Ok so I’m tryna paint how the afc playoff picture will end up so I looked at the top 9 teams schedules and picked what games I think each team will win. For my picks I have a 3 way tie for the wild card between the Browns, Titans, and Ravens at 11-5 a piece. In this scenario the Ravens lost to the Titans but beat the browns twice, and the browns beat the Titans. How would they seed this 3 way tie??
D.E.B.S.
Favorite Answer
First look at the teams in the same division and determine who is higher. Then compare that team against the non-division team. (At this point you already know that the lower same division seed is the 3rd WC seed.)
So.....
1. Ravens are the higher seed in their division for their head to head sweep of the Browns.
2. Titans beat Ravens.
The seeding therefore is:
Titans
Ravens
Browns
Even though Browns beat the Titans, you never get to use that in the tiebreaker since the Browns got eliminated from further consideration for being the lower seed within their division.
ESPN Playoff Machine confirms this.
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Titans win the tiebreaker because they beat the Ravens, and the Ravens in turn will have the tiebreaker over the Browns -- not because of a head-to-head sweep (though it definitely helps), it's because of a better divisional record (4-2 vs. at best 3-3). The fact that the Browns beat the Titans is superseded by the divisional tiebreakers.
There is a case where Baltimore could lose @ Cincinnati and the Browns win vs. Pittsburgh week 17...should the Ravens and Browns overall records be tied and the Ravens took game this coming weekend, the head-to-head sweep DEBS mentioned would be the determining tiebreaker. Of course, this scenario would require Baltimore to beat both Jacksonville and the NY Giants (both at home) while Cleveland would have to lose at the aforementioned Giants and the NY Jets (both on the road).
Cu Tie
Highest seed: Ravens
Browns
Lowest seed: Titans
In this case, you would break the tie within the teams in the same division. Since the Ravens swept the Browns, they would have the highest seed of the 3 teams. Now, this leaves the Browns and Titans as the two remaining teams. Since the Browns beat the Titans, the Browns are the next highest seed, and the Titans would be the lowest seed of the 3 teams.
Generic Account #6518973425
I think the Cleveland Biggins definitely have a shot at this