Rules: Postseason 3.0

We introduced the Postseason 2.0 rules in 2019, along with a slew of other changes, including FAAB. As we head into the 2026 season, we are about to revamp again, to Postseason 3.0 rules. These rules go into affect for our upcoming season.

There will also be a new draft system, to be implemented for 2027, as outlined here: Draft and Draft Lottery 2027.

P L A Y O F F S 3.0

• The new revamped postseason will be a twelve-team playoffs for Power Rankings #1-12
• The top four regular season teams, #1-4, will receive a bye in the first round
• The bottom four teams, #13-16, will not participate in a postseason whatsoever
• The new playoffs will be extended by a week—so now at four weeks total
• Toilet Bowl is eliminated

The goal here is simple: get more teams playing for something meaningful. Bottom dwellers now have a shot at sneaking into the playoffs, while the top and middle squads chase a real prize in the form of a first-round bye. From there, everyone gets thrown into a super-tournament featuring the top twelve teams.

After plenty of back-and-forth, we landed on this streamlined fix: expand the playoffs. Yes, it comes at the cost of losing the Toilet Bowl, but overall this setup checks every box for what we want SlamNation to be. And to keep things steady, we’re committing to this format for the next five years--aside from small tweaks--so we’re not yanking the foundation out from under anyone.

(1) Playoff Bracket Reseeding

As before, we are reseeding every bracket in the playoffs—which ESPN now allow us to do as an option. This means the top seed will always face the lowest seed in each matchup.

(2) Lock Transactions for Eliminated Teams

In addition, we are locking transactions for eliminated teams in the playoffs—also now an ESPN option. Those teams that didn’t make the playoffs have their rosters locked upon conclusion of the regular season.

(3) Trade Deadline

As before, the trade deadline for all teams will be the conclusion of the regular season.

(4) Regular Season Length

We’re going from eighteen regular season matchups to seventeen, to accommodate the extra week of playoffs. That means our fantasy regular season ends right after—or around—the NBA All Star break. We end our entire SlamNation season by about three weeks earlier than the NBA regular season to not have to deal with end of the year lineup shenanigans.

(5) Weekly Games Caps Number

This will remain at 21 for the soft cap, and will undergo no changes. [ Weekly Games Cap Explainer ]

(6) Elimination of Conferences

We eliminated divisions in 2019 and now we are also eliminating conferences. With the most important standings being the overall standings, it’ll be easier to see on the ESPN page what exact rank we are as we go along.

Note: I’ll still use the Russell and Chamberlain Conference names for flavor in blogs and articles, but as in recent years, they’re purely cosmetic. TeamIDs reflect the old setup: #1–8 were Russell, #9–16 were Chamberlain.

(7) Tie-Breakers

These are the tie-breakers we'll be using for determining Power Rankings. [ Reference 2010 ]

1. Overall Record
2. Head-to-Head Record among tied teams. If more than two are tied, use head-to-head winning percentage across all tied teams.
3. Total Categories Won for the season. If head-to-head is the same, the team with the most categories won (using our scoring system over the full season) gets the edge. Think of it as a season-long H2H matchup.
4. Coin flip if still tied. Details (e.g., multiple-team scenarios) will be determined at the time.

(8) Regular Season Crown 👑

With the elimination of Toilet Bowl and Toilet Bowl winner, we shall be introducing a new award: The regular season wins crown!

(9) Inattentive Owners

We’ll be keeping a closer eye on inattentive ownership and reserve the right to step in--whether that means a warning to tighten up or, in extreme cases, a replacement. At the bare minimum, we expect engaged owners who set their lineups.

The benchmark: if your Games Played falls below 90% of the league average, or if you rack up lineup violations for roughly a quarter of the season, you’ll be flagged. [ Sample of Owners Rating 2025 | Games Played Sheet ]

That said, most of you have been around forever and this usually isn’t an issue. Life happens, of course, and we’ll give plenty of leeway—any decisions here will play out over at least two seasons unless someone is so neglectful that we need to act immediately. Broadly speaking: just keep up with your squads!