College fantasy football will always be unique. Without a governing body or a central point of reference, college fantasy leagues sprung up in basements and tailgates all around the country with no set rules. In short leagues made them up as they went along. So while some leagues may have been based on the NFL model, there is certainly a wide variety of leagues and scoring systems.
You want to start two quarterbacks.why not. You want three running backs, four receivers and two flex spots.sure. Hell I'm sure Mike Leach has had dreams about this type of stuff. You and the boys get really drunk on a two-four of fine Canadian lager and decide only awarding four points for passing touchdowns is a good idea.rock on.
Personally, I don't get it. Some of these rules are sacrilegious to me. But who am I to judge. After all, it's your league.
And just like with your league, our scoring system is based what we feel is the most fair for the college game: pass yards/30 + rush yards/15 + receiving yards/15 + TDx6 - INTx2. Still this is probably used by less than 10% of the country and neither you or we are probably ever going to change the way we tally up the points.
So with that we take a look at how our rankings would be impacted by some of the more common rule variations out there today.
4pts per Passing TD Leagues
If your league only awards 4pts per passing TD, not only would Mike Leach sit you down in is his office and give you a solid tongue lashing, we'd also have to shake up our big board.
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With a one third point reduction for passing touchdowns, Graham Harrell is no longer the top rated quarterback. Florida's Tim Tebow and Central Michigan's Dan LeFevour both leapfrog the Texas Tech hurler.
If your league also leans heavier on rush yards (pass yards/25 + rush yards/10) then LeFevour leaps into the top quarterback spot.
Pat White also rockets up the rankings, as he will once again likely score half of his touchdowns rushing while gaining half of his total yards on the ground.
Zac Robinson, Colin Kaepernick, Jake Locker and Kellen Lewis all get a significant boost from these types of scoring systems as well.
PPR Leagues
One rule I do find rather interesting is adding point per reception (PPR). PPR leagues can level the playing field for wide receivers in what is otherwise a running back and quarterback friendly game.
Texas Tech's 2nd and 3rd options suddenly become high round draft picks. Antonio Brown at Central Michigan is now mentioned in the same breath as Percy Harvin. And tight ends that rarely get a sniff in the red zone, but do the yeoman's work in between the twenties, now see themselves being drafted in the early rounds.
For the most part however, there are only a few shake-ups on the wide receiver list. The guys that are catching the most balls are also the ones that are racking up the most yardage and scores to begin with. Little tweaks here and there and you have your list.
However one area that needs special consideration in PPR leagues is the running back spot.
Nebraska's Marlon Lucky, with his 75 receptions last year, suddenly becomes a top 5 running back. Javon Ringer (Michigan State), Tyrell Sutton (Northwestern), Arian Foster (Tennessee) and even Ian Johnson (Boise State) also benefit from snaring a ball or two.
Charles Clay (Tulsa), Jake Sharp (Kansas) and Chris Rainey (Florida) go from being draft day tweeners to solid early-to-mid round picks.
Sack and Turnover Leagues
In some leagues the scoreboard doesn't matter on defense. Points are awarded for sacks, turnovers and defensive scores only. As crazy as this sounds to me, I at least give these leagues credit for incorporating defenses into their league. Many do not.
If you're in such a league it is obvious you want defenses that play an aggressive style. Who cares if they get burned for a 95-yard touchdown pass, as long as they are pressuring the quarterback, right?
In this case we'll give a boost to Bud Foster and his Virginia Tech Hokies. We've been abnormally down on our beloved Hokies this year and for good reason. However, despite the losses, ol Bud is not going to sit back and let quarterbacks count to five Mississippis before they throw the ball. They may give up more yards and points than they are accustomed to seeing in Blacksburg, but the end result will be quarterbacks on their backs and defensive players running in for scores.
Oregon State is another that we would be less leery about drafting. However, the one team that would make a surprise jump in our rankings is Indiana. Stop laughing, yes the Hoosiers.
Last year's 32 sacks and 31 turnovers was no aberration. Defensive end Greg Middleton is no joke and will likely be a Top 10 draft pick next April. Middleton led all pass rushers last year with 16 quarterback sacks (I would have bet money it was George Selvie). If you don't care if your team gets bombed for 30pts every week, Indiana is a team to look at.
Big Legged Kickers
As much as I also despise awarding bonus points for kickers that send it through the uprights from long distances, it is apart of many leagues. In fact I was the beneficiay of such bonus points when Florida Gator kicker Jeff Chandler booted two long ones through the wickets in final week of 2001 giving me extra points for distance and securing a championship by the narrowist of margins.
A few kickers with big legs and coaches that are not afraid to use them include: Austin Starr of Indiana, Louis Sakoda of Utah, Swayze Waters of UAB, Leigh Tiffin of Alabama, Jason Bondzio of Arizona, Ryan Bailey of Texas, Daniel Lincoln of Tennessee, Jose Martinez of UTEP, Kai Forbath of UCLA, Delbert Alvarado and Thomas Weber of Arizona State.
So there you have it. It's impossible to accommodate every type of scoring system into our rankings. You'd be amazed at how many different scoring systems are emailed to us. Hopefully we've given you the tools to make the necessary adjustments and as always we are working on providing more flexibility to our rankings and projections in the future.
