Ok, so you’re in 5 fantasy football leagues already and you think you’ve tried every format known to man… think again. I’m here to preach the virtues of Bizzaro Fantasy Football. You know, Bizzaro, where everything is opposite. Big yardage games are bad, lots of TD’s are worse and the team with the lowest total in fantasy points accumulated is the envy of every owner in the league. It’s a league concept my friends and I developed over more than a couple of beers four years ago and have enjoyed every season since.
Here’s how our league works (and feel free to tweak these rules how ever you see fit). On the fourth Monday night game of every season we hold our annual Bizzaro draft (that’s right, no draft before the NFL season is already underway). In order to prepare for the draft, the official starting lineups for all the week 4 games are distributed to the owners. (If a team has a week 4 bye we use its week 3 lineup). This is key as the only players eligible to be drafted in the Bizzaro league are the officially listed starters in these contests.
Upon determining a draft order amongst the owners (we draw from a hat), the selection process begins. A selection process in which each owner will draft:
1 QB
2 RB
2 WR
1 TE
1 K
Here’s the catch. Each owner is drafting to try and select the worst team possible! The 7 players selected in the draft will be that owners 7 players the remainder of the season. There are no trades, no waiver wire transactions, no Add/Drops… just these 7 players. But, they must have been an officially listed starter in those week 4 (or week 3) games. No other players are eligible to be drafted.
The key to success in this league is to look for week 4 starters who might’ve been an injury replacement that week but aren’t likely to play much the rest of the year. Though, this can backfire.
Once teams are determined you score their points the same way you would in any other league (you determine your league’s scoring system) and enjoy the fun. The lower the score per team, the better. (In our league, we do not play a head to head schedule, simply a total points for the season type of system, but head to head could be easily adaptable).
As I mentioned, there are no additional player transactions after the initial draft. If someone on your Bizzaro squad gets hurt… good for you. They have a bye… good for you. They decide to quit football to go smoke weed… light one up yourself, it’s time to celebrate.
Our average winning Bizzaro team the past four seasons has had a minimum of 3 players on the shelf by season’s end.
Bizzaro league may, or may not be for you. But it sure does give you an interesting paradigm when watching your Sunday football. When someone like Billy Volek throws for 4 TD’s and you’re
screaming, “No, he’s on my fantasy team!” things can sure be interesting.
Enjoy. And may all your Bizzaro squads be filled with bad picks!
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