A player may be claimed and then traded during the same week,
but the traded player must remain on their new teams roster for the remainder of
the week.
Injured Reserve
There will be an unlimited injured reserve.
Please see the roster section of the rules above for injury verification
of a player. If a player meets the injury verification process, they may be
placed on the IR. Players that are suspended, dismissed from school or not
active for a game for any reason qualify for the IR. Once a player who is on the
IR plays in a game, they must be activated prior to their next available game at
the relevant lineup deadline. (i.e. if the player plays a Thursday game the next
week, activated by kick off of that game). An IR player who plays on Saturday
but has a bye the following week does not have to be activated during the bye
week. If the IR player is not activated by the required
deadline they will be released and eligible to be claimed on the following
Monday. There is one exception to this activation of an IR player rule. If a
player is on the IR, they play in a game, but suffer a new injury or a
reoccurrence of the old injury and they meet the injury verification process,
they do not have to be activated.
Trades
Trades are permitted at anytime until the trading deadline. Owners must have
a complete and balanced roster at the conclusion of a trade. In the event of a
"2 for 1" trade, owners must release and/or acquire free agents to
fill any roster voids. The trading deadline for our league will be 10:00am on
Saturday of week #8 (October 23rd, 2021).
Fines
Fines will be issued for not reporting scores on time or
for an incomplete lineup. An incomplete lineup occurs when a player on a bye
week is started, or a player listed as out is started. A mulligan will be issued
for the first offense and a $10 fine for all subsequent offenses. There will be a running total of fines listed on the standings page
on the website. These fines will be deducted from any winnings a team may have,
or must be paid prior to the draft if a team has no winnings. These fines will
go to draft food, meeting room cost or will be added to the
prize fund if necessary.
Draft Day
Tidbits
During the course of the draft, if a team attempts to draft a player that has already
been drafted by another team, they will get to choose a different player. The
Commish reserves the right to issue a warning to teams that repeatedly make this
mistake and enforce necessary penalties if it continues.