The 2021 Season—The Start of the League’s 3rd
Decade
The league started its 21st season again with 40 teams (37 of the 40 teams from 2020 returned for the 2021 season). New to the league was Cyclone Power (Peter Buchan, AC-Shula), Fairport White Hots (Mike Stanhope, AC-Noll), & Playground Legends (Jeff Federer, NC-Halas). Webheads (Jeff Nelson) moved from the AC-Shula to the FC-Landry prior to the expansion. Postseason formats were the same as they were for the previous season. Here is how the league looked for the beginning of the season:
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
|
Shula Division |
Owner |
|
*Bottomless Hollows |
John Woollard & Mike Baker |
|
*Elton Ridge’s Baba Ganoush |
Garrett Kerska |
|
*Baker’s Benchwarmers |
Howard Baker |
|
*Okoboji Hawkeyes |
John Baum |
|
#Cyclone Power |
Peter Buchan |
|
Noll Division |
Owner |
|
*The Waterboys |
Mark Heckathorne |
|
*Freddie’s Freeloaders |
Zach Lair |
|
*Team Schepp |
Taylor Schepp |
|
*Flying Elvi |
John Freiberg |
|
#Fairport White Hots |
Mike Stanhope |
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
|
Lombardi Division |
Owner |
|
*Transman’s Tarnishers |
|
|
*The Dementors |
Mike Baker |
|
*Untouchables |
Brian Chihak |
|
*Harmony |
Candy Peterman |
|
*Tripping Billies |
Erik Inman |
|
Halas Division |
Owner |
|
*Zumbrota Tigers |
Neal Peterman |
|
* |
Michael Feil |
|
*Chesapeake Baysiders |
Chris Ferguson |
|
*Outlawz |
James Carpenter |
|
#Playground Legends |
Jeff Lederer |
FEDERAL CONFERENCE
|
Ewbank Division |
Owner |
|
*Doug All Stars |
Doug Clymer |
|
*The Probe |
Charles Behr |
|
* |
Dave Johnson |
|
*The Minotaurs |
Jason Eckerman |
|
*Team McFly |
Marty Domek |
|
Landry Division |
Owner |
|
* |
Kris Liedtke |
|
*Friendly Otters |
Adam Guenzel |
|
*YELLOW |
Eric Walters |
|
*Sobchak Securities |
Brian Hauser |
|
@Webheads |
Jeff Nelson |
UNITED CONFERENCE
|
Brown Division |
Owner |
|
*Rotting |
Kevin Pennington |
|
*Brandt’s Bombers |
Brad Voelker |
|
*Dreddskins |
Charles & Terri Behr |
|
*SoyBean State |
Bryan Linde |
|
#Minnie Miracle |
Zane Nelson |
|
Halas Division |
Owner |
|
*Head Busas |
Levi Roberts |
|
*The Gamblers |
Kris Liedtke & Jan Deering |
|
*Cleveland Steamers |
Noah Retka & Tim Rothstein |
|
*The B Squad |
Justin Blom |
|
#Iron Squad |
Gabe Rojas |
*-returning team, #-expansion team, @-returning team that changed division
Drafts were either a combo live/online draft (Federal) while the other 3 conferences held their draft completely on-line. Each conference again had its own group of players & no trades would be made between conferences.
The regular season schedule increased to a 13 game schedule, playing each division opponent twice, playing 3 teams from the conference but outside your division once each & 2 non-conference opponents once. After week 13 went final, the playoff field was determined:
2021 Playoff Field (8 division champs, 8 wild cards)
|
Seed |
Team |
Seed |
Team |
|
1 |
Eagles (K.Liedtke) |
9 |
Steamers
(Retka/Rothstein) |
|
2 |
Flash (D.Johnson) |
10 |
Hollows (M.Baker/Woollard) |
|
3 |
Gamblers (Deering/Liedtke) |
11 |
Benchwarmers (H.Baker) |
|
4 |
Waterboys (M.Heckathorne) |
12 |
B Squad (J.Blom) |
|
5 |
SoyBean
(B.Linde) |
13 |
Miracle (Z.Nelson) |
|
6 |
SC Sharks (M.Feil) |
14 |
Billies (E.Inman) |
|
7 |
White Hots (M.Stanhope) |
15 |
Tarnishers (J.Woollard) |
|
8 |
Dementors (M.Baker) |
16 |
Stars (D.Clymer) |
Bold=Division champion
The next 16 teams were put into the 2nd chance tournament.
2021 2nd Chance Field
|
Seed |
Team |
Seed |
Team |
|
1 |
Probe (C.Behr) |
9 |
Elvi (J.Freiberg) |
|
2 |
Chihuahuas (K.Pennington) |
10 |
Legends (J.Federer) |
|
3 |
Hawkeyes (J.Baum) |
11 |
Bombers (B.Voelker) |
|
4 |
YELLOW (E.Walters) |
12 |
I Squad (G.Rojas) |
|
5 |
Freeloaders (Z.Lair) |
13 |
Cyclone (P.Buchan) |
|
6 |
Outlaws (J.Carpenter) |
14 |
Minotaurs (J.Eckerman) |
|
7 |
Webheads (J.Nelson) |
15 |
Harmony (C.Peterman) |
|
8 |
Tigers (N.Peterman) |
16 |
Dreddskins (T.Behr/C.Behr) |
Finally, the remaining 8 teams went into the Last Chance Tournament field.
2021 Last Chance Field
|
Seed |
Team |
Seed |
Team |
|
1 |
McFly (M.Domek) |
5 |
Otters (A.Guenzel) |
|
2 |
Untouchables (B.Chihak) |
6 |
Sobchak (B.Hauser) |
|
3 |
Schepp (T.Schepp) |
7 |
Busas (L.Roberts) |
|
4 |
Ganoush (G.Kerska) |
8 |
Baysiders (C.Ferguson) |
The fields were set for all 3 tourneys. None of the postseason fields saw R1 byes
since the fields were 8 or 16 teams (depending on which field you were talking
about). The
2021 Playoffs
|
Week 14 (Opening
round) |
|
|
(16) Stars 123, (1) Eagles
108 |
(2) Flash 89, (15)
Tarnishers 60 |
|
(3) Gamblers 112, (14) Billies 82 |
(4) Waterboys 125, (13)
Miracle 109 |
|
(5) SoyBean
127, (12) B Squad 110 |
(11) Benchwarmers 142,
(6) Sharks 80 |
|
(10) Hollows 124, (7)
White Hots 100 |
(8) Dementors 125, (9)
Steamers 104 |
|
Week 15 (Quarter
finals) |
|
|
(16) Stars 70, (2) Flash
52 |
(3) Gamblers 88, (11) Benchwarmers
74 |
|
(10) Hollows 95, (4)
Waterboys 70 |
(5) SoyBean
94 (31), (8) Dementors 94 (4) |
|
Week 16 (Semi finals) |
|
|
(3) Gamblers 104, (16) Stars
95 |
(5) SoyBean
129, (10) Hollows 112 |
|
Week 17 (Fantasy
Bowl XX) |
(3rd
place game) |
|
(3) Gamblers 125, (5) SoyBean 107 |
(10) Hollows 110, (16)
Stars 98 |
2021 2nd
Chance Tourney
|
Week 14 (Opening
round) |
|
|
(16) Dreddskins
88, (1) Probe 55 |
(15) Harmony 114, (2)
Chihuahuas 112 |
|
(3) Hawkeyes 118, (14) Minotaurs 108 |
(4) YELLOW 90, (13)
Cyclone 87 |
|
(5) Freeloaders 107),
(12) I Squad 102 |
(6) Outlawz 99, (11)
Bombers 77 |
|
(7) Webheads
153, (10) Legends 110 |
(8) Tigers 122, (9) Elvi
113 |
|
Week 15 (Quarter
finals) |
|
|
(3) Hawkeyes 110, (16) Dreddskins 85 |
(4) YELLOW 108, (15)
Harmony 103 |
|
(5) Freeloaders 84, (8) Tigers
70 |
(7) Webheads
103, (6) Outlawz 63 |
|
Week 16 (Semi finals) |
|
|
(7) Webheads
112, (3) Hawkeyes 93 |
(5) Freeloaders 118, (4)
YELLOW 81 |
|
Week 17
(Championship) |
(3rd
place game) |
|
(7) Webheads
101, (5) Freeloaders 84 |
(3) Hawkeyes 92, (4)
YELLOW 88 |
2021 Last Chance
Tourney
|
Week 14 (Quarter
finals) |
|
|
(1) McFly 94, (8) Baysiders 89 |
(2) Untouchables 106, (7)
Busas 52 |
|
(6) Sobchak 106, (3)
Schepp 49 |
(4) Ganoush
108, (5) Otters 94 |
|
Week 15 (Semi finals) |
|
|
(1)
McFly 99, (6) Sobchak 84 |
(2) Untouchables 80, (4) Ganoush 73 |
|
Week 16
(Championship) |
(3rd
place game) |
|
(2) Untouchables 110, (1)
McFly 65 |
(6) Sobchak 91, (4) Ganoush 55 |
The 2021 season gave the league its 13th division champion as league champ (wild card teams have won the other 8 championships) with The Gamblers coming out on top in FB XXI 125-107 (1st championship for the joint team of Jan Deering & Kris Liedtke who finished the Gamblers’ 14th season in the league). Of the playoff field, 6 of the 16 teams from the 2020 playoffs returned for 2021(B Squad, Miracle, Tarnishers, Stars, Eagles & Hollows). The other part of the Fantasy Bowl, SoyBean State, lost in their 1st FB appearance (their 4th season in the league).
Only the LCT #1 seed, Team McFly, advanced out of round 1 of their brackets (both #16 seeds in PO & 2CT advanced out of R1). The PO #16 seeded Doug All Stars made it to the F4 before losing 2 straight games & finished 4th overall. The 2CT #7 seed Webheads won their 3rd 2CT championship. The LCT #6 seed Sobchak Securities ended up making the F4 but ended up taking home 3rd place in LCT.
No further expansion was planned for the 2022 season (the league’s 22nd season).
The 2022 Season—Original SEMFFL 2001 Franchise
wins 2nd championship
The league started its 22nd season again with 40 teams (37 of the 40 teams from 2021 returned for the 2022 season). New to the league was Twisted Tea (William Bragg, NC-Halas), Fairport Panthers (Mike Stanhope, NC-Halas), & Trekkies (Danyelle Radman, UC-Walsh). Postseason formats were the same as they were for the previous season. Here is how the league looked for the beginning of the season:
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
|
Shula Division |
Owner |
|
*Bottomless Hollows |
John Woollard & Mike Baker |
|
*Elton Ridge’s Baba Ganoush |
Garrett Kerska |
|
*Baker’s Benchwarmers |
Howard Baker |
|
*Okoboji Hawkeyes |
John Baum |
|
*Cyclone Power |
Peter Buchan |
|
Noll Division |
Owner |
|
*The Waterboys |
Mark Heckathorne |
|
*Freddie’s Freeloaders |
Zach Lair |
|
*Team Schepp |
Taylor Schepp |
|
*Flying Elvi |
John Freiberg |
|
*Fairport White Hots |
Mike Stanhope |
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
|
Lombardi Division |
Owner |
|
*Transman’s Tarnishers |
|
|
*The Dementors |
Mike Baker |
|
*Untouchables |
Brian Chihak |
|
*Harmony |
Candy Peterman |
|
*Tripping Billies |
Erik Inman |
|
Halas Division |
Owner |
|
*Zumbrota Tigers |
Neal Peterman |
|
* |
Michael Feil |
|
*Chesapeake Baysiders |
Chris Ferguson |
|
#Twisted Tea |
William Bragg |
|
#Fairport Panthers |
Mike Stanhope |
FEDERAL CONFERENCE
|
Ewbank Division |
Owner |
|
*Doug All Stars |
Doug Clymer |
|
*The Probe |
Charles Behr |
|
* |
Dave Johnson |
|
*The Minotaurs |
Jason Eckerman |
|
*Team McFly |
Marty Domek |
|
Landry Division |
Owner |
|
* |
Kris Liedtke |
|
*Friendly Otters |
Adam Guenzel |
|
*YELLOW |
Eric Walters |
|
*Sobchak Securities |
Brian Hauser |
|
*Webheads |
Jeff Nelson |
UNITED CONFERENCE
|
Brown Division |
Owner |
|
*Rotting |
Kevin Pennington |
|
*Brandt’s Bombers |
Brad Voelker |
|
*Dreddskins |
Charles & Terri Behr |
|
*SoyBean State |
Bryan Linde |
|
*Minnie Miracle |
Zane Nelson |
|
Halas Division |
Owner |
|
*Head Busas |
Levi Roberts |
|
*The Gamblers |
Kris Liedtke & Jan Deering |
|
*Cleveland Steamers |
Noah Retka & Tim Rothstein |
|
*The B Squad |
Justin Blom |
|
#Trekkies |
Danyelle Radman |
*-returning team, #-expansion team
Drafts were all online drafts. Each conference again had its own group of players & no trades would be made between conferences.
The regular season schedule increased to a 13 game schedule, playing each division opponent twice, playing 3 teams from the conference but outside your division once each & 2 non-conference opponents once. After week 13 went final, the playoff field was determined:
2022 Playoff Field (8 division champs, 8 wild cards)
|
Seed |
Team |
Seed |
Team |
|
1 |
Untouchables (Brian Chihak) |
9 |
Cyclone (Peter Buchan) |
|
2 |
Steamers (N.Retka/T.Rothstein) |
10 |
Bombers (Brad Voelker) |
|
3 |
Freeloaders (Zach
Lair) |
11 |
SoyBean (Bryan Linde) |
|
4 |
Elvi (John Freiberg) |
12 |
Webheads (Jeff Nelson) |
|
5 |
Schepp (Taylor
Schepp) |
13 |
Busas (Levi
Roberts) |
|
6 |
Tarnishers (John
Woollard) |
14 |
Baysiders
(Chris Ferguson) |
|
7 |
YELLOW (Eric Walters) |
15 |
Panthers (Mike
Stanhope) |
|
8 |
Probe (Charles Behr) |
16 |
Hawkeyes (John
Baum) |
Bold=Division champion
The next 16 teams were put into the 2nd chance tournament.
2022 2nd Chance Field
|
Seed |
Team |
Seed |
Team |
|
1 |
Sobchak (Brian
Hauser) |
9 |
Minotaurs (Jason Eckerman) |
|
2 |
Gamblers (J.Deering/K.Liedtke) |
10 |
Waterboys (Mark
Heckathorne) |
|
3 |
Flash (David
Johnson) |
11 |
Eagles (Kris Liedtke) |
|
4 |
Harmony (Candy
Peterman) |
12 |
Dreddskins (T.Behr/C.Behr) |
|
5 |
Miracle (Zane
Nelson) |
13 |
McFly (Marty
Domek) |
|
6 |
Sharks (Michael
Feil) |
14 |
B Squad (Justin Blom) |
|
7 |
Hollows (J.Woollard/M.Baker) |
15 |
Tigers (Neal
Peterman) |
|
8 |
Dementors (Mike
Baker) |
16 |
Billies (Erik Inman) |
Finally, the remaining 8 teams went into the Last Chance Tournament field.
2022 Last Chance Field
|
Seed |
Team |
Seed |
Team |
|
1 |
Stars (Doug Clymer) |
5 |
Chihuahuas (Kevin
Pennington) |
|
2 |
Twisted (William
Bragg) |
6 |
Otters (Adam
Guenzel) |
|
3 |
White Hots (Mike
Stanhope) |
7 |
Ganoush (Garrett Kerska) |
|
4 |
Trekkies
(Danyelle Radman) |
8 |
Benchwarmers (Howard
Baker) |
The fields were set for all 3 tourneys. None of the postseason fields saw R1 byes
since the fields were 8 or 16 teams (depending on which field you were talking
about). The
2022 Playoffs
|
Week 14 (Opening
round) |
|
|
(8) Probe 109, (9)
Cyclone 63 |
(1) Untouchables 119,
(16) Hawkeyes 78 |
|
(7) YELLOW 110,
(10) Bombers 84 |
(2) Steamers
103, (15) Panthers 98 |
|
(6) Tarnishers 87(41) , (11) SoyBean 87(24) |
(3) Freeloaders 113, (14)
Baysiders 76 |
|
(5) Schepp 111,
(12) Webheads 51 |
(4) Elvi 100,
(13) Busas 81 |
|
Week 15 (Quarter
finals) |
|
|
(8) Probe 113,
(1) Untouchables 88 |
(2) Steamers
104, (7) YELLOW 64 |
|
(3) Freeloaders 120, (6)
Tarnishers 95 |
(4) Elvi 115,
(5) Schepp 93 |
|
Week 16 (Semi finals) |
|
|
(8) Probe 108,
(2) Steamers 98 |
(4) Elvi 102,
(3) Freeloaders 97 |
|
Week 17 (Fantasy
Bowl XXI) |
(3rd
place game) |
|
(8) Probe 75,
(4) Elvi 58 |
(3) Freeloaders
84, (2) Steamers 82 |
2022 2nd
Chance Tourney
|
Week 14 (Opening
round) |
|
|
(16) Billies 106, (1) Sobchak 101 |
(2) Gamblers
106, (15) Tigers 90 |
|
(13) McFly 106,
(4) Harmony 92 |
(3) Flash 126,
(14) B Squad 98 |
|
(10) W’boys 99, (7) Hollows 80 |
(5) Miracle 101,
(12) D’skins 97 |
|
(8) Dementors
103, (9) Minotaurs 92 |
(6) Sharks 91,
(11) Eagles 86 |
|
Week 15 (Quarter
finals) |
|
|
(2) Gamblers
114, (16) Billies 113 |
(3) Flash 118,
(13) McFly 102 |
|
(5) Miracle 131,
(10) W’boys 100 |
(8) Dementors 109(26),
(6) Sharks 109(24) |
|
Week 16 (Semi finals) |
|
|
(8) Dementors
120, (2) Gamblers 97 |
(5) Miracle 107,
(3) Flash 79 |
|
Week 17
(Championship) |
(3rd
place game) |
|
(8) Dementors 87, (5)
Miracle 66 |
(2) Gamblers 86, (3)
Flash 57 |
2022 Last Chance
Tourney
|
Week 14 (Quarter
finals) |
|
|
(6) Otters 109,
(3) White Hots 91 |
(1) Stars 105,
(8) B’warmers 82 |
|
(4) Trekkies
104, (5) Chihuahuas 88 |
(7) Ganoush 106, (2) Twisted 97 |
|
Week 15 (Semi finals) |
|
|
(7) Ganoush 92, (4) Trekkies 80 |
(1) Stars 113,
(6) Otters 94 |
|
Week 16
(Championship) |
(3rd
place game) |
|
(1) Stars 90,
(7) Ganoush 77 |
(6) Otters 132, (4)
Trekkies 84 |
The 2022 season gave the league its 14th division champion as league champ (wild card teams have won the other 8 championships) with The Probe coming out on top in FB XXII 75-58 (2nd championship for Charles Behr—1st title was in 2002). Of the playoff field, 2 of the 16 teams from the 2021 playoffs returned for 2022 (Steamers & SoyBean). The other part of the Fantasy Bowl, Flying Elvi, lost in their 1st FB appearance (their 5th season in the league).
PO top 8 seeds all advanced to R2 (first time I can recall in recent years). 2CT saw #1, #4 & #7 seeds all get defeated in R1. LCT saw #2 & #3 get defeated in R1. Both #8 seeds from PO (Probe) & 2CT (Dementors) won their bracket while #1 from LCT (Stars) were the only #1 to advance beyond 2 rounds of their bracket. #16 from 2CT (Billies) advanced to R2 while #7 from LCT (Ganoush) advanced to the finals.
No further expansion was planned for the 2023 season (the league’s 23rd season).