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The fantasy football season is not over! Not over? Nah, it ain’t over! The fantasy football season continues thanks to sites like Underdog Fantasy which host fantasy football playoff tournaments. If you are new to Underdog or have already been playing on their site, I’m here to help you with their postseason contests. Underdog has three specific contests that last throughout the playoffs with different entry fees and grand prizes that you can sign up for.

New to Underdog Fantasy? you are a new user and make your first-time deposit, get a 100% deposit match of up to $100. Take advantage of this terrific offer here. 

If you don’t know what Underdog is, learn all about it here. Let’s get right into it with Underdog Best Ball: The 2023 NFL Playoffs.

Underdog Playoff Tournaments

• The Big Mitten is a $250 entry that will have 900 entries with prizes up to 250k. 1st place is 40k. 17 Max entries.
• The Gauntlet is a $25 entry that will have 45,216 entries and 1 Million in prizes with a 200k prize for 1st place. 150 Max entries
• The Mitten which is the most popular and already in its 4th tournament is just a $5 entry with 56,520 entries with prizes up to $250k, with 35k going to first place. 150 Max entries.

All these tournaments are “BestBall” drafts that run through the Super Bowl and have exactly the same lineup and scoring rules. The only difference is the size of the pool, the entry fee, and the payout structures. Every draft has 6 drafters and is 10 rounds. There are no individual league prizes, you are playing for the overall prizes. Check the Underdog site or app for all rules and settings.

Lineup Format & Scoring

•  1 QB, 1 RB, 2 WR/TE, 1 Flex, 5 Bench
• .5 PPR, 4 Points for Passing, Rushing, Rec TD
• 0.04 for Passing Yards, 0.1 for Rushing, Receiving Yards
• 2 Points for 2 Point Conversion, -1 for Interception, -1 for Fumble

Draft Strategy

The first thing you’ll want to do is determine how many entries you are going to have. To bring home some cash, you are very likely going to need multiple entries. Both the Mitten and Gauntlet allow up to 150 entries and no doubt, just like in DFS, some players will have an enormous amount of entries.  Depending on your budget and bankroll make sure you are investing responsibly while also giving yourself a chance to bring home some prize money.

Next, fill out your playoff bracket and determine which players on what teams you want to target. Make your own rankings or follow somebody else’s that you trust. Ideally, you want the top players on the top teams. As many as you can grab. The further they advance the more points the players will accumulate. Additionally, take some upsets and have some sleeper picks. You’re going to need to take some chances if you want a shot at winning one of these tournaments. For example, Saquon Barkley will be going later in these drafts than in a normal draft. If the Giants somehow make a run, you are going to have a monster pick on your hands.

Finally, if you have players on the Eagles or Chiefs, make sure you don’t forget that they both have byes. Make sure you have players going in the Wild Card round to back them up so you aren’t left with 0 points from that position. If you are drafting Patrick Mahomes or Jalen Hurts then you want to make sure you are grabbing a Trevor Lawrence or Tom Brady, or whoever you think is best.

Predicting the Super Bowl

The biggest thing to remember here is that if you pick the Super Bowl correctly, you can really make a run. Drafting enough players from the two teams that you believe will be playing each other is the best way to have a shot at cashing.

If you have the Bills and Eagles in the Super Bowl then you are going to want to add multiple players from those teams. If you play DFS this is known as stacking and the same term applies here. Whatever teams you have advancing the furthest you want to make sure you are stacking players on those teams. You can go as four, five, or even six deep, just make sure you are still adding players who can score points.

That being said, passing up on Tyreek Hill even though he’s likely one and done for a Quez Watkins probably isn’t smart. You still need to score points so make sure you balance your team with players that will advance but also have players that can put up points, even if that means they are likely going out in the first round. Hill could score 30 points in one game while Watkins could play four games and still not reach 30. However, sometimes role players who didn’t do much in the regular season really step up and have huge performances in the playoffs.

You are likely going to want to draft at least two quarterbacks unless you take Joe Burrow or Josh Allen and you are confident they are going to make it to the Super Bowl. As I mentioned earlier, if you draft Mahomes or Hurts then you definitely need to draft two quarterbacks. Conversely, if you draft Tom Brady or Dak Prescott then you probably want to draft another quarterback from the AFC that you think can make a run, like Justin Herbert or Lawrence.

Another way to go would be to take two quarterbacks from the same conference and hope one of them pushes through. This is why having multiple entries helps as it gives you different options to build different teams. All these different variations and possibilities are crucial if you want a chance at winning a tournament like this.

Best Teams To Build Around

Personally, I think this is the Buffalo Bills season and they will win the Super Bowl. Not only are they one of the best teams, but they are probably the most tight-knit team, especially after what happened to Damar Hamlin. They will be playing on a different emotional level than the rest of the playoff teams.

Ideally, I would like to see them play the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl and get some redemption from those back-to-back losses in the 90s, but I think the NFC representative will be the Eagles or 49ers. With that said, the NFC is wide open and in the AFC it could be the Bills, Bengals, or Chiefs. Maybe the Chargers or Jaguars make a run.

There is a ton of parity in this league right now and there will be upsets in the playoffs. Just remember to have multiple entries, stack players on the teams you have going the farthest, and take some chances on players on teams that you think can upset and make a run.

All the best in your Fantasy Playoff contests. You can follow me on Twitter @FantasySavvy and if you guys have any questions pertaining to Playoff Fantasy, I will be happy to answer them. Most importantly: Invest responsibly and have fun.

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