2005 SCFL Rules
 

Alignment of Teams:

There are 20 teams competing in SCFL 2005, and they have been broken down into 4 different conferences.  Those conferences are the Big 10, Big 12, SEC, and PAC 10.  

League Format:

The regular season will consist of 12 games, with week #1 being the games played on the weekend of August 31-September 6 and week #12 being the games played during the weekend of November 16-22. At the conclusion of the season, those teams that qualify for the playoffs will compete using the game stats from the college games that occur from November 23rd- December 6th. In using this playoff system, there is a chance that a coach could have a player that plays in a game in each of those weeks, and therefore score double or even triple points. This is because the games that occur on December 3rd are conference championship games of the C-USA, MAC, Big 12, SEC, among others.

NOTE: If you have a player that plays during more than one week during the playoffs and you decide to start him, then you must stick with that player during the entire playoffs.  You MAY NOT play one player one week of the playoffs at a particular position and then another player the next week.

To qualify for the playoffs, a team must finish in the top 2 in his conference.   Since there are four different conferences, a total of 8 teams will advance to the playoffs and to a bowl game.  The determining factor of who finishes in the top 2 in each conference will be OVERALL RECORD through the first 12 weeks of the SCFL season.   In case of a tie in overall record, the following tiebreakers will be used:

1) Head-to-Head results
2) Conference Record (by %)
3) Aggregate of SCFL 2005 points scored in weeks 1-12

The following are the matchups that will take place in the playoff round of SCFL 2005:

Big Ten #1 vs. Big 12 #1  (Winner to National Championship Rose Bowl, Loser to Fiesta Bowl)
PAC 10 #1 vs. SEC #1      (Winner to National Championship Rose Bowl, Loser to Fiesta Bowl)
Big Ten #2 vs. Big 12 #2  (Winner to Sugar Bowl, Loser to Orange Bowl)
PAC 10 #2 vs. SEC #2      (Winner to Sugar Bowl, Loser to Orange Bowl)

After the first round of the playoffs, the SCFL 2005 bowl games will be competed, using the statistics from ALL BOWL GAMES to decide the champions.  At the conclusion of all bowl games, cash prizes will then be distributed to all SCFL bowl game participants.   Here is the breakdown of the cash prizes:

National Championship Rose Bowl  (Winner: $220, Loser $90)
Sugar Bowl      (Winner: $65, Loser: $45)
Fiesta Bowl      (Winner: $55, Loser: $25)
Orange Bowl     (Winner: $25, Loser: $15)


The Draft:

Each team will have a roster of 11 players, and coaches may select players from any one of the DIV. I-A College football teams. The draft will begin on August 1st and will be concluded no later than August 30th.

For any new coaches entering the league, there will be an expansion draft held.  This will be a one round draft immediately prior to the first round of the regular draft.  Any new coaches would each be able to draft one unprotected player for their team.  Since they would be getting an extra pick, they would simply not draft in the 11th round unless they trade away at least one draft pick.  Any of the non-rookie coaches in the league would be able to protect a maximum of 2 franchise players that would be unavailable to the rookie coaches in the one round expansion draft. Following the expansion draft, the draft would resume as normal.  This would mean that any new coaches would also get the next picks in the draft (because new coaches always get the first picks).  The only thing different about the draft from there on out is that you would be skipped over for any picks that you lost according to the table listed above.

Each coach will have exactly 12 hours to make his pick from the time it is posted on the draft board that he is "On the Clock."  If a coach does not make his pick within that allotted time frame, then his pick will be skipped and the draft will continue.  The coach who's pick was skipped will then be able to make his selection at anytime.

Draft Order Determined:

Here is how the draft order will be determined each year:

The top draft choices will be awarded to any new coaches admitted into the league.  If there is more than one new coach admitted, then a random drawing will be made to determine the draft order of new coaches.  The next picks will be determined by the overall records of non bowl participating teams from the previous year.  The team with the worst record will have the highest draft pick and the team with the best record will have the lowest draft pick.  Finally, the last 8 picks in the draft will be determined by the amount of money made in the previous year's bowl games.  The team that made the least amount will have the higher pick and the team that made the most money (won the National Championship) will have the last pick in the first round.

After the first round of the draft, each successive round will go in reverse order of the previous round.  In other words, the team with the last pick in the first round will have the first pick in the second round and therefore have the 20th and 21st picks in the draft.

Note  - If the draft looks like it will be incomplete prior to the regular season starting, the commissioner has the right to direct an owner to fill his lineup.

Note 2 - Trades during the draft are allowed.  You can make any trades you want during the draft as long as at least one player is involved in each trade.   All parties that are involved in the trade must contact the commissioner for the trade to go through.  You will not be charged a transaction for any trades made during the draft. 

Weekly Lineup:

Each week an SCFL Owner should attempt to field the following players:

Quarterback 1
Running Backs 2
Wide Receivers 2
Team Defense 1

Tie Breaker #1 (Top scorer on the bench)

Tie Breaker #2 (2nd best scorer on the bench)

The tiebreakers are used to break ties. In the event of a tie, the #1 tiebreaker for each team will be compared. If the tie still exists, the #2 tiebreakers will be compared. If a tie still exists after the #2 tiebreaker, all points from all roster players will be added together. If a tie still exists after that then you are stuck with a tie.

Please note that if you have only one player at a position like Q.B. on your roster and that position's team is not playing due to an open day or the player is hurt, you must either fill the position via trade or waiver or submit the player anyway and take "0" points.

You do NOT have to draft a defense or have a defense on your roster.  However, If you DO have a defense on your roster that plays during a particular week, then you have to start them.  If you do not have a defense on your roster that plays during a particular week, then you DO NOT have to start a defense.

It has been brought to my attention that there is at least one game that is being played on a Monday this college football season.  The rule of thumb is that any game that occurs Sunday through Tuesday, will be counted towards the SCFL week of the Saturday prior.  Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, (and obviously) Saturday games count towards the week that they occur. 


Weekly Lineup Submission:

You will no longer have to have your ENTIRE lineup submitted by 7:30 pm EST on Thursday nights. Under the new system, you will be able to change any of your starters right up until their game time that is listed on the league management site. So if you do have a player you wish to start that does play on a Thursday night, you will obviously have to submit them as a starter prior to their game being played that night. However, for players that don't play until Saturday, you may wait until right before their game time to declare them as your starter.

On the starting lineup submission page, you may click on the players NCAA team name (which is underlined in red) to see that player's team's schedule for the entire season. This schedule will also be reflected for the current week in the DATE/TIME column on the starting lineup submission page. HOWEVER, PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT THE ACCURACY OF THIS SCHEDULE CANNOT BE GUARANTEED. Every attempt has been made to make sure the opponent listed next to your player is accurate, but it can not be guaranteed. When Submitting your starting lineup without consulting team schedules, it is done so at your own risk.

It is the SCFL Owner's responsibility to submit his lineup every week. If the owner does not do so, the previous week's lineup will be used. If you play someone that is hurt or not playing that particular week--too bad.

It is imperative that you send the commissioner your starting lineup for at least this first week of the season.  However, if you fail to do so the commissioner will be forced to select your starting lineup and fill the necessary slots according to the order you drafted them.  If any or all of those players don't play that week, that's too bad also.

if you want to start a player that you are picking up via a transaction that you are posting on the message board (because the transactions on the Goal Line Software site have been shut down for the week) - you must:

(1) State what the transaction is (who you are dropping and who you are picking up)
(2) State which player you want to be inserted into your starting lineup
(3) State which player you want to be replaced in your starting lineup
(4) You obviously may not start a player or replace a player that has already played their game for the given week.
(5) Any starting lineup changes you make on the message board are only valid if the transaction link has been "shut down" for the week and if the starting lineup change involves a player that you have just picked up via a message board transaction. All other changes should be made directly to the website.

Because I am not at my computer 24 hours a day (surprise), it may take a while for any lineup changes you make on the message board to be made to the league website. However, your changes are official once they are submitted on the message board.


Scoring:

Official stats will be calculated using the NCAA Official Site.  If any coach disagrees with the stats found there, he must supply the commissioner with two links that prove his stance - one of which must be an Official Site of one of the two teams from the game in question.

Only players that are in your weekly lineup score for your team. Players get the following point values:

http://www.scfl.net/scoring.html

Note - Punt/Kick Returns for touchdowns do NOT go towards the team defense scoring.  Only the player that returns the punt or kick for a TD gets the points for it.  And you don't get any points for the amount of yards they returned the punt or kick--you just get the points for the TD. 


 Waivers/Trades:

When a transaction is made, the details of the transaction will be posted on the website on the TRANSACTIONS link.  The player that has been released becomes available to all other SCFL coaches ON A FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE BASIS.

Coaches may not drop a player from their roster that is still playing in their game for that particular week.  If any such transaction is made, the entire transaction will be nullified.

All transactions that take place between the end of the draft and the first roster deadline are free. 

Please note: The limit on transactions for one team throughout the season is 17.

Please note:  Four free waiver/trade requests are allowed.  If you wish to waive/pickup more players, each additional requests will cost one dollar ($1.00), payable to the Commissioner. 

Trades:  If you make a trade for a particular player, it must be after each of the players involved in the trade has finished his games for that particular week.  Your free trades get thrown into the same pool as your waiver requests.  [In other words, you are allowed a combination of 4 free trades and/or waivers].  Any trades beyond 4, the owner will be charged $1.  Owners may trade either even up or 2-for-1 for example.  The owner that gives up 2 players in exchange for 1 will obviously be one player short on his roster.  He may either choose to leave that spot on his roster blank, or he can fill that spot by picking up someone from the free agent pool.  Keep in mind that this entire scenario would cost him $2 (if he's surpassed his allotment of 4 free trades/waivers).  It would cost him $1 for the trade and $1 for the pick up of the free agent.

Draft picks for the current year or future years may be involved in trades.   However, keep in mind that if you trade future draft picks with a coach that decides not to be in the league in the future, then those draft picks would just be lost.  

If a coach trades away a pick that he doesn't end up having because of the number of franchise players he decides to keep, that coach will still have to trade that particular pick to the other coach.  However, the coach who traded the pick away will lose the next highest number pick. 
 
For example: If Coach A trades his #1 pick to Coach B and Coach A decides to keep 6 franchise players (and according to the franchise player rule lose picks 1,3,5,6,7,8), Coach B would still get Coach A's #1 pick.  Coach A would then lose his second round pick.

If a coach makes a trade offer prior to the franchise player declaration deadline that involves a draft pick that is eventually lost because of the number of franchise players kept and that offer is not accepted before the franchise player declaration date, that coach may no longer use the draft pick originally offered in the trade and must alter the terms of the trade to include a pick that the coach does still have after the franchise player deadline has passed.

If you trade away more draft picks than what you received for a particular year, then this would obviously result in you having less than 11 picks in the following year's draft.  If this is the case, and you wish to have a full 11 man roster, then you would have to wait until the draft is completely over and then sign a free agent.  These types of free agent signings will be on a first come-first serve basis. 


Roster Freeze:

 Please note: All waiver and trade transactions will be cut off at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, October 21st.


Franchise Players:

At the conclusion of each season, each coach that plans on returning to the league the next year may designate between 0 and 11 players as his Franchise Player for the following season.  You may name your franchise players anytime after the date at which college players declare their intention to enter the NFL draft.   However, you are free to change your mind and pick new franchise players anytime up until July 1st.  That is the deadline for officially declaring your franchise player.

Here is the table that will be used each year to determine what draft picks a coach will lose based on the number of franchise players he chooses to name:
 
If you keep 0......You lose nothing
If you keep 1......You lose # 10
If you keep 2......You lose # 3 , # 9
If you keep 3......You lose # 2, # 6, # 9
If you keep 4......You lose # 2, # 4, # 7, # 9
If you keep 5......You lose # 1, # 5, # 7, # 8, # 9
If you keep 6......You lose # 1, # 3, # 5, # 6, # 7, # 8
If you keep 7......You lose # 1, # 3, # 4, # 5, # 6, # 7, # 9
If you keep 8......You lose # 1, # 2, # 3, # 4, # 6, # 7, # 8, # 9
If you keep 9......You lose # 1, # 2, # 3, # 4, # 5, # 7, # 8, # 9, # 10
If you keep 10....You lose # 1, # 2, # 3, # 4, # 5, # 6, # 8, # 9, # 10, # 11
If you keep 11....You lose all picks
 
Coaches will be allowed to trade any of their players with other coaches (in exchange for draft picks or players) beginning immediately after the National Championship Game is played up until Day 1 of the Draft (approximately August 1).  However, on July 1st, you will have to declare how many franchise players (and their names) you have chosen to keep from your roster as it stands at that time and that will determine what draft choices you will lose.  After you have declared that official number, you are free to resume trading again.  If you trade future draft picks with a coach that decides not to be in the league in the future, then those draft picks would just be lost.

NOTE: If a coach that ends up leaving the league the following year trades any of his players to an opposing coach between the National Championship Game and the time he decides that he will not be in the league the following year - the players involved in that trade will be removed from the roster of the involved coach(es) and those players will be eligible to be drafted.  Players that were traded to the coach that left the league may be taken back by the coach that remains in the league.  In short, if you know that you are not going to be in the league the following year - do not trade your players to another team.

If a coach trades away a pick that he doesn't end up having because of the number of franchise players he decides to keep, that coach will still have to trade that particular pick to the other coach.  However, the coach who traded the pick away will lose the next highest number pick.  A coach may not trade away more draft picks than he has available spots on his roster prior to the franchise player deadline.  For example, a coach that has 7 eligible players for the following season on his roster may not trade any more than 4 draft picks away to opposing coaches. 
 
For example: If Coach A trades his #1 pick to Coach B and Coach A decides to keep 6 franchise players (and according to the franchise player rule lose picks 1,3,5,6,7,8), Coach B would still get Coach A's #1 pick.  Coach A would then lose his second round pick.



Entry Fee:

 The SCFL registration fee for this year is $45 per team.  The fee is due before Week #5 (no later than September 30th).  Checks can be made payable to Eric Smith and may be mailed to the following address:

Eric Smith
617 Fountain St. NE
Grand Rapids, MI  49503



"Best Interest of the Game" Clause:

Although the Commissioner's powers are limited by these rules, he may modify these rules at any time during the season. These rules changes must always be in the "Best Interest of the Game" and may be retroactive if necessary to protect the game.

Please note that this clause has been inserted to keep the game fair, manageable, and free of rules corruption.

If I have missed anything, or you are confused, please contact me, and I will fix or explain it.



Thanks,
Eric S. Smith
Eric Smith
SCFL Commissioner
(616) 667-9706
ericsmith@scfl.net

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