android version 2.9 effective 03Oct2025.

iOS version 1.12.4 effective 16Oct2025.

Insure the latest version is installed (it can be confusing on both platforms to keep apps updated).

• 03Nov2025: Due to a family emergency please allow for extended time for replies to issues and inquiries.
• 12Nov2025: There is an issue with importing Reality Sports Online leagues in the iOS version (android working). Attempting to troubleshoot but due to the family emergency this may not be resolved soon.
• 31Oct2025 android: There may be a random issue with calculations for Median scoring leagues that occurs after a non-median league is analyzed. If encountered, closing the App and reopening to do calculations for Median scoring leagues seems to work.
• android: Locating the PDF report is frequently asked about. The default location is Internal storage -> documents -> playoff_computer but this may vary depending on device. Apparently some older devices may not have an Internal storage folder, and a PDF report is not available for those devices.
• Median Scoring Rules: Leagues that utilize Median scoring are now supported with the restrictions and limitations listed below. Due to the extreme complexity of calculations involving Median scoring rules, there will likely be a continual improvement process through the 2025 fantasy football season to further refine the calculations, particularly the “paths-to-clinch”.

There are two access levels, Basic and Premium. The App upon installation includes the Basic Level. The Premium Level is available on an annual subscription basis for about the price of a beer. It is recommended to verify that basic functionality for the desired league(s) can be accomplished before upgrading to the Premium Level as there may be a complex league set-up that is not compatible (please advise if that occurs).

Features in ALL Levels

• Data transfer from popular fantasy sports hosting sites such as ESPN, Yahoo, MyFantasy, Sleeper, Fleaflicker, NFL Fantasy, Reality Sports Online, Fantrax**, and Fantasy Premier League* (iOS – “Draft” leagues only). Additionally, data transfer from a Google Sheets spreadsheet template available HERE for other leagues. This spreadsheet takes a little bit of time to initially set-up but only a few minutes to update each week/round (advanced users can automate this for many leagues). More instructions for using this option are below in the TMI section. (* See below for important info regarding FPL; ** See below for important info regarding Fantrax)
• For some hosting sites, playoff race details such as number of playoff teams, tiebreakers, when the playoffs start, etc. are automatically transferred. For others some details may need to be manually input.
• Accepts multiple-division leagues and even multiple-conferences (My Fantasy, Sheets).
• Customizable set-up allows many options for analysis.
• Popular tiebreakers can be included in calculations, such as: Head-To-Head (several options that should cover varying hosting site rules), Division Record, Conference Record, Points, Points-Against-High (schedule toughness), All-Play, and Points/Goals Difference.
• Can utilize “Best-in-Division” (e.g. My Fantasy, Fleaflicker) methods as desired.
• Customizable sorting of analysis results display.
• The android version allows all users to import data from several popular professional leagues (premium feature on iOS).
• The android version allows all users to create their own “what-if” scenarios (premium feature on iOS).

Calculations in BASIC Level

• Approximate odds for each team to win their division and/or to make the playoffs.

Calculations and Additional Features in PREMIUM Level

• The famous “paths-to-clinch” which provides NFL-style listings of what needs to happen in upcoming games for teams to clinch a division and/or playoff spot (e.g. “Bananas clinch a playoff spot with a win and a Dragons loss”).
• Can utilize Median scoring rules as desired (see below for more info including important requirements and limitations).
• Clinched / Eliminated status info for each team for division and/or playoff spots.
• Increased-accuracy odds.
• Minimum number of wins/points each team would need to have any chance.
• Projected targets for each team to aim for to make the playoffs and/or win division.
• The number of wins/points each team needs to guarantee making the playoffs.
• Whether or not a team must win out to have any chance.
• Whether or not a team controls their own destiny.
• PDF reports for printing or sharing the intel with the league.
• “What-If” generation to see what the picture would look like with user-created scenarios (available at all levels in android version).
• Data import from the NFL, Premier League, AFL, WNBA, J1, La Liga, Chinese Super, Australian Rugby, and other Professional sports leagues (available at all levels in android version).

In order to function as intended, a league must:

• Play head-to-head games, where each game either results in a win, loss, or tie for the teams, or for “points-based” leagues (e.g. soccer) each game results in “league-points” as a result of a win, loss, or tie. Median scoring rules are supported, see below for more info for additional requirements and limitations that apply to those types of leagues.
• Determine all playoff spots firstly by either overall winning percentage or by “league points” (e.g. soccer). For leagues that award an additional spot to the leftover highest-scoring team, the App can only calculate the wildcard spots available by record or “league points”. FWIW this shouldn’t diminish the enjoyment of the App as generally speaking this additional spot is so in flux in most leagues that it doesn’t matter if it is not included in the calculations.
• Leagues that play double-header schedules are accommodated but note that depending on league size and various other factors for the situation at the time of analysis, the “paths-to-clinch” report may become fairly complicated or almost indecipherable and the mathematical accuracy of some calculations may be impaired. Additionally, such double-header schedules in leagues larger than 16 teams are likely to experience difficulties during calculations depending on the exact scenario presented at the time of analysis, which is difficult to quantify ahead of time.
• Have all teams play the same number of games.
• Leagues that play uneven schedules (e.g. not the same number of games per week/round) are accommodated as long as each team plays the same number of games for the season, with the same possible impacts as described above depending on the specific circumstances.
• Single conference leagues with more than 32 teams or multi-conference leagues with more than 16 teams per conference are likely to experience difficulties during calculations depending on the exact scenario presented at the time of analysis, which is difficult to quantify ahead of time.

There is a reason this type of App exists nowhere else. The formulas, methods, and processes used are both unorthodox and complicated in order to achieve the desired results. The App requires a tremendous amount of computing resources from a user’s device for sometimes an extended amount of time. It is completely the user’s responsibility and their discretion as to whether to subject their device to this type of use. Additionally, for maximum ease of use with fantasy sports leagues or with Professional Leagues the App requires access to league data through a fantasy sports hosting site’s API or a third party data provider (for Professional Leagues). There is no implied warranty, statement, or promise that access to any particular fantasy hosting site or other data provider will continue for any amount of time. The relevant fantasy hosting sites completely control their own APIs and they may make modifications or change access policies at any time that would cause the App’s ability to gather data from them to cease temporarily or, if a remedy is not possible, permanently. As such, it is completely at the user’s risk to use this App with a particular fantasy sports hosting site.

Note that with the almost infinite amount of league settings and options ranging from the numerous hosting sites the App can get data from, to different sports, to league size, to division and even conference options, to tiebreakers, all of which may alter the formatting of the data as accessed through the hosting sites, it is a virtual certainty that some particular league set-up hasn’t been tested yet and will cause unforeseen issues when attempting to import data or when performing calculations. If that happens, kindly report via email (apps(@at)zelapeak.com) for good karma to your fantasy teams and it will be investigated as soon as possible.

Commercial use: Use of the App for commercial use, such as providing content creation on professional leagues, is authorized provided the Playoff Computer App is referenced.

See complete Terms of Use HERE

From the Home page, the following options are available:

• Import: Select to import league data from the various sources available.
• Update Access Level: Use this after upgrading, if desired, to the Premium Level for the App to recognize the change in Access Level (iOS – not required).
• Get Premium Access: This opens up a window to purchase the Premium Level annual subscription. Before doing so it is recommended to test the data import and basic calculations with your league(s) to make sure they are accomplished satisfactorily.

To import data from a fantasy or professional league, follow these steps (note that some only apply to specific data sources):

• Insure hosting site privacy settings allow data to be read (ESPN, MyFantasy, perhaps others). For ESPN the league setting ‘..viewable to public’ must be ‘yes’. For MyFantasy the league setting ‘..league reports private..’ must be ‘no’.
• Select Import Source: Choose between the available fantasy sports hosting sites, the companion Google Sheets template, or even the Test data. All android users and iOS Premium users can also select “Professional Leagues”. Currently the National Football League (NFL), European League of Football (ELF), English Premier League (EPL), Australian Football League (AFL and AFLW), Australian Nation Rugby League (NRL), Brazilian Serie A, Chinese Super League (CSL), Dutch Eridivise, Hong Kong Premier League (HKPL), German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, Japanese J1 League, Spanish La Liga, and the WNBA are accessible (requests for others accepted). The various leagues will show up in the League ID section described below.
• Choose Sport (ESPN, Fleaflicker): Select the relevant sport for the league.
• MFL URL Prefix (MyFantasy only): Input the two-digit number that follows “www” when the league is displayed on the web.
• Standard or Draft league (FPL only): Select the FPL type of league, standard or “fantasy draft” (iOS – “draft” league only).
• League ID: Input the League ID. For most hosting sites this is a 4-10 digit number. For some it is more complex (and longer). For Google Sheets data import, see below for full details. For Professional Leagues, choose the desired league among those shown.
• To help with ease-of-use, once a League ID is input, it can be saved as either “#1” or “#2” and then inserted from memory as needed in the future (iOS – one league ID can be saved).
• Select League Year (ESPN, MyFantasy, Fleaflicker, Professional): Select the league year. For leagues that traverse two calendar years this is usually the year in which the season began.
• Enter Current Week (MyFantasy, Sleeper, NFL Fantasy, FPL, Fantrax, some Professional): Input the current upcoming (un-played) week of the season.
• Enter Last Week of Season (MyFantasy only): Enter the number of weeks in the regular season (e.g. usually 13-15 for ff).
• Display Team Name or Abbreviation (ESPN, MyFantasy, Fleaflicker, Fantrax, Professional): Choose whether the display results and paths-to-clinch reports (if applicable) should use team names or abbreviations/initials. The reports are much cleaner with abbreviations but only if they are easily identifiable (e.g. leagues that use NFL names/abbreviations). Note most of the Professional League sources do not have abbreviations available.
• Click on the Import League button. Depending on hosting site, sport, and current point of season, the time necessary may range from a few seconds to a minute or two.
• The league data will be imported into the App. IMPORTANT: Depending on hosting site and options chosen for the particular league within the hosting site, tiebreakers that are used by the league to sort teams may or may not be automatically included in the data. Please doublecheck the tiebreakers shown are accurate for the league and change them if they are not (see next section). Additionally, again depending on hosting site, the number of wildcard spots shown for calculations may or may not be transferred. If they are not accurate see the Analysis Options section to change.

Once league data has been imported into the App, the Team Info section will be the main source of data for each team. See the Analysis Results sections below for full details.

The Edit Team Info section can be used to add/edit some team details/records as necessary (e.g. if using Fantrax whose API does not supply details outside of W-L records). Pro-tip: Edit the often long and colorful team names to a more standardized format to make the Paths-to-Clinch reports more readable.

The Remaining Game section will list upcoming games. Note that options to do “what-ifs” and delete/move games are not compatible with leagues utilizing Median scoring.

The Focus feature previously found in the Calculation Options section has been moved to the Remaining Games section, with several improvements.

A “What-If” feature is available for all android access levels and for Premium users on iOS. This serves a couple of purposes: 1) To allow users to see what the picture would look like with user-generated scenarios, and 2) To perform mid-week updates, for example after the Sunday games in fantasy football where some teams may have already definitively won their matches.

NOTE: Before using any of the “what-if” features, ensure the Calculation Options are all correct for the league.

NOTE: The “what-if” feature is processed differently in android and iOS versions. In the android version any pre-selected game is moved into the “past” and team records are instantly changed accordingly as if the game has already been played. As such, one game must be left unselected, preferably in the upcoming round. In the iOS version the game remains in the “future”, so to speak, and all games can be assigned winners.

To manually pre-select “winners” of remaining games, click on individual teams to pre-select them as “winners” (the color of their name will change to green). If the possibility of tie games exists, clicking the same team again will pre-select the game as tie. To undo, click the same team once again.

Additionally, the Focus feature allows mass changes as desired to create good or bad scenarios for a specific team. This can be handy for larger leagues (including pro leagues) to verify determinations and paths when there are a large number of remaining games and the program has to implement randomization methods.

• To use, select a team via “Focus on Specific Team.”
• Ensure the Calculation Settings, particularly the Points-Based League, Consider Tie Games, and Points For Win/Tie (if points-based league) options are all correct and as desired.
• Choose between “Methods” 1, 2, or 3. Method 1 will be similar to the old Focus option and will only apply selections to games involving the specific team. Methods 2 and 3 will apply an increasing amount of calculated logic on games to affect the outcome of the specific team. These methods work best in Table/non-division leagues. As every league and every scenario is unique, the logic employed need manual adjustment to produce the intended results. Method 3 will make selections for every game. Note that in the android version, one game needs to remain unselected.
• For “Ignore X Number of Games”, if the goal is to verify the specific team’s clinched/eliminated determinations when there are many remaining games and the program has to employ some randomization into its calculations, select 0 (or 1 in android). If the goal is to verify the specific team’s paths-to-clinch when there are many remaining games, select the number of games in the upcoming round (e.g. for a standard 12-team ff league, there are six games in each round).
• Choose between creating a worst or best case scenario for the specified team.
• In the android version, the remaining game list will also display the wins (or league points) for each respective teams as a result of the pre-selections. This can be used to fine-tune the selections to attempt to show the focused team still has a chance to clinch a spot or be eliminated, if necessary.
• Click Analyze to see the results.
• In the iOS version, if all games were pre-selected, the Team Info section will show a column “ProjW” displaying how many wins (or league points) each team would end up with in the scenario generated. This can be used to fine-tune the selections to attempt to show the focused team still has a chance to clinch a spot or be eliminated, if necessary.
• It is recommended to use the Clear Pre-selections button prior to making any changes to the process described above.
• Use the Show All Games button to see and adjust the entire remaining schedule.

For Premium users, after Analysis an additional display is available that will show “relevant” games. This will list games that were actually relevant to the calculations. For example, if a remaining game involves two teams that are easily identifiable as both being eliminated through simple “magic number” methods, that game will not be listed as relevant. TMI note: This allows for increased accuracy with a larger number of remaining games.

Options are available to delete or move remaining games. These should not be routinely needed, but may be necessary if importing one of the professional leagues as on occasion a postponed game may appear twice or appear first when it has not been rescheduled. To use, select the option to allow games to be deleted/moved, then click on the red button between the opponents for the game to deleted a game, or the Move button to move the game to the bottom of the list. Note: Do not move a “pre-selected winner” game, undo the pre-selection first. When done, turn the option off to avoid inadvertently deleting/moving a game when doing “what-ifs”.

The iOS version shows a listing of recently completed games for reference.

Note the presentation of the Tiebreaker sections and options in the App varies significantly between the android and iOS versions, but the overall functionality is the same.

The iOS version will show which tiebreakers, if any, were automatically imported from the applicable league source at the top of the screen after import, as well as show which tiebreakers will be applied in Calculations above the Analyze button. The android version will show applicable tiebreaker information when the Tiebreaker Info section is opened.

Both versions allow user-selected tiebreakers to be saved for future use (e.g. if the league hosting site API does not provide tiebreaker info during the Import process). The exact location of the Save and Load functions varies between the android and iOS versions.

Note in the android version this is a sub-section of the Tiebreaker Info section.

If the tiebreakers shown as from the Import Process do not match the league rules, they can be manually selected. The process to do so varies between the android and iOS versions, as follows:

android:

• If the league is multi-division, division tiebreakers must be set first. If the league is not multi-division, the following step can be skipped.
• If the division tiebreakers shown in the Tiebreaker Info section are correct, select “Skip” and proceed to the next instruction. Otherwise, select, in order of priority, the appropriate tiebreakers from the list presented. Once a tiebreaker is selected, it will appear in the “Div tiebreakers selected” list. If a mistake is made, click the “Clear” button to start over. Once all the division tiebreakers have been selected, click the “Done” button. Note that a tiebreaker “FORCE” will always be added to the division tiebreaker list, it is necessary for division calculations.
• If the wildcard tiebreakers shown in the Tiebreaker Info section are correct, click the “Skip” button and the process is completed. Otherwise, select, in order of priority, the appropriate tiebreakers from the list presented. See the Tiebreakers section below for explanations if needed. For leagues that award wildcard spots using an NFL-style “best-in-division” method (e.g. MyFantasy, Fleaflicker), firstly choose the “BID..” tiebreakers that determine which team among those tied in a division will be the “best-in-division” representative, then select the tiebreakers that are used to determine the actual wildcard spot among those “best-in-division” teams. For example, if a league sorts division standings by head-to-head, division record, and points, and sorts wildcard spots by head-to-head and points (no division record), then the proper order for wildcard tiebreakers would be “BIDH2H..”, “BIDDIVRECORD”, “BIDPOINTS”, “H2H..”, “POINTS”. Once a tiebreaker is selected, it will appear in the “Wild tiebreakers selected” list. If a mistake is made, click the “Clear” button to start over. Once all the wildcard tiebreakers have been selected, click the “Done” button.
• If desired, save the selected tiebreakers for future use.

iOS:

• Reference the instructions above for the general theme of the process. Select the division (if applicable) and wildcard tiebreakers in order. Note for multi-division leagues, BOTH the division and wildcard selections must be chosen, even if only one is needing to be changed. Once the selections have been made, if desired click the appropriate “Save” button to reference the selection in the future, then click the “Set Selections” button. If an error is made, click the “Reset” button.

The following settings and options are available to be used in the Calculation process (note the order as displayed varies between the android and iOS versions). Note that many of these are not applicable to or compatible with Median scoring leagues:

• Points League? Select Yes if the league standings are sorted by league-points (e.g. soccer type rules). Additional options will appear to select the amount of league-points awarded per win and tie.
• Consider tie games? If the possibility of a tie-game should be considered in the calculations, select Yes. Note that because this would equate to 3 possibilities for each game to work through, rather than 2, and the formula for the number of possible remaining scenarios is (possible outcomes of each game) ^ (number of remaining games), the difference in the number of possible remaining scenarios that the App would have to work through is vastly increased when tie games have to be considered. For example, given 8 remaining games, without ties being considered there are 256 remaining scenarios, with ties being considered as a possibility there are 6,561 remaining scenarios. Thus the limit to the number of games remaining before the App has to include randomization methods is reduced when this option is selected and the number of games per week/round that can be accommodated is reduced. Additionally, note that the “paths-to-clinch” reports (Premium Level) may be basically unreadable for something that usually has a low probability of occurrence. It is suggested to not select this option for the majority of fantasy leagues where a tie game is only a remote possibility, and even if tie games are a distinct possibility to only select this option for the last week of the season. For analysis of professional soccer leagues, where tie games are very common, it is suggested to turn this option on, but note the above limitations when doing so.
• Div. winners automatically in playoffs (multi-division leagues only). Usually Yes for multi-division leagues. If division winners are not automatically granted a playoff berth, select No and the league for this App’s purpose will be considered as a non-division league. If this is the case, insure the number of wildcard spots to be used in calculations (see below) accurately reflect the total number of playoff spots.
• Wildcard spots: For some hosting sites, this number will be automatically transferred from the league data. If not, select the appropriate number of wildcard spots. For non-division leagues this is the total number of playoff spots. For most multi-division leagues, this is the number of wildcard spots only. For example, in a two-division league with a playoff field of 6 teams and the division winners automatically getting a playoff spot, this number would be 4 (total playoff spots – divisions). For multi-conference leagues, the numbers refer to “per conference”.
• Points Buffer: For leagues that utilize points-based tiebreakers (the most common tiebreaker), since points is a “non-firm” tiebreaker that does not directly correlate to to winning and losing (e.g. Team A could beat Team B 60-50 while Team C could beat Team D 120-100, as such Team D despite losing their game actually gained points on Team A, and vice versa), there is no perfect method for the App to calculate which teams would win a points tiebreaker against any others before the season is over. The best possible method for the App’s purposes is to assume that a team with a large “points-lead” over another would be safe from being overtaken by that second team. As such, use the Points Buffer to select a reasonable number of points that any one team behind another team would not be able to overcome before the season ends. A rough formula to determine a reasonable number would be is (number of weeks remaining) X (difference between a high and low weekly score). For example, in a typical ff league where a good score is 150 and a bad score is 75, with three weeks remaining a reasonable number would be 225 (3 weeks X 75). This can be adjusted as one sees fit. A higher number may be more technically accurate as far as teams that could still miracle a points comeback won’t be considered eliminated but it also results in the analysis results showing more chances that teams will end up in a tie for a spot that cannot be determined by the App at the current time.
• Manual paths number (Premium Level): If the league doesn’t play a set one game per team per week/round schedule (e.g. doubleheaders, byes), or “paths-to-clinch” for the next X amount of games are desired (e.g. midweek update), choose the number of upcoming games to calculate “paths” for. Note that depending on league size and complexity of the scenarios presented, this can greatly increase the length of time to process calculations and make the listings very long and complicated to decipher. It is also probable, depending on length of team names and the complexity of the scenarios, that the “paths” display will be limited in scope (see below). Note there is an upper limit to this setting and it is impossible to test this option with every complicated scenario that might be incurred, it is possible other adverse effects may be encountered.
• Use Median Scoring? (Premium Level): For leagues that meet the requirements (see below for more info), this option will apply Median scoring rules to the calculations. The use of such will cause other options to be unavailable and/or not compatible with Median scoring calculations.
• Show path-to-tie? (Premium Level): Due to the complexities of Median scoring in conjunction with leagues that utilize a points-related tiebreaker, depending on the situation presented at time of analysis, it may be helpful to turn this option off prior to the last week of the season as there may be so many different “paths-to-tie” (along with the many “paths-to-clinch”) that it is not worth the extra time required to process them.
• Do Deep Analysis? (Premium Level): Note in the iOS version this option is required to display “paths-to-clinch”. If there are a large number of remaining games left in the schedule, this option will increase the accuracy of the results when randomization methods had to be employed.
• Focus on Team (Premium Level): The following applies to the android version only, the Focus feature has been moved (and improved) to the Remaining Games section in the iOS version. Available when there are many remaining games and Deep Analysis above is selected. This option further analyzes the paths of one specific team as it performs calculations in which the focused team would lose every remaining game after the upcoming round. As such, the paths accuracy is greatly improved but sill dependent on the number of remaining games. The odds displayed will reflect the chances of this team were they to lose every subsequent game, and the other information will be inaccurate.
• Quick Calculations (Premium Level): If only a quick estimation of odds is needed (i.e. early in the season), select this option.

Note that depending on version some of the above fields may become highlighted with certain settings. This may indicate a problem (e.g. compatibility with Median scoring rules) or serves as a visual reminder to doublecheck these settings when doing multiple calculations (e.g. for different leagues).

Once the league data has been imported, the tiebreakers to be used are correct, and the other options are set as desired, click on the Analyze button. A progress bar will be displayed to indicate the calculations are ongoing. Time necessary to complete analysis is dependent on many factors, such as the league size, number of remaining games, amount and type of tiebreakers used, how many teams are in the playoff race, number of divisions, point in the season, how complex the playoff race is shaping up to be, the number of teams that have a chance at clinching a spot in the upcoming week/round, and whether the Deep Analysis options was selected. Note that in the android version, once the analysis process has been started, it can be stopped by clicking the Home button, and then canceling the ongoing process, if the process hasn’t advanced to the “paths-to-clinch” computing stage. After this point, the analysis process can only be stopped by closing the App. In the iOS version, clicking the Home button will cancel the ongoing process if it hasn’t advanced to computing “Paths-to-Clinch”. It may take a few moments for the program to stop the ongoing calculations.

Approximate odds for each team to win their division (if applicable) and to get a playoff spot will be shown. The playoff odds may (depending on tiebreakers used) be split into two parts: “C” indicates the odds of a team securing a spot either through a better record than the other teams or by winning a tiebreaker against other teams if that can be determined at the present time; “T” indicates the odds of a team being in a tiebreaker situation for a spot whose winner cannot be determined at the present time (usually due to a points related tiebreaker).

In the android version the league table can be sorted by ID, divisions (if applicable), or by wins if desired by clicking on the appropriate column header. The iOS version offers sorting by wins or divisions.

Note some data may require the device to be at ‘landscape’ orientation and/or have a larger screen size to be shown. References may vary slightly between the android and iOS versions.

Division and/or Playoff Status:

• “Clinched” = The team has clinched a division or playoff spot.
• “Poss. Clinched” = The team has at least realistically clinched a division or playoff spot, but due to many remaining games the App is unable to conclusively rule out a billion-to-one catastrophe. See the Pro-Tips section for ways to further investigate.
• “Eliminated” = The team has been eliminated from division or playoff contention.
• “Poss. Eliminated” = The team has at least realistically been eliminated from division or playoff contention, but due to many remaining games the App is unable to conclusively rule out a billion-to-one miracle. See the Pro-Tips section for ways to further investigate.
• “C:__% T:__%” = The odds of a team getting a division or playoff spot. “C” indicates the odds of a team securing a spot either through a better record than the other teams or by winning a tiebreaker against other teams if that can be determined at the present time; “T” indicates the odds of a team being in a tiebreaker situation for a spot whose winner cannot be determined at the present time (usually due to a points related tiebreaker). A trailing asterisk indicates that the team can do no worse than end up in a tiebreak situation that is yet to be resolved (usually points).

Additional geeky data:

• “MinIn” = The minimum number of wins or league points needed to have any mathematical chance at a playoff spot, or if randomization methods had to be employed that would give miniscule hope at a playoff spot.
• “GurIn” = The number of wins or league points that if achieved would guarantee a playoff spot regardless of what else happens, or if randomization methods had to be employed that would very likely result in a playoff spot regardless of what else happens.
• “MWO” = Whether a team must win out to have any chance at a playoff spot, or if randomization methods had to be employed whether it is very likely they need to win out to have any chance. In the iOS version a team’s “mIn” number displayed in red substitutes for “MWO”.
• “COD” = Whether a team controls their own destiny (i.e. they could not be denied a playoff spot if they were to win out), or if randomization methods had to be employed whether they very likely would get a playoff spot by winning out. In the iOS version no separate column is provided, but a number showing in the “gIn” column indicates a team controls their own destiny.
• Targets for each team to aim for: A projected (and subjective) win or league-point range for each team to make the playoffs and win their division (if applicable). The lower number is estimated to give a team a reasonable chance, with the upper number estimated to be a safe mark, if achieved. Teams without any range shown are considered realistically unlikely to achieve enough wins/points to make the playoffs (or win division, if applicable). Teams with only the lower number shown are considered as needing a great degree of things falling into place in addition to getting to that mark. The intent of the Targets is to provide useful intel midway through the season, the accuracy of such at the beginning of the season will be fluid and at the end of the season the “paths-to-clinch” are more relevant.

In the android version the league table can be sorted by ID, divisions (if applicable), or by wins if desired by clicking on the appropriate column header. The iOS version offers sorting by wins or divisions.

If any exist and the settings allow, the “paths-to-clinch” listings for teams, as applicable, detailing what scenarios in the upcoming week/round or games (if Manual Paths selected) would allow a team to clinch a division and/or playoff spot, will be available. If there are many remaining games where randomization methods had to be employed during the calculations, any “paths” may not be completely accurate. In such cases, the accuracy for specific teams can be greatly improved by choosing the “Focus” option and rerunning the calculations. If all permutations were able to be calculated, the listings should be accurate. If any exist, a preview is available from the main display, with a full listing available in the PDF Report.

If the Median Scoring option was selected, depending on the exact scenario presented at time of analysis, the “paths” may be extremely lengthy and/or extremely complex.

For Median scoring, several different types of “paths” may be listed, including:

• Traditional “Team A wins”, which lists paths that median scoring results are not relevant.
• “Team A wins and Median winners = Team A” or “Team A wins and Team B loses and Median winners = Team A and Median losers = Team B”, etc.., which lists paths that require specific game outcomes in addition to specific median outcomes.
• “Team A wins and Team B loses and Team C loses and Team D loses and Team A gets favorable median results”. Certain complex paths that would otherwise require every possible median option to be listed separately, creating a mess of hundreds of similar listings, are sometimes condensed into one path of this type.

Note that due to the combination of game winning/losing and median winning/losing, the listings can become confusing as there could be many possible ways for one team to clinch a spot even with just a few games remaining.

To verify “paths” are as accurate as possible when there are many remaining games left, or when doing calculations for Median scoring leagues outside of the last week or two of the season, use the Focus option and/or see the subreddit r/playoffcomputer and follow the relevant procedures in the posting about doing serious analysis of the NFL.

A PDF report will be available with the analysis for saving and/or sharing with the league. It will include the complete (see below) “paths-to-clinch” listings, as applicable.

• android: The location of the PDF report may vary depending on device and storage settings. The default location is Internal storage -> Documents -> playoff_computer. Note a new file is created each time, titled “Analysis_Report(Date)”.
• iOS: The Print function is opened when selected. Note that if multiple reports are generated the document file may need to be closed and re-opened for the new file to be displayed.

If there are many games remaining, where some randomization methods had to be employed, the “paths” listings will attempt to reduce the amount of “false positives” presented and not show the most complex possibilities.

A couple of notes and remarks will be shown after the league table after analysis, including the following:

• Whether all possible remaining permutations were calculated or whether some randomization methods had to be included, depending on the number of remaining games, whether the possibility of tie games was incorporated, and the particular scenario presented at the time of analysis.
• If the possibility of tie-games was requested to be included in the calculations, a message stating whether that was accomplished or not will be presented. There are several factors that may prohibit tie-games being included in the calculations, such as league size, number of games per round, or whether the manual path function was utilized.
• The number of wildcard spots used in the calculations (as a reminder / double-check).

The following tiebreakers are available for calculations:

• H2HALL: Head-to-head that is applied regardless of whether all teams tied in a given scenario will have played each other or evenly.
• H2HEVEN: Head-to-head that is applied only if the teams involved will have played each other evenly.
• H2HTWO: Head-to-head that is applied only if two teams are tied in a given scenario.
• H2HSWEEP: Head-to-head that is applied only if one of the teams involved has swept the others or if one has been swept by the others.
• CONFRECORD: Conference record.
• DIVRECORD: Division record.
• ALLPLAY: All-play wins. As All-play is based on points scored, it is considered a “non-firm” tiebreaker for calculations.
• POINTS: Points-for. Considered a “non-firm” tiebreaker for calculations.
• POINTSAGHIGH: Points-against, higher is better (substitutes as a strength of schedule measurement for some hosting sites). Considered a “non-firm” tiebreaker for calculations.
• PTSDIFF: Difference between “points-for” and “points-against”. Similar to GOALSDIFF, but designed for fantasy sports where there is a wide range of scores.
• GOALSDIFF: Difference between “goals-for” and “goals-against”. Similar to PTSDIFF, but designed for soccer or hockey leagues where actual scores of 3-2, 4-1, etc. are common and the wide disparities between scores such as in fantasy sports are not prevalent. If selected, the App in its calculations assumes that 5 is a high score.
• SOS (iOS – n/a): Strength of Schedule. Note for large multi-conference leagues this can cause multiple adverse effects as the program can no longer exclude games from the “other” conference when determining “relevant” games. To compensate, when there are many remaining games the program will not include this or any later tiebreaker in the calculations so as to improve calculation speed, and in the playoff odds displayed under T (tied) the percentage will refer to the amount of scenarios that the SOS tiebreaker may come into play for that team. A continual work-in-progress to improve on.
• Tiebreakers in the App preceded by “BID” are for leagues that utilize a “best-in-division” method to select wildcard teams in multi-division leagues (e.g. MyFantasy, Fleaflicker).
• FORCE: In multi-division leagues, this tiebreaker will be appended so that for each scenario calculated, if two or more teams would tie for a division spot where the winner of tiebreaker cannot yet be determined (usually because of points as a tiebreaker), the program will “split” the scenario to calculate what happens when each of those teams were to win the division.
• RANDOM: If no tiebreakers are input and there are many remaining games the App will randomly choose winners as needed for each scenario in which multiple teams are tied for a spot. If there are not too many remaining games the App will show odds in which teams may end up tied for a spot.

Since points (and all-play) based tiebreakers are impossible to completely project who the winners would be in a tie situation before the season ends, they will be the last tiebreaker considered in calculations regardless of whether the league’s set-up has other tiebreakers following.

Latest known relevant info of hosting sites applications of tiebreakers:

Median scoring rules are now supported, with the following limitations and restrictions:

• Due to the complexity of the calculations, the Premium subscription is required.
• League size maximum is 12 teams.
• Leagues cannot be multi-division or multi-conference.
• Leagues must not have bye-weeks or doubleheaders, unless those have already passed at time of analysis.
• The possibility of tie games or tying with the Median score cannot be considered in the calculations.
• Pre-selecting winners and losers for “what-if” scenarios cannot be done.
• Manual selection of the number of games to perform “paths-to-clinch” on (e.g. for looking further out than one round) cannot be done.
• Due to the number of calculations required, whereas in a standard league the App is able to work through every possible scenario for several rounds out without resorting to randomization methods, in a Median scoring league where the complexities are compounded the App has to resort to randomization methods for calculations earlier than the last week of the season.
• The results, particularly “paths-to-clinch”, outside of the last week of the season will likely deserve enhanced scrutiny with the “Focus” feature to verify their accuracy, and even then accuracy may be diminished as compared to standard leagues.
• Compromises between speed, the sheer number of possible paths-to-clinch, and making things readable are employed. Depending on the exact situation presented, some very complex paths that otherwise require multiple listings are condensed or left out to preclude the report being hundreds or thousands of pages long.
• The time necessary to do the calculations will likely be longer than what a standard league requires.
• Utilizing Median scoring may conflict with tips and tricks provided elsewhere in these instructions.

The basic problem with tackling Median scoring in the App is this: For every remaining game in a standard league (without ties as a possibility), there are two possibilities, either Team A wins or Team B wins. The formula for how many different outcomes remain in the season is thus 2 ^ (games remaining). For example, in a 12-team league, with two weeks left (12 games), there are 4,096 different scenarios of how the win-loss standings could end up. The same league with Median scoring basically has six possibilities for each remaining game (1-Team A wins, both teams get a Median W, 2-Team A wins and gets a Median W, 3-Team A wins and neither gets a Median W, 4-Team B wins, both teams get a Median W, 5-Team B wins and gets a Median W, 6-Team B wins and neither gets a Median W). This means that the number of different possibilities in this example equates to hundreds of millions of different scenarios of how the win-loss standings could end up.

The Yahoo API in which the App uses to access league data hosted by them was created somewhere around the stagecoach era (only a slight exaggeration) and has not been modernized. It provides data in a format completely different from every other hosting site accessed by the App, and this format is not very compatible with modern programming methods. Furthermore, Yahoo requires users to authorize the App to access their own leagues’ data. This does make troubleshooting a bit tricky as there is no way for the developer to pull up a user’s league info. It is believed all is in order but please keep this in mind.

Note users with multiple Yahoo accounts or that use a Google account to sign in to Yahoo may experience issues if the Yahoo account currently in use on the device is not the same as used for Yahoo Fantasy Football. Insure that all accounts not used by Yahoo ff are signed out.

Accessing data for FPL is relatively new. It appears everything is in order through limited testing. Please advise of any issues. The iOS version supports FPL Head-to-Head “Draft” leagues only.

Note that it may be necessary to wait until Sleeper leagues have completed their draft before Sleeper sets up a schedule and thus for the App to import data from the league.

The Fantrax API in which the App uses to access league data hosted by them appears to be in a multi-year pause in development. The data it provides may be incomplete for the purpose of this App depending on settings and tiebreakers used (e.g. it does not provide past results used for head-to-head records). For some items, the Edit Team Info section can be used to add relevant tiebreaker data. If head-to-head is used as a tiebreaker, however, there is no way to enter all the past scores that would be necessary.

Due to the vast amount of customization that commissioners can do with MFL leagues, along with the nuances of the MFL API that the App uses to extract data from, there is almost certainly a league set-up out there that wasn’t thought of beforehand and will have issues when attempting to import it. Please advise if any leagues are not able to be imported, fixes are usually fairly simple.

RSO requires users to log-in to access their own leagues’ data. This does make troubleshooting a bit tricky as there is no way for the developer to pull up a user’s league info or to test on various league set-ups. It is believed all is in order but please keep this in mind.

The following may increase the enjoyment of using this App:

• The “paths-to-clinch” report (Premium Level) readability may be improved when team names in the App are either abbreviations (e.g. CHI, if able depending on hosting site) or brief (e.g. Bears). Certainly it is understood this is not often the case with the creative names fantasy sports players come up with. Consider using the Edit Team Info function to shorten team names to be brief but recognizable.
• Besides determining where teams stand in their division and playoff race, for many leagues the App can also be used for determining the “race” for top seed, a playoff bye, or avoiding last place punishment by adjusting the number of “Wildcard Spots” in the App as desired. League division and tiebreaker settings may limit the ability to accomplish some of these alternative calculations.
• As a general guide for fantasy football leagues, there is no need to select “Deep Analysis” for the first six or seven weeks of the season, the odds shown will be fairly accurate without and it is unlikely any team will be near to securing a playoff spot for any “paths-to-clinch”. After that it becomes a judgement call based on a variety of factors, but the vital information such as win-targets will be more accurate with “Deep Analysis” and around week seven or so is when playoff race crunch time begins. Of course, if one has time, selecting “Deep Analysis” at any time is perfectly fine.
• As a general rule, if there are more than around 25-30 “relevant” games remaining in the season, any “paths-to-clinch” shown should be verified with the “Focus” option for each team. If there are more than around 50 “relevant” games remaining in the season, “paths-to-clinch” are likely going to contain multiple false scenarios. Using tips found in the playoffcomputer subreddit within the “serious analysis of the NFL” post can help verify the info.
• If points is the primary tiebreaker and it is desired to have the odds displayed “simply” (i.e. without the “T” number) early in the season, use the Set Tiebreakers Manually function and click “Done” without selecting any tiebreakers. This will cause the App to apply RANDOM as a tiebreaker.
• “Poss. Clinched” and “Poss. Eliminated”: As mentioned in the Analysis Results – Premium Level, if there are many remaining games the App may not be able to conclusively determine that a team has 100% clinched or been eliminated. To further improve the chances of this determination being valid, re-run the calculations, but before doing so, use the Remaining Game “what-if” feature, select the applicable team as a “favorite”, and select them as winners or losers (depending on what determination is being checked). For “Poss. Clinched” this is similar to the Focus option, but the purpose of that option is to verify “paths-to-clinch”.

Those that are really into numbers and analysis might notice a situation where the odds numbers displayed just don’t look “right”. Possible reasons include the very definition of what is “right” along with the complexity of the scenarios presented. For a simple example, say there is an 8 team league in its last week, thus 4 remaining games. Without tie games factored in, that is 16 possibilities (2 ^ 4), and one would reason that the odds display should show numbers that correspond to 1/16, 2/16, 3/16 (rounded to 6%. 12%, 18%…) and so on to correspond to the number of these scenarios that result in any particular team clinching a spot. However there are at least two things that may cause the odds to be unexpectedly different. First, the App performs a “pre-check” to look for teams that are either so far ahead that they are definitely in or so far behind that they are definitely eliminated before it begins the arduous calculation work. It does this in an attempt to eliminate games from the calculations that simply do not matter to anyone’s playoff chances, which is useful when there are many remaining games. Thus, in the above example, if there were two teams that are clearly already eliminated that are playing each other in the last week, that game would be excluded from the calculations, making it so there are only 3 relevant games (not the original 4). As such, this makes it only 8 possibilities that are computed versus the above 16, and the odds display would show numbers that correspond to 1/8, 2/8, 3/8 (rounded to 12%, 25%, 37%…) and so on. Second, for leagues with divisions, any possibility in which two or more teams could end up being tied for the division in which it cannot be pre-determined who would win the tiebreaker (due to points related tiebreakers), the App has to “split” that scenario into multiple ones to look at what happens when any of those tied teams win the division and how it effects the wildcard race. Thus, in the above simple example that began with 16 possibilities which were then reduced to 8, if it is a multi-division league there could end up being really 20 different ways the season could end up going. Thus, the odds display would show numbers that correspond to 1/20, 2/20, 3/20 (5%, 10%, 15%) and so on. Clear as mud, right?

To use a Google spreadsheet (“Sheets”) to keep and maintain a league’s data, do the following:

• Get the Template HERE
• Make your own copy of the Sheet (File – Make a Copy). This likely requires a Google account.
• Enter data (see below for additional options) as necessary following the guidance on the Sheet.
• Via “Share” change view access to the sheet (File – Share – Share With Others – General Access – “Anyone with the link can view”).
• Optional, Publish the Sheet (File – Publish to the web or File – Share – Publish to the web). This will allow import to Excel or publish on a website.
• Go to “Sheets Home” and then re-open the Sheet.
• Using the URL link shown in the browser, cut and copy the Sheet KEY, which is the characters inside the full URL between the slash after “spreadsheets/d/” and the following slash. Do not include the slashes.
• Paste this KEY into the App under the Sheets option.
• Import League and proceed with Analysis etc. as described in the main instructions.

Note if the league you want to use Sheets for has its data hosted anywhere on the web, such as many professional leagues, it is entirely possible to use the features in Sheets to modify the given spreadsheet to automatically import that data from the web and thus eliminate the need to do any manual maintenance of the data. A full explanation of how to do so will not be presented here, but the basic process is to add additional Sheets to the original template, use Google’s options to import data (importHTML or importXML) from the web into Sheets, and then modify the formulas in the “Team Info” and “Schedule” section of the template to get the appropriate data from those additional Sheets to populate those sections. There are many instructional videos and pages on the web to assist. An example is HERE which is the Japanese Football League J1 League. This example has additional user created formulas and may not be well polished but it does show what the capabilities are with Sheets and the App.

For previous users of the web version with Google Sheets, some new additions have been made to the Sheets Template and old templates will not work with the App. If it is wished to “upgrade” an old template to be used with the new App, follow these steps.

• Use the new template as a guide.
• Add rows in the “TEAM INFO” section to accommodate 32 teams (to row 35). Fill in the “Tm #” section 1-32.
• Add a column for conferences, “Cnf” in the new template.
• Add a column for League Pts, “LG PTS” in the new template.
• Add a column for reserved use later, “Resrvd” in the new template.
• In the “SCHEDULE” section, extend the game info columns to row 383. This should equate to 380 games.

To do your own analysis of the professional leagues available for import (or if imported via your own version of the Google Sheets template), the following information may be helpful:

• The Playoff Computer subreddit has additional tips & tricks for doing analysis on professional leagues.
• Premium access level is required for intensive calculations.
• As the App was primarily designed for fantasy leagues that typically have around 12 teams playing over around 14 weeks, which comes out to 72 games, the professional leagues with more teams and/or longer schedules do present some obstacles. The biggest challenge is typically the number of remaining games. When there are 40+ remaining games left, or 20+ in a league where tie games are very common, the analysis returned from the App will likely need some manual oversight if the goal is to provide completely accurate info.
• The Targets feature will begin to show realistic numbers once approximately 1/4 of the season is complete, with its accuracy slowly improving throughout the season, up until about two rounds of the schedule remain, when its mathematical probabilities calculations aren’t as useful when each game result can dramatically changes the picture.
• The Clinched/Eliminated determinations may need scrutiny with many remaining games left. Note the difference between “Clinched” and “Poss. Clinched” etc. If a team is showing as “Poss. Clinched” (i.e. the App had to use randomization methods due to the number of remaining games), it is suggested to re-run calculations with that team in “Focus”. Depending on the number of remaining games and whether tie games are considered as a possibility, if that team still shows as “Poss. Clinched” a manual method may be necessary to get complete accuracy. If a team does not have any clinched/eliminated determination shown, it can be considered accurate as it means the App found at least one scenario in which the the team made the playoffs and at least one scenario in which they didn’t.
• Similarly, the Minimum In and Guaranteed In numbers may not be 100% accurate when there are plenty of remaining games. In such cases, they should be considered as more “reasonably realistic” rather than mathematical certainties.
• Additionally, the paths-to-clinch listings, when there are plenty of remaining games, should be verified first by re-running the calculations with the desired team in “Focus”. Manual verification may be necessary for complete accuracy, again depending on the number of remaining games. The absence of paths-to-clinch can be considered accurate for the specified team as it means the App found scenarios in which the team did not make the playoffs no matter what happens in the upcoming round.
• NFL: See details at Playoff Computer subreddit
• ELF: The above NFL info can be useful for analyzing European League of Football as well. There is one issue with ELF that often comes into play. The Strength-of-Victory (SOV) tiebreaker is much more likely to be necessary to resolve ties than in the NFL. This can cause issues when there are many games remaining and manual oversight is needed for the results.
• WNBA: One note about the display of the WNBA league. Although the league itself has divisions, since all playoff spots are awarded to the best eight teams regardless of divisions, the App’s display of the teams and its calculation options will not show any reference to divisions.
• Note that depending on the league and how the third party data provider treats it, games that are suspended or rescheduled may end up showing twice (once for the original date and once for the rescheduled date), and the initial game will need to be manually deleted before calculations are run for accurate results.

It would be completely awesome if users of CBS Fantasy, Real Time Sports, and others could take advantage of the automatic importing of data that users of other platforms enjoy on the App. If you are a customer of one of these platforms you are welcome to contact them to request they reach out to allow Playoff Computer access to their API.

Those that have followed PlayoffComputer from its early days as an Excel Spreadsheet know this is a (mostly foolish) passionate mission. Suggestions, questions, and discussions are welcome via apps(at@)zelapeak.com. Note that due to the small size of this operation a response may not be immediate.