Revised, 2004

The USIFL shall be a Fall/Winter league using Action! PC Football Computer Game from Dave Koch Sports.

LEAGUE POSITIONS

The USIFL shall have the following positions and position responsibilities:

Commissioner: The Commissioner shall be Scott Mundfrom until such time as he chooses to relinquish those duties. The Commissioner’s duties include, but are not be limited to: establishing deadlines for all League information; distributing League information (i.e. standings, trades, draft choices, etc); awarding of free agents; determining any warnings or fines to be levied; informing the League membership of any warnings/fines, etc.); conducting the USIFL Draft; identifying, screening and determining new members; reviewing Rule Challenges; compilation, distribution and tabulation of the Rule Challenge ballots; and a weekly in-season newsletter. Decisions by the Commissioner on all League matters are final(rule changes must be voted on by the league). The Commissioner may delegate any or all responsibilities as needed to either of the Vice Commissioners.

Vice Commissioner/Statistician: The VC/Statistician's responsibilities include, but are not limited to: compiling and sending the "master" League file for that season’s play; accumulating statistics; compiling League Leaders and distributing information; establishing all-time statistical categories and ensuring League membership compliance and informing the Commissioner of any tardiness on part of League membership. The VC/Statistician will also be in contact with the Commish and offer advice and opinion on matters of the league. The VC/Statistician shall be Dave Bitz.

Vice Commissioner/Web Designer: The VC/WD’s responsibilities include but are not limited to: design and upkeep of the website, compilation of stats and leaders for use on the website, advice and opinion on matters of the league. The VC/WD shall be Jason Strand.

MEMBERSHIP

Additional members shall be added on a "NEED" basis and be decided by the Commissioner. There shall be a waiting list of backup owners ready to step in should an owner quit or be expelled from the league. This list shall be public and listed on the website. First come, first serve. New members who join will not have a choice of team but rather be appointed to a team. The Commish shall appoint teams on a "drawing a name out of a hat" manner.

The League shall consist of twenty-four (24)teams, each owned by a separate member. Teams shall take the names of the NFL teams and the League shall be divided into Conferences and divisions resembling the NFL.

SCHEDULE

The league shall play a schedule comprised of sixteen (16) games.

Each Owner/Coach shall have 6 (six) days to complete each game head-to-head via the internet against your opponent. All email attempts to schedule a game must be cc’d to the commish to verify attempts to contact opponents. All game files must be received by the Commish by Sunday, midnight est. time unless prior arrangements have been made. 

There will be an extra week during the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

INJURIES

The league shall use the injury setting in the game. All injuries carry over to the next week and into the playoffs if the team qualifies.

ROSTER/PLAYERS

Players eligible for play within the USIFL shall be players listed in the current version of Action! PC Football for that season. Players are limited to the positions for which they are eligible to play.

Maximum roster size is 53 players. Teams may also keep up to 3 players on their Injured Reserve list. This list is reserved for players who were on a roster previously and did not get carded for the current year, players who retired early but may return, or players with a durability rating of 3 or less. IR players are declared at the time of cutdowns before the rookie draft. IR players stay on the IR for the entire year, even when they are traded. IR players may be traded but teams may not exceed the 3 player maximum.

Approximately two weeks before the Rookie/FA draft, each Owner/Coach will reduce his roster to a maximum of forty (40) players and will send the unprotected players into a player pool along with all free agents and any new players listed on rosters within Action! Action Football.

Players are eligible to play only a position in which they are rated by in the game.

GAME SETTINGS

The settings are as follows:

goal post location: endline; field goal miss line: kick spot; kick off line: 30; two point conversion, season fatigue, game fatigue will be on; injuries: normal frequency;

fatigue settings:

season: mild, 110 %; moderate, 180 %, major 200 %

game: mild, 10 %, moderate, 20 % major 25%

we will not use the QB game fatigue or the special teams season fatigue

TRADING

Trading shall be permitted from the conclusion of the Super Bowl until the conclusion of the eighth (8) week of the USIFL season.

To become effective all teams involved in a trade must report the trade to the Commissioner.

Trades may only involve players or draft choices in the next two(2) USIFL Drafts. All clubs must be equal to or below roster limitations when the trade is reported to the Commissioner. During the season, should a club be under roster size, the team may pick up a free agent(s) to bring them back to the roster limit. This player, however, will be released after the season back into the free agent pool.

USIFL Roster cuts and Rookie/FA draft

Teams may elect to "pass" and not select a player in a particular round(s).

If an Owner/G.M. does not wish to participate in the draft via e-mail, the team must forward, to the Commissioner, a list of the players they wish to draft, in the order they wish to make the selections, whether by position or simply by name.

Order of the draft shall be decided by previous years record.

USIFL PLAYOFFS

Each year, at the conclusion of the regular season, a League Champion shall be "crowned" through a process of playoffs. Three (3) Division winners and three (3) wild card teams from each conference will make the playoffs. The top two (2) division winners in each conference will receive byes for the first round of playoffs.

STADIUMS

Teams will use the stadium for their N.F.L. team.

The home field advantage will be used.

GAME PLAY

All rules within the Action! PC Football will be used, unless modified as follows:

1. There are no ties and overtime is limited to one overtime in the regular season and overtimes are unlimited in the playoffs.

2. Audible: The audible CANNOT be used in any game. The game is programmed to call audibles in certain situations. Our positions in the league are "coaches" not "quarterbacks", therefore the audible is up to the quarterback on the field.

CONTACTING OPPONENTS

Both owners (not just the home team) are held responsible for contacting their opponent and CC'ing the email to usiflsched@yahoo.com on ALL email contact attempts. If there has been no replies to attempts by one of the teams by Thursday night at Midnight Eastern, the team that's attempted with emails will be granted permission by the commish to play the game vs. the computer as early as Friday, with a computer coach provided by either the owner or the commish.

If both owners have made email attempts (CC'd to the commish) and cannot find a mutual time to agree on the commish can award playing vs. the computer in one of two ways: a. if both teams have made fairly equal and reasonable attempts the gameplay will be awarded to the HOME TEAM. b. if one team has made their time considerably more available than the other (example:
Home team says can only play at any time on Saturday while Visiting team says they can play any weekday after 3pm but neither saturday or sunday, game play will be awarded to Visiting team for being more available.

GAME RESULTS/STATISTICS

Each Owner/Coach shall be responsible for submitting game results and statistics to the League Statistician/Commish by the required deadlines.  Deadline is set at Sunday, 11pm central time.  Game files should be sent to usiflgames@yahoo.com.

ADDITIONS/CHANGES/DELETIONS TO THE USIFL RULES & REGULATIONS

Any Owner/Coach may "challenge" any rule (with the exception of the League Positions Rule). "Challenged" rules are reviewed by the Comissioner and Vice comissioners and, if deemed in the best interest of the League, put to a vote by the entire League membership with a 2/3 majority being required to change a rule. The Comissioner and Vice Comissioners may also bring changes to the league. When a change is needed, more than two choices may be provided of which to choose. A regular majority is all that is needed for these changes. Owner/Coaches must notify the Commissioner of "challenges" and whether the proposal is to add, change or delete the rule. If the proposal is to add or change a rule, the Owner/Coaches must include the exact wording of the addition/change. The Commissioner may reject any Rule Challenge for any reason; however, the information must be communicated to the League membership. Should a rule change be proposed and lose to a vote for two (2) consecutive years, there shall be a one (1) year wait until the same rule change request may be made. The Commissioner is empowered to implement an "executive order" and make additions/changes/deletions to the R&R's at his discretion to ensure the smooth operation or statistical accuracy of the League. Any "executive order" executed must be communicated to the League membership.

VOTING

Voting on rules and regulation changes, awards and other items is a vital part of a good league.  Voting is mandatory and missing deadlines of votes or failure to vote will result in the loss of future draft picks.  Penalties are as follows:  Votes on rule changes, 3rd rd pick; Votes on awards, tba by commish; Votes on other matters, tba by commish.  Should a team not have a current draft pick to be penalized, the team shall lose the next years pick.  

UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT

This is one thing that will not be tolerated.  It's not really possible to legislate against running up the score, games do get out of hand sometimes no matter how hard the winning team tries to keep the score down. All we ask is that when you feel you have a game in hand (ie up 4 TDs or more in the 2nd half) please refrain from throwing bombs or using tons of blitzes on defense.  This is just fair play and you will be rewarded someday for it :O)  On the flip side, if you're the team on the losing end, be a good sport and don't berate the other coach over the chat link, that is equally bad form and won't be tolerated.  We are trying to have fun here and it can be done if both sides do their part.  Now, with that all said, if I continually get email about a certain person running up the scores or about a person being a poor loser I'm going to have a talk with you and we'll find out what is going on and I will be sure that the complaints stop one way or another.  This same thing goes for any other contacts involving players, trades or drafting speed.  There are two people in charge of the league, the commissioner and the president and if someone needs talking to they are the ONLY ones who will do so.

TIEBREAKING PROCEDURES

The following procedures will be used to break standings ties for postseason playoffs and to determine regular-season schedules.

NOTE: Tie games count as one-half win and one-half loss for both clubs.

TO BREAK A TIE WITHIN A DIVISION

If, at the end of the regular season, two or more clubs in the same division finish with identical won-lost-tied percentages, the following steps will be taken until a champion is determined.

Two Clubs

1. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games between the clubs).

2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division.

3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.

4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, if applicable.

5. Best net points in division games.

6. Best net points in all games.

7. Strength of schedule.

8. Best net touchdowns in all games.

9. Coin toss.

Three or More Clubs

(Note: If two clubs remain tied after third or other clubs are eliminated during any step, tie breaker reverts to step 1 of the two-club format).

1. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games among the clubs).

2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division.

3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.

4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games.

5. Best net points in division games.

6. Best net points in all games.

7. Strength of schedule.

8. Best net touchdowns in all games.

9. Coin toss.

TO BREAK A TIE FOR THE WILD-CARD TEAM

If it is necessary to break ties to determine the three Wild-Card clubs from each conference, the following steps will be taken.

1. If the tied clubs are from the same division, apply division tie breaker.

2. If the tied clubs are from different divisions, apply the following steps.

Two Clubs

1. Head-to-head, if applicable.

2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.

3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.

4. Best net points in conference games.

5. Best net points in all games.

6. Strength of schedule.

7. Best net touchdowns in all games.

8. Coin toss.

Three or More Clubs

(Note: If two clubs remain tied after third or other clubs are eliminated, tie breaker reverts to step 1 of applicable two-club format.)

1. Apply division tie breaker to eliminate all but the highest ranked club in each division prior to proceeding to step 2. The original seeding within a division upon application of the division tie breaker remains the same for all subsequent applications of the procedure that are necessary to identify the three Wild-Card participants.

2. Head-to-head sweep. (Applicable only if one club has defeated each of the others or if one club has lost to each of the others.)

3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.

4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.

5. Best net points in conference games.

6. Best net points in all games.

7. Strength of schedule.

8. Best net touchdowns in all games.

9. Coin toss.

When the first Wild-Card team has been identified, the procedure is repeated to name the second Wild-Card, i.e., eliminate all but the highest-ranked club in each division prior to proceeding to step 2, and repeated a third time, if necessary, to identify the third Wild Card. In situations where three or more teams from the same division are involved in the procedure, the original seeding of the teams remains the same for subsequent applications of the tie breaker if the top-ranked team in that division qualifies for a Wild-Card berth.

OTHER TIE-BREAKING PROCEDURES

1. Only one club advances to the playoffs in any tie-breaking step. Remaining tied clubs revert to the first step of the applicable division or Wild-Card tie breakers. As an example, if two clubs remain tied in any tie-breaker step after all other clubs have been eliminated, the procedure reverts to step one of the two-club format to determine the winner. When one club wins the tie breaker, all other clubs revert to step 1 of the applicable two-club or three-club format.

2. In comparing division and conference records or records against common opponents among tied teams, the best won-lost-tied percentage is the deciding factor since teams may have played an unequal number of games.

3. To determine home-field priority among division winners, apply Wild-Card tie breakers.

4. To determine home-field priority for Wild-Card qualifiers, apply division tie breakers (if teams are from the same division) or Wild-Card tie breakers (if teams are from different divisions).

TIE-BREAKING PROCEDURE FOR SELECTION MEETING

If two or more clubs are tied (regular season record) in the selection order, the strength-of-schedule tie breaker is applied, subject to the following exceptions for playoff clubs:

1. The Super Bowl winner is last and the Super Bowl loser next-to-last.

2. Any non-Super Bowl playoff club involved in a tie shall be assigned priority within its segment below that of non-playoff clubs and in the order that the playoff clubs exited from the playoffs. Thus, within a tied segment a playoff club that loses in the Wild-Card game will have priority over a playoff club that loses in the Divisional playoff game, which in turn will have priority over a club that loses in the Conference Championship game. If two tied clubs exited the playoffs in the same round, the tie is broken by strength of schedule.

If any ties cannot be broken by strength of schedule, the divisional or conference tie breakers, whichever are applicable, are applied. Any ties that still exist are broken by a coin flip.

Proposal II: Roster 58

Proposal I 17 votes—ROSTER SIZE WILL BE SET TO 53 WITH 3 PLAYERS FOR IR

Proposal II 5 votes

Proposal I 14 votes—Cuts will be to 40 players

Proposal II 8 votes

Proposal I 5 votes

Proposal II 11 votes---IF PREVIOUS OWNER TRADED TOP 2 PICKS—Will get 1^st, 3^rd, & 5^th at end of each round

To have none 6 votes

YES 14 votes 5 MSN 9 AOL----Owners MUST have IM—BUT can have either one—just have to check email and respond to trade offers yes or no

NO 8 votes

YES 18 votes Will be an extra week to play game for week of Christmas and Thanksgiving

NO 4 votes

YES 12 votes Will put into effect adding HFA depending on last year’s win totals

NO 9 votes

Leave as current 1

Proposal I 10 votes Commish WILL sim game if can’t schedule game with opponent

Proposal II 8 votes

Proposal III 2 votes

Two teams don’t want games simmed at all

AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE (A.F.L.)

RULES & REGULATIONS (Revised, 2000)

The A.F.L. shall be a Fall/Winter league using Action! PC Football Computer Game from Dave Koch Sports.

LEAGUE POSITIONS

The A.F.L. shall have the following positions and position responsibilities:

Commissioner: The Commissioner shall be Tom Gantert until such time as he chooses to relinquish those duties. The Commissioner’s include, but not be limited to: establishing deadlines for all League information; distributing League information (i.e. standings, trades, draft choices, etc); awarding of free agents; determining any warnings or fines to be levied; informing the League membership of any warnings/fines, etc.); conducting the A.F.L. Draft; identifying, screening and determining new members; reviewing Rule Challenges; compilation, distribution and tabulation of the Rule Challenge ballots; Decisions by the Commissioner on all League matters are final.

Statistician: The Statistician's responsibilities include, but are not limited to: compiling and sending the "master" League file for that season’s play; accumulating statistics; compiling League Leaders and distributing information; establishing all-time statistical categories and ensuring League membership compliance and informing the Commissioner of any tardiness on part of League membership. The League Statistician shall be Matt Napoli.

MEMBERSHIP

Additional members shall be added on a "NEED" basis and be decided by the Commissioner.

The League shall consist of thirty-one (31) teams, each owned by a separate member. Teams shall take the names of the N.F.L. teams and the League shall be divided into Conferences and divisions identical to the N.F.L.

SCHEDULE

The league shall play a schedule comprised of sixteen (16) games.

The schedule will be the exact one used for N.F.L. play.

Each Owner/Coach shall have 6 (six) days to complete each game head-to-head via the internet against your opponent.. If any problems arise please call the League Secretary. If a game is not reported on time, the League Secretary has the right to "AutoPlay" the game in order to keep the league on schedule.

INJURIES

The league shall use the injury setting in the game. All injuries carry over to the next week and into the playoffs if the team qualifies.

ROSTER/PLAYERS

Players eligible for play within the A.F.L. shall be players listed in the current version of Action! PC Football for that season. Players are limited to the positions for which they are eligible to play.

Maximum roster size is 60 players.

If at some time, after a player is initially drafted, he is not listed on a roster within Action! PC Football, then he may be kept on the roster as an inactive player. Inactive players continue to be counted toward the maximum roster size of 60 players.

On June 10th, each Owner/Coach will reduce his roster to a maximum of thirty (30) players and will send the unprotected players into a player pool to be selected in the next A.F.L., along with all free agents and any new players listed on rosters within Action! Action Football.

To begin each season each Owner/Coach MUST have at least the following number of players at each position:

QB - 3, RB - 4, WR - 4, TE - 3, OT - 3, OG - 3, C - 2, DE - 3, DT - 3, ILB- 3, OLB- 3, CB - 4, S - 4,

Players are eligible to play only a position in which they are rated by in the game.

GAME SETTINGS

The settings are as follows:

goal post location: endline; field goal miss line: kick spot; kick off line: 30; homfield advantage: 2 for all teams; two point conversion, season fatigue, game fatigue will be on; injuries: normal frequency;

fatigue settings:

season: mild, 110 %; moderate, 180 %, major 200 %

game: mild, 10 %, moderate, 20 % major 25%

we will not use the QB game fatigue or the special teams season fatigue

TRADING

Trading shall be permitted from the conclusion of the Super Bowl until the conclusion of the sixth (6th) week of the A.F.L. season.

To become effective all teams involved in a trade must report the trade to the Commissioner.

Trades may only involve players or draft choices in the next A.F.L. Draft. All clubs must be equal to or below roster limitations when the trade is reported to the Commissioner.

Trades may not involve "player(s) to be named later" or "future considerations". Trades may include "conditional draft choices", but the details of the trade must explicit at the time of the trade.

The commissioner has the right to overturn any trades not made in the best interests of the league.

A.F.L. DRAFT

On June 25th, the A.F.L. Draft will begin via e-mail. Should the draft not be completed by August 1st, the Commissioner shall designate a "draft weekend", when the draft will be completed by phone or via a "chat room". Prior to June 25th, the Commissioner and League Statistician shall distribute a League file or publish a list of all players eligible for the A.F.L. draft. All players who are not on a A.F.L. roster are eligible for the draft. The draft will last thirty (30) rounds or until each team "passes".

Teams will make their selection via e-mail and all picks will be posted on the Webpage.

Teams may elect to "pass" and not select a player in a particular round(s).

If an Owner/G.M. does not wish to participate in the draft via e-mail, the team must forward, to the Commissioner, a list of the players they wish to draft, in the order they wish to make the selections, whether by position or simply by name.

Order of the draft shall be identical to that of the N.F.L.

A.F.L. PLAYOFFS

Each year, at the conclusion of the regular season, a League Champion shall be "crowned" through a process of playoffs.

The playoffs will be conducted identical to that of the N.F.L.

LIMITATIONS

There will be no limitations in A.F.L. play other than those imposed by the game itself.

STADIUMS

Teams will use the stadium for their N.F.L. team.

The home field advantage will be used..

GAME PLAY

All rules within the Action! PC Football will be used, unless modified as follows:

1. There are no ties and overtime is limited to one overtime in the regular season and overtimes are unlimited in the playoffs.

2. Audible: The audible CANNOT be used in any game. The game is programmed to call audibles in certain situations. Our positions in the league are "coaches" not "quarterbacks", therefore the audible is up to the quarterback on the field.

GAME RESULTS/STATISTICS

Each Owner/Coach shall be responsible for submitting game results and statistics to the League Statistician by the required deadlines.

ADDITIONS/CHANGES/DELETIONS TO THE A.F.L. RULES & REGULATIONS

From March 1 to March 15, any Owner/Coach may "challenge" any rule (with the exception of the League Positions Rule). "Challenged" rules are reviewed by the Comissioner and, if deemed in the best interest of the League, put to a vote by the entire League membership from March 16 until March 31 with a 2/3 majority being required to change a rule. Owner/Coaches must notify the Commissioner of "challenges" and whether the proposal is to add, change or delete the rule. If the proposal is to add or change a rule, the Owner/Coaches must include the exact wording of the addition/change. The Commissioner may reject any Rule Challenge for any reason; however, the information must be communicated to the League membership.

The Commissioner is empowered to implement an "executive order" and make additions/changes/deletions to the R&R's at his discretion to ensure the smooth operation or statistical accuracy of the League. Any "executive order" executed must be communicated to the League membership.

Tiebreaking procedures

The following procedures will be used to break standings ties for postseason playoffs and to determine regular-season schedules.

NOTE: Tie games count as one-half win and one-half loss for both clubs.

TO BREAK A TIE WITHIN A DIVISION

If, at the end of the regular season, two or more clubs in the same division finish with identical won-lost-tied percentages, the following steps will be taken until a champion is determined.

Two Clubs

1. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games between the clubs).

2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division.

3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.

4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, if applicable.

5. Best net points in division games.

6. Best net points in all games.

7. Strength of schedule.

8. Best net touchdowns in all games.

9. Coin toss.

Three or More Clubs

(Note: If two clubs remain tied after third or other clubs are eliminated during any step, tie breaker reverts to step 1 of the two-club format).

1. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games among the clubs).

2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division.

3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.

4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games.

5. Best net points in division games.

6. Best net points in all games.

7. Strength of schedule.

8. Best net touchdowns in all games.

9. Coin toss.

TO BREAK A TIE FOR THE WILD-CARD TEAM

If it is necessary to break ties to determine the three Wild-Card clubs from each conference, the following steps will be taken.

1. If the tied clubs are from the same division, apply division tie breaker.

2. If the tied clubs are from different divisions, apply the following steps.

Two Clubs

1. Head-to-head, if applicable.

2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.

3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.

4. Best net points in conference games.

5. Best net points in all games.

6. Strength of schedule.

7. Best net touchdowns in all games.

8. Coin toss.

Three or More Clubs

(Note: If two clubs remain tied after third or other clubs are eliminated, tie breaker reverts to step 1 of applicable two-club format.)

1. Apply division tie breaker to eliminate all but the highest ranked club in each division prior to proceeding to step 2. The original seeding within a division upon application of the division tie breaker remains the same for all subsequent applications of the procedure that are necessary to identify the three Wild-Card participants.

2. Head-to-head sweep. (Applicable only if one club has defeated each of the others or if one club has lost to each of the others.)

3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.

4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.

5. Best net points in conference games.

6. Best net points in all games.

7. Strength of schedule.

8. Best net touchdowns in all games.

9. Coin toss.

When the first Wild-Card team has been identified, the procedure is repeated to name the second Wild-Card, i.e., eliminate all but the highest-ranked club in each division prior to proceeding to step 2, and repeated a third time, if necessary, to identify the third Wild Card. In situations where three or more teams from the same division are involved in the procedure, the original seeding of the teams remains the same for subsequent applications of the tie breaker if the top-ranked team in that division qualifies for a Wild-Card berth.

OTHER TIE-BREAKING PROCEDURES

1. Only one club advances to the playoffs in any tie-breaking step. Remaining tied clubs revert to the first step of the applicable division or Wild-Card tie breakers. As an example, if two clubs remain tied in any tie-breaker step after all other clubs have been eliminated, the procedure reverts to step one of the two-club format to determine the winner. When one club wins the tie breaker, all other clubs revert to step 1 of the applicable two-club or three-club format.

2. In comparing division and conference records or records against common opponents among tied teams, the best won-lost-tied percentage is the deciding factor since teams may have played an unequal number of games.

3. To determine home-field priority among division titlists, apply Wild-Card tie breakers.

4. To determine home-field priority for Wild-Card qualifiers, apply division tie breakers (if teams are from the same division) or Wild-Card tie breakers (if teams are from different ivisions).

TIE-BREAKING PROCEDURE FOR SELECTION MEETING

If two or more clubs are tied in the selection order, the strength-of-schedule tie breaker is applied, subject to the following exceptions for playoff clubs:

1. The Super Bowl winner is last and the Super Bowl loser next-to-last.

2. Any non-Super Bowl playoff club involved in a tie shall be assigned priority within its segment below that of non-playoff clubs and in the order that the playoff clubs exited from the playoffs. Thus, within a tied segment a playoff club that loses in the Wild-Card game will have priority over a playoff club that loses in the Divisional playoff game, which in turn will have priority over a club that loses in the Conference Championship game. If two tied clubs exited the playoffs in the same round, the tie is broken by strength of schedule.

If any ties cannot be broken by strength of schedule, the divisional or conference tie breakers, whichever are applicable, are applied. Any ties that still exist are broken by a coin flip.