Campus to Canton Leagues: An Introduction

Here at DLF, we strive to evolve and grow with the game of dynasty fantasy football. In that spirit we have decided to start a new article series, introducing the latest dynasty craze – Campus to Canton leagues. My goal is to start off slow, focusing on the basics while establishing an understanding of how everything works. As we progress through the series, I will dive into strategies, player values, buys and sells, and more!

The quest for the next big thing in fantasy football is never-ending. We all started as redraft players, but it doesn’t take long before that itch sets in. We want to gain an edge over our opponents, but even the best rankings sheet only gets us so far. The next logical step is to join a dynasty league, where we focus on the players year-round and there’s an added emphasis on rookies.

Some of the more “extreme” dynasty players take that next step by joining a devy league, drafting the players while they are still in college. With devy leagues, we’re able to show off our prospecting skills while getting excited for the future of our dynasty squad, and that’s when the next itch sets in. Why should we have to wait two to three years to start benefitting from these developmental players?

In steps C2C, or Campus to Canton leagues. Now we can have our cake and eat it too, with our college players scoring points for us on Saturdays (and Fridays, Thursdays, Wednesdays, and even the occasional Tuesday)! Rather than having a dynasty roster with a small amount of devy players on a taxi squad, college and NFL players are split into two separate groups, the campus and the canton league. Having two different leagues offers a lot of flexibility, and you can customize them however your group desires.

Canton League

The canton league is pretty easy to cover because it’s just a normal dynasty league. Choose your league hosting site (Sleeper or MFL), adjust the settings to how you see fit, have a startup draft, and get to building those dynasties! Nothing is out of the ordinary about this league – it’s essentially a devy league with deep developmental rosters.

Campus League

This is when the fun begins. After your canton squad is drafted, it’s time to begin another startup on the college side! For now, there is only one college fantasy football hosting site, Fantrax. Once everyone is all set up, you’ll draft just as you would in any other startup. Fantrax allows you to draft and trade picks, although it will take a little time to get used to their trading system.

We will dive into strategies in future articles, but one of the great things about a C2C league is the ability to trade anything. While drafting your campus squad, you can trade any combination of campus players, campus picks, canton players, and canton picks. Keep in mind that canton picks are extremely depleted, and not nearly as valuable as a normal dynasty league. Future-year campus picks, referred to as supplemental picks, can be used in trades as well.

Above is a common setup for a campus league. Two-QB settings are generally used instead of a superflex spot, because there are so many QBs available. Some leagues even add a superflex spot in addition to the two QBs. With large starting rosters, the propensity for college players to sit out a game without warning, and a lower hit rate, it’s smart to have large rosters. I generally recommend somewhere between 40 and 50 total campus spots, or else managers could end up with a very difficult time trying to set a lineup some weeks.

College teams and players are not held to the same standard as NFL teams when it comes to reporting injuries. There are times when a player will sit out without any warning whatsoever, or at the very least with very little time left to make moves after it’s announced. Luckily, Fantrax has created an autosub feature, which will substitute a player(s) of your choosing. Before any games start for the week, you can rank your bench players in the order that you would like them subbed in – up to nine total reserves.

Waivers

Everyone does waivers in C2C leagues differently. I prefer no waivers or free-agent pickups throughout the year. That means the only time you can add players to your roster is through the startup draft, trades, and future supplemental drafts. The reason why this is my preference is that it makes the supplemental draft picks more valuable. Some people prefer two waiver periods in-season, which gives managers a chance to add some breakout players to help with a championship push. Some leagues also prefer having weekly waivers, like in a canton league, so in the end it’s just a matter of preference.

Playoffs and Payouts

Each league will have its own playoffs, championship, and payouts. The college football regular season is only 13 weeks long (12 games and a bye), so the common setup is for the regular season of the campus league to be weeks 1-10, with playoffs being weeks 11-13. Every league has the distribution of winnings set up differently, but I prefer 50/50. Some people like rewarding a manager more for winning the canton side, but ultimately that’s up to you and your league-mates. The important thing is to keep interest in both leagues, so managers don’t check out of one or the other.

There’s so much more we can and will get into, as we progress through this series, but I think we’ve just about covered all of the basics. I’ve quickly grown attached to the campus-to-canton format, and while it definitely takes a little bit of bravery in the beginning, it can be a very rewarding process.

C2C leagues are the perfect way to combine your love of college football with your love of fantasy football. Even if you’re not a big college football fan, it’s a great way to get a head start on the rest of your dynasty leagues. I hope I’ve at least piqued your interest, and you will continue along with me, as we try to scratch that itch that is fantasy football.

If you would like help setting up a campus-to-canton league, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter @DynastyCoachA. Follow this link for an example of C2C bylaws from my friend and C2C commissioner @Levi_Valentine https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-D8T_BjEC1wqW0kYbgIXlJJ2bDDkAZ1y91W6nQ25RJY/edit?usp=drivesdk