IFL Announces 2017 Playoff Format

[David]

12.8.16 -

During the IFL's annual Coaches Meetings, the yearly meeting with all members of the IFL to discuss the state of the league and potential changes for the upcoming 2017 season, the league announced on Thursday that they were changing the playoff format.

In the league's announcement, the 2017 IFL Playoffs will award playoff berths to the top two seeds in the Intense and United Conferences. The first place team will earn the #1 seed and will host the #2 seed and is slated to take place on the weekend of June 23rd, a week after the end of the 2017 regular season. The winners of the Intense and United Conference Championships will then take a week off and then play for the United Bowl Championship, set to play the weekend of July 7.

The playoff format isn't anything new for the IFL - the league used the same format from 2013-2015.

The tweak in the league's playoff format reduces the number of playoff teams from 6 to 4. Last season, the league expanded the playoff format by adding a Wild Card spot for the third place teams in both conferences. In that format, the #2 seed hosted the #3 seeds while the #1 seeds in both conferences were on a bye week, awaiting the winner of the Wild Card.

By eliminating the Wild Card, the IFL places an importance on a competitive regular season to earn a playoff bid. It makes the season more relevant, keeping interest throughout the year as opposed to the AFL's league-wide playoff format.

The 16-game IFL regular season kicks off February 16th and will conclude June 17th. You can view the complete league schedule by clicking here.

- DKH

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[DiamondThief]

I like the format. I would think that if there were more teams, last year's format may have been kept. This puts more emphasis on the regular season. It should be a big deal to make the playoffs. Having only four teams out of 10 makes more sense.