Official Rules of Twelve Man Football

2026 Season

1-3: Season Structure

The following is an outline of the season structure.

1 Structure of the League

1.1 Divisions The league consists of sixteen teams, grouped into four divisions with four teams in each division.

1.2 Regular Season The regular season consists of 12 weeks. Each team plays all divisional opponents twice and two teams from every other division with no bye weeks.

2 Playoff Structure

2.1 Division Leaders The best-ranking team in each division automatically qualifies for the playoffs. Divisional leaders are seeded 1-4 based on their ranking (see Rule 3).

2.2 Wild Cards The 4 best-performing non-divisional leaders (no matter the division) will qualify as wild cards. Wild cards are seeded 5-8 based on their ranking (see Rule 3).

2.3 Wild Card Round In the first round of the playoffs, the #5 and #8 seed wild cards, and the #6 and #7 seed wild cards, respectively, play each other.

2.4 Divisional Round The two winners of the Wild Card round will play the #3 and #4 seed divisional leaders in the Divisional round. The #4 seed plays the lower-seeded of the two Wild Card winners.

2.5 Semifinals The winners of the Divisional round compete in the Semifinals against the #1 and #2 seed divisional leaders. The #2 seed plays the lower-seeded of the two Divisional winners.

2.6 Championship The winners of the two Semifinals compete against each other for the league title in the Twelve Man Football Championship.

3 Rankings

3.1 Use of Rankings The following procedures are used for determining league rankings, as well as determining who is eligible for the Playoffs.

3.2 Season Records Teams are ranked based on their win-loss-tie regular season results (so far) for the teams being compared. A tie is considered equal to half a win.

3.3 Tiebreakers If the above step fails, consult the tiebreaker procedures below. Tiebreakers marked with an asterisk (*) only apply to rankings within a division.

  1. Total regular-season win-loss-tie results in divisional games for each team.*
  2. Head-to-head regular season results, if applicable.
  3. Average points scored per game for each team.
  4. Average points scored per game in divisional games for each team.*
  5. Points scored in regular-season head-to-head matchups, if applicable.
  6. Percentage of correct picks throughout the season.
  7. Percentage of correct over/unders throughout the season.
  8. Coin toss.

3.4 Tiebreakers Between Multiple Teams When breaking ties between 3 or more teams, follow the procedure until at least one team breaks the tie. The procedure then restarts from step 1 to break the tie between the remaining teams. For head-to-head tiebreakers involving 3 or more teams, use the round-robin format.

4-8: Game Rules

The following is the set of rules for play procedure.

4 Picking Procedure

4.1 Picking Games Each player must guess the winners of that week's CFL games (3 or 4 games per week).

4.2 Scoring A correct pick awards the number of points wagered (see Rule 5). Otherwise, no points are awarded.

4.3 Scoring Ties In the event that a CFL game ends in a tie, players will be awarded half of what they wagered, rounding up.

5 Wagering

5.1 Wagering Overview Each player is allotted a number of points to wager on games. They may wager any amount of their allotted points or all of it.

5.2 Point Allocation The total number of wagering points available each week is equal to the number of CFL games that week multiplied by 10.

5.3 Maximums The maximum number of points that can be wagered on a single team is determined by the team's power ranking for the current week:

The maximums for each team are refreshed each week.

5.4 Exceeding Maximums Any points wagered in excess of a team's maximum will be deducted from the wager. Any points wagered in excess of the overall maximum will be deducted starting from the final CFL game. If both of these occur, the former deduction will be performed first.

6 Over/Under Bonuses

6.1 Over/Unders Each team will also play each game's over/under.

6.2 Over/Under Scoring A correct over/under pick is worth 3 points. Otherwise, no points are awarded.

6.3 Even Scoring In the event that the over-under result is even, all participating players will receive 2 points.

7 Deadlines

7.1 Standard Deadline The deadline for all players to submit their picks each week is at 1pm ET the day of the first CFL game. If the first CFL game begins at 4pm ET or earlier, picks will be due at 9pm ET the night before.

7.2 Forfeiture Failure to submit picks by the deadline will result in a forfeiture and a score of 0 for that week. If the opposing team also forfeits, the result is scored as a 0-0 tie. Repeated forfeitures may result in removal from the league.

7.3 Deadline Extension Deadlines may be extended at our discretion, however no submissions will be accepted past the start of the first CFL game.

7.4 Multiple Submissions If a player submits multiple copies of their picks, only the initial submission will be scored. Players may request alterations to their submission prior to the start of the first CFL game.

8 Ties

8.1 Regular Season Ties If both teams earn the same number of points, the game is scored as a tie. There is no overtime competition.

8.2 Postseason Ties If a playoff game ends in a tie, the team with the better playoff seed (see Rule 2) advances to the next round, or, if it is the Championship game, wins the league championship.

For clarification on any rules, please feel free to send an email to: garrettkrygier21@yahoo.com