Advice for playoff format for a 32 team fictional league
 

I'm in the 5th season of a 28 team league with 2 sub leagues. Each with 2 divisions. I'm going to expand to 32 teams and am undecided about a playoff format. Currently I have the 4 division winners and 4 wildcards but I think I should expand the playoffs as well. What do you guys do in your leagues?

I'm personally a fan of region-based playoffs. Almost similar to what the NHL does.

In your 32 team league with 4 divisions, the 3 top teams of each division make the playoffs (out of 8). The #2 and #3 teams play a short series, maybe 3-5 games, to determine who goes to play the division winners.


This ultimately gives you one true winner per division (those who make Final 4), gives a clear boost to division winners (first round bye), and lets you build up rivalries by having common teams playing in the postseason.