The Video Primer on the Origins and Rules
The Goal
Each week, “Analysts” predict winners in three games played by professional football teams over the course of a regular season (approximately 17 weeks) and a subsequent playoff system to determine a single, annual champion. For each correct “Pick Three” over the course of the season, the Analysts earns “Trifecta points.” Trifecta points are accumulated in four different “Races” divided into 4 to 5 week “legs,” in a season-long contest for the Analyst of the Year Award, and a post-season competition for the World Football Analyst Championship. A “Purse” – the size of which is determined by the Analysts at the start of the season – is distributed to the winners of the four Races and the Analyst of the Year competition. The Super Trifecta Bowl Champion takes a share of the Purse and also earns an illustrious trophy commemorating his or her victory for display at home!
The Analysts
The world football trifecta league requires 6 or more players (hereafter, “Analysts”) to participate. Each Analyst will adopt a nickname according to the conventions of Naming a Thoroughbred Horse. The Analyst will use this nickname for the entire racing season.
The Home Teams
Each analyst has a bias for a favored, or “home,” football team, to represent the horse sense of the Analyst. The Home Teams determine which games are picked from each week. The Home Team is important to its Analyst because Analysts may never pick against their own Home Team (i.e., pick their team to lose). In addition, the Home Team statistics – and the bye weeks – influence each of the four races in subtle ways. Each Home Team must be unique (two Analysts cannot own the same home team). Home Teams may be released at the end of each Race (see below) and a new Home Team selected prior to the start of a new Race.
Home Teams to Start the Season
In a new league, Analysts select Home Teams in order determined by a random drawing.
Season VII Revision (made permanent in Season VIII): In a continuing league, the Analysts must relinquish Claims to Home Teams held at the end of the prior year’s regular racing season. Analysts select new Home Teams during preseason in reverse order of the Analysts’ ranks in the prior year’s Analyst of the Year competition. New Analysts added to existing leagues select from the unclaimed teams first (determined by random draw if more than one Analyst joins a league in the same year).
Changing Home Teams Between Races
After each of the four Races in the regular season, Analysts have the option of releasing their Home Team and selecting a new team to symbolize their horse sense from those teams not currently owned by other Analysts. If more than one Analyst releases their Home Team at the end of a Race, the new selections will go in order of the former teams’ win-loss records, from worst to best, using the official tie-breaking rules for team playoff ranks in the professional football league. In other words, the Analyst with the worst former team selects first, and so forth, to the best former team.
The Games
The slate of football games from which the Analysts pick winners each week is limited to the Games that include at least one Home Team of the Analysts. The number of Games available for picking winners varies each week depending on head-to-head competition between Analysts’ home teams and/or home team bye weeks. There must be a minimum of three Games in the slate for a week. If there are fewer than three Games with home teams in a given week, a third Game is added at random to the Slate of Games.
The Picks
Each expert Analyst will predict three winners from the Slate of Games available each week. An Analyst may never Pick against their own home team, however, an Analyst does NOT have to Pick the Home Team to win if the Analyst fears a loss or feels more confident in three winners selected from other Games. Games that end in ties after overtime do NOT count as a correct Pick. An Analyst must Pick at least two correctly to earn trifecta points for the week.
The Races
The Analysts compete for a share of the Purse in four distinct Races during the regular racing season: The Quaternary Crown. A Race is completed in 4 or 5 legs corresponding to the number of weeks included from the typical football season. Each track has its own rules that effect how Analysts manage Game Picks and approach each leg (week) of the Race. The Races are:
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- The PC-Fecta Derby (4 weeks)
- The Player Haters Preakness (5 weeks)
- The Fibonacci Stakes (5 weeks)
- The Seeders’ Cup (4 weeks)
In addition to the four competitions of the Quaternary Crown, the Analysts compete for the Analyst of the Year Award over the course of the entire 17-week racing season. At the end of the regular season, the Analysts then test their analytical powers in the most complex playoff of the year: the World Football Analyst Championship.
Detailed Race rules are available in the links at the left, under “Quaternary Crown”.
Quaternary Crown Trifecta Points
Each Quaternary Crown has its own point system for correctly picking two or more winners. For the Quaternary Crown Races, an Analyst must Pick three Game winners correctly in a week to earn the *base* Trifecta Points (6 points) or Pick two Game winners correctly in a week to earn the *lame* Trifecta Points (3 points). In addition, Analysts may add *bonus* Trifecta Points according to the track rules of the Quaternary Crown. Analysts compete for *base*, *lame*, and *bonus* Trifecta Points in each leg of a Crown Race. The Analysts with the most Trifecta Points after the final leg takes Quaternary Crown and the Purse!
If a Quaternary Crown ends in a Trifecta Point tie between two or more Analysts, the winner of the Race will be determined by one of three tiebreakers in the following order:
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- If the home teams of the Analysts played each other in a leg (week) of the Race, the Analyst whose home team won the football game wins the Race.
- The Analyst who correctly picks his or her home team most often wins the Race.
- Per Track Rules: The third tiebreaker is determined by track rules.
If there is no clear Crown winner from the three tiebreakers, the Purse is split evenly.
The Analyst of the Year Trifecta Points
Analysts must pick three Game winners correctly to earn the Trifecta (1 point) for the week. After seventeen weeks, the Analysts with the most Trifectas over the entire season will be named the Analyst of the Year.
If the Analyst of the Year ends in a tie for most Trifectas, the first Tiebreaker is Correct Picks over the course of the season. The second tiebreaker is a playoff during the professional football postseason.
The Purse
The total Purse will be established at the beginning of the year by “gentleman’s agreement” and in accordance to applicable laws. Shares of the Purse will be divided equally between the four Crown races and the Analyst of the Year (20% to each Race winner). In addition, the Analyst of the Year receives the prestigious award to exhibit in his or her home for the year.
The Purse for the World Football Analyst Championship (Super Trifecta Bowl) will be determined separately by gentleman’s agreement at the start of the season. The World Champion also will have their victory forever etched in bronze and added to the most illustrious trophy in sports analysis. The World Champion also earns the right to display the illustrious trophy in his or her home for the entire year:
The League Managers
The League has a bookie, a clearinghouse, and a semi-fictitious enforcer who insure league rules and agreements are adhered to. The Bookie manages the weekly Picks and the Purse. The Clearinghouse tracks the accuracy of Picks and Standings earned for each Race. The Enforcer maintains the civility of the dialog between Analysts and provides “other services” at the discretion of The Bookie.
