What is the spread?

A "spread" is a formula that odds-makers use to make football games more 'competitive.' Essentially, the spread "levels the field" by manipulating the score (on paper only) and makes those potentially one-sided games a bit more exciting.

Say for example, the worst team in the league (Team Awful) is playing the best team in the league (Team Best). Chances are that this game will not be much fun to watch.  Here's where the spread makes things a bit more interesting. Because Team Best is the favorite to win, they will have points subtracted from their final score OR the underdog (Team Awful) will have those points added their score to determine the final point spread score. 

How do you know whether to add points to the underdog or subtract points from the favorite? It's determined by the final (real life) score of the game. If the favorite wins - you subtract their spread points from their score to see who wins using the spread. If the underdog wins - you add the points to their score. Do NOT make the mistake of doing both (adding AND subtracting).

Confused? Let's explain more through the use of an example.

If the odds-makers think that Team Best (the favorite) be should win their game by 9 points, that team will be deducted those 9 points off the Team Best's final score. Team Awful (the underdog) will be given those points on the final score.  Here's how you will see the spread reported before the game begins:

Team Awful (+9)  - in this example, Team Awful "gets" points

Team Best (-9)  - in this example, Team Best "gives" points

Another way to displayed the spread is to show only the favorite team's deducted points and leave out the underdog's added points.

For example: Team Awful vs. Team Best (-9).

It is implied that Team Awful gets the 9 points added to their score when Team Best has them deducted.

Time to apply the spread

When the score is final, the spread is applied (get ready, here comes some math!). 

Example 1: the Favored Team

Let's say that Team Awful (+9) looses the game with a final score of 7 - 14 The favorite team, Team Best (-9), wins their game and goes to the locker room to celebrate. HOWEVER, if you used a spread, Team Best just lost! Why?! Because Team Best was deducted 9 points from their final score because of the spread. To put it in more concrete terms, we put the score into a formula: final score - point spread = final spread score.  Now, applying the formula to Team Best's score: 14 - 9 = 5. So, Team Best looses because their point spread final score of 5 does not beat Team Awful's score of 7.

Example 2: the Underdog

Using a spread, the underdog team can actually loose their game in real life, but win on paper. However, they cannot lose by more than the spread. So if you picked the underdog, Team Awful (+ 5), to win against the favored Team Best (- 5), here's how it would play out.  Team Awful looses their game 10 - 13, but since you are using the spread and they are the underdog, Team Awful 'get points'. Team Awful's score: 10 + 5 (added points for underdog) = 15.  The final point spread score for this game is Team Awful - 15, Team Best - 13; Team Awful wins by the spread!

Example 3: plus 1/minus 1 and the Push

The favored team must win their game by the number of points they are favored by plus one.  What?!  Why plus one?!!  Let's say Team Best is favored by 7 points for this example, written as Team Best (-7).  If the final score is Team Awful - 14, Team Best - 21 our formula will reveal a tie because they did not win by 8 points (spread of 7 + 1 = 8).  Team Best's score: 21 (final score) - 7 (spread) = 14 (final spread score) leaving the final spread score Team Awful - 14, Team Best - 14.  Because they did not win by the spread + 1, the game is a tie, also known as a "push". 

Similarly, the underdog can loose their game (in real life) and still win using the spread; but they cannot lose by more than the spread minus one. If the underdog looses by the exact number of the spread it is a push or a tie. For example, Team Awful is a 7 point underdog: Team Awful vs. Team Best (-7). If the final score is Team Awful: 14; Team Best: 21; Team Awful's score: 14 + 7 = 21. Final point spread score: 21 - 21! If the underdog, Team Awful, would have lost by 6 points (spread minus one) instead of 7, they would have won with a final spread score of Team Awful 22 - Team Best 21.

What about those silly 1/2 points?

Never being one to want to give away money, odds-makers will often make the spread include a half of a point to avoid creating a tie. For example, a 3 1/2 point spread would be written: Team Awful (+3 1/2) vs. Team Best (-3 1/2). Following the same math as above, Team Best would need to win their game by 4 points in order to "cover the spread", or exceeding the amount of the spread. The cool thing about 1/2 points is that is avoids ties and the +/- 1 concept mentioned above, but it also bites you on the backside when you loose because of a stinking half of a point. Man that hurts!

How do you create the spread?

The formula for creating spreads is rather tricky (or so we're told).  Kinda N.A.S.A. meets Albert Einstein.  But the beauty is that you don't have to do it. At SurvivorFootball.com, we use Vegas odds through Vegas.com (this may be a good time to remind you that SurvivorFootball.com is a non-gambling site and is for entertainment purposes only. The purpose of having a spread in our leagues is to add an additional element of difficulty to the competition). There are loads of other places out there on the 'net that provide a spread and they're pretty easy to locate. So never fear, you won't be asked to create you own spread here!  *shew*

How does the SurvivorFootball.com software handle spreads?

If you, or your commissioner, choose to create a league using a spread it will work exactly as described above. However, ties have two different options on how they are handled by our system, depending on which option the commissioner has selected: 1) ties count as a loss or 2) ties count as a win.  The option your commissioner chooses when creating their league will determine how the system handles a tie.

Click on the links below to learn more about SurvivorFootball.com and how to create your own league!