Playoff leagues add to your experience

Fantasy football is all about maximizing the enjoyment of every game. They’re too precious to waste. The NFL season is the quickest 17 weeks known to man.

We’re already thinking of 2006 with our assessment of the typical first round of most fantasy drafts next September. But there are four more weeks of football left. Getting your buddies together right after the holidays to draft players on NFL playoff teams is not realistic because, as short as the season appears to us, it’s apparently much longer for wives/girlfriends.

But what if you could add this extra layer of nail-biting excitement to the season’s biggest games without investing significant time in drafting and managing a league?

Head-to-head leagues are out because there just aren’t enough games. You have to cumulatively score through the Super Bowl before crowning your fantasy playoff champion.

Forget a draft and use a “universe league” format where owners use any player any week but only once. Universe league formats can also easily accommodate a large number of teams.

Now that you can have a large playoff fantasy league, you need an online stats service to manage it. These services allow every owner to submit his or her lineup over the Internet without bugging you. And they relieve you of the burden of compiling stats and figuring out the standings each week. And it’s not only not pricey, but free.

Myfantasyleague.com will allow you to have up to 64 owners in a playoff league it will track and score for you at no charge. You also get live, in-game scoring and the site does not allow any owner to roster a player/defense twice. You still need a commissioner to set up the league homepage and enter in the e-mail addresses of league owners so they can set their rosters each week.

Now you want to know how to win? Trust the oddsmakers and save the Colts or Seahawks for the Super Bowl. Never expect an underdog to win. Focus on great players on road teams each week and hope for them to lose in a shootout.

Now, our quick thought on the likely 2006 Fantasy Top 10 (in no particular order).

Buy

Larry Johnson (RB, Chiefs): Total NFL and fantasy domination. The hands-down 2006 No. 1 pick and best argument for auction leagues.

Clinton Portis (RB, Redskins): Answered the skeptics by leading Washington to the postseason (five straight 100-yard games, six TDs).

Carnell Williams (RB, Bucs): A solid late-round pick next September with improvement expected with new offensive linemen and the continuing development of QB Chris Simms.

Hold

Edgerrin James (RB, Colts): Will Indy again find the cap room? Will Edge hold out? If removed from that perfect environment, he’ll be just another running back.

LaDainian Tomlinson (RB, Chargers): The wear-and-tear and nagging injuries are troublesome, but not as much as Drew Brees’ torn labrum and lengthy rehab.

Shaun Alexander (RB, Seahawks): Seattle is contractually barred from sticking him with the franchise tag again. His 2005 becomes far less relevant if he’s signed by a new team.

Sell

Peyton Manning (QB, Colts): Never, ever draft a QB in the first round. Challenge yourself to find next year’s Carson Palmer much later.

Tiki Barber (RB, Giants): Barber couldn’t possibly be any more productive even if he wasn’t turning 31 in April.

Steve Smith (WR, Panthers): Just because someone has to be the No. 1 receiver doesn’t mean you have to take him. There are about 10 other guys who can be just as productive.