Playoff picture

Definition

The playoff picture is derived from the standings order and the league's declared bracket size, N:

• in_bracket is the top N teams, clamped to the number of teams;
• byes is the top few of those, 2^ceil(log2 N) - N teams, the number that turns the bracket into a clean power-of-two field (6 teams: 2 byes; 7 teams: 1; 8 teams: 0);
• first_out is the team ranked N + 1, or null when the whole league is in;
• bubble is ranks N - 1 through N + 2;
• cut_line_after_rank is N;
• consolation is everyone below the cut.

source says where the order came from: derived from the standings, confirmed by the operator, or commissioner when the operator supplied the seed order. seeding_unconfirmed is true for a playoff-week issue whose bracket was derived and never confirmed, so the issue can say so.

Worked example

{
  "standings": {
    "playoff_picture": {
      "source": "derived",
      "seeding_unconfirmed": false,
      "in_bracket": [
        "2",
        "1",
        "3",
        "9",
        "5",
        "6"
      ],
      "byes": [
        "2",
        "1"
      ],
      "first_out": "12",
      "bubble": [
        "5",
        "6",
        "12",
        "8"
      ],
      "cut_line_after_rank": 6,
      "consolation": [
        "12",
        "8",
        "4",
        "10",
        "11",
        "7"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Code

def _playoff_picture(
    ordered: list[str], league: LeagueModel, source: str
) -> PlayoffPicture | None:
    """The playoff picture for a standings order, or ``None`` when the league
    declares no playoff bracket size (``league.format.playoff is None``) or has
    no rosters. ``source`` is ``"derived"``, ``"confirmed"`` or
    ``"commissioner"`` depending on the operative seeding mode."""
    playoff = league.format.playoff
    if playoff is None or not ordered:
        return None

    bracket = min(playoff.bracket_teams, len(ordered))
    in_bracket = ordered[:bracket]
    # The bye count that makes the bracket a clean power-of-two field -- the one
    # shared rule (Story 5.7's stats/stakes.py reads the same helper).
    byes = bye_count(bracket)
    bubble = ordered[max(bracket - 1, 1) - 1 : min(bracket + 2, len(ordered))]
    return PlayoffPicture(
        source=source,
        in_bracket=in_bracket,
        byes=in_bracket[:byes],
        first_out=ordered[bracket] if bracket < len(ordered) else None,
        bubble=bubble,
        cut_line_after_rank=bracket,
        consolation=ordered[bracket:],
    )

Edge cases

• No playoff settings. If the league declares no bracket size, or has no teams, playoff_picture is null.
• Whole league in. If the bracket size is at least the number of teams, it is clamped, first_out is null and consolation is empty.
• Commissioner override. The supplied seeds go first in the given order and the rest follow in derived order. source becomes commissioner. An override is only accepted from the week before the playoffs start.
• Confirmation. A confirmed order marks source as confirmed and does not change the order.
• Short brackets. The bubble is clipped to valid ranks in a small league.

Related

• NFL byes