It took me eight seasons, but I've finally managed to advance to the World Series in my open league, and thus, a birth in the Tournament of Champions.
It appears I'm going to play the first game of the TOC before the first game of the World Series as I was immediately seeded into the tournament, which starts at midnight tomorrow.
As a relative newbie to the game, and a complete TOC virgin, I have several questions I was hoping more experienced owners could answer, such as:
- How are seedings determined? My team had a very poor regular season (86-76) for a division winner, and I've received an 8 seed. I wondered if that was more than a coincidence of if seedings are just random, like division alignment is in an open league.
- My schedule indicates one game a day ... at midnight. Is that a standard deviation from the 3 a day in typical leagues and anyone have any idea why the change for the TOC?
- On my manager's page, the information on upcoming games such as stating pitchers also lists just one pitcher. Does that mean I'm going to be able to change my sp up to the minute of the game or will he have to be set by the start of the previous game?
- Are all series best of 5?

Beyond that ... any advice/suggestions/strategies for competing in this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

--Seedings within each bracket are determined by the regular season records of the teams, so your #8 seed is - as you surmised - a reflection of the relatively pedestrian 86-76 record. I do not know the bracket assignments are done (i.e. which group of 8 you get slotted into). I assume that is random.
-- 1 game per day. I think it's just to prolong the experience and increase the tension of each game.
-- You can change your SP for the very first game of the TOC right up until the time the game is simmed. Just like for the playoffs in a normal league. I believe for each round of the tournament you can do this - just like for each round of the playoffs in a normal league. All subsequent games in the round, your SP will be fixed.
-- First three rounds are best of 5. Last 2 are best of 7.
-- Fatigue is a nightmare. The SIM calculates fatigue as though you were (I think) 20 or so games into a full season, and every player had used a prorated amount of their total PA (for position players) and pitches thrown (for pitchers) in those first 20 games. The upshot is you will see almost everyone in your starting lineup show fatigue immediately. Same with your pitchers. You cannot easily get away with running a 2-3 man rotation, like you can in the postseason of a normal league. Prepare to use your entire roster.
-- IF you win your series in fewer games than your next opponent, you will get an extra day or two of rest for your players. I.E. if you sweep round 1 and your round 2 opponent won his series 3-2, your players will look like they had 2 days of rest compared to his when round 2 starts.
-- A common question is "why am I in a 100M TOC when my team came from an 80M OL" or some variation. SLB calculates the total salary of your 25 man roster, including the actual salary of any SIM-generated AAA players. It then rounds UP to the nearest 10M. So if your total 25-man salary is $91.2M, you will be in a 100M TOC.
-- Do not necessarily be daunted by being a #8 seed...many of the #1 and #2 seeds, especially in the 80M, 90M, and 100M TOCs will have come from progressives, where they often put up gaudy W-L records, but compared to teams from Open Leagues or many other kinds of themes, they will not be as good. It is VERY common for the 7 and 8 seeds to upset the 1 and 2 seeds in the early rounds.

Thanks a bundle for the advice Contrarian. I had you on a short list of individuals I suspected would reach out with a helping hand.

And while I was never daunted by the 8 seed ... I also confess to just being glad to be there as I chalk this tournament as the next lesson by experience. I've already won just by getting the opportunity to gain some knowledge and wisdom of watching the tournament and seeing what works and doesn't work.

With that said, I feel a little more confidence in reading your post, knowing I do use my entire roster ... or at least most of it ... which should help with the fatigue issues you mention. I drafted a lineup a little sparse on the ABs, with the full intention of supplementing it with quality prospects obtained either by random assignment or trades. I achieved that goal both in offense where I have a prospect batting cleanup against righties in the playoffs, and another leading off against lefties ... and in pitching where three minor leaguers combined for 130 innings pitched with a combined ERA of 5.00 ... not great, or even good, but certainly acceptable in the context of when those innings came (mop up ... late season starts). And those 130 innings saved my pitching staff which has dominated in the postseason against teams trotting out arms at 85-90 percent.