There are two weeks left in the 2022 BIG3 regular season, and the fun is about to really begin.
The BIG3 doesn’t do tanking. The two teams that make it to the Championship game don’t get a first-round pick, but other than that the BIG3 draft order is completely random.
This does lead us to the bad news. It will take five or more wins to make the playoffs this year. That means the Enemies, Bivouac, the Triplets, and the Ball Hogs, who have all lost at least four games through Week 6, will not play the last two weeks of the season.
Now, onto the exciting part. Here’s how things will shake out over the last two weeks of what is technically the “regular season” – truth be told, the BIG3 playoffs are underway in everything but name only.
1) The Three-Headed Monsters are the only team in the league with a 5-1 record. They will get a bye and automatic win in Week 7, meaning they will come into Week 8 with a 6-1 record and a guaranteed playoff spot.
2) Three teams have a 4-2 record: the Aliens, Trilogy, and the Killer 3s. Head-to-Head matchups determined the tiebreaker between these three teams. The Aliens played Trilogy in Week 4, and won 50-41. Trilogy defeated the Killer 3’s 51-48 in Week 2. That means the Aliens won the tiebreaker. Consequently, they will get a bye and an automatic win in Week 7, and will come into Week 8 with a 5-2 record.
3) Here is the current tiebreak situation. As stated above, the Aliens won the 3-way tiebreaker amongst the three 4-2 teams. Trilogy is 1-1 in that tiebreaker, while the Killer 3’s (0-1) are last.
Four teams currently have a 3-3 record, giving us a four-way tie. Here’s where the tiebreaker puts them relative to each other:
#1 – Power has a 2-0 record against the other 3-3 teams in the league, having beaten Tri State in Week 1 and 3’s Company in Week 4.
#2 – Tri State has a 1-1 record against the other 3-3 teams in the league, having lost to Power in Week 1 and beaten 3’s Company in Week 2.
#3 – 3’s Company has a 1-2 record against the other 3-3 teams in the league, having lost to Tri State in Week 2 and Power in Week 4 before beating the Ghost Ballers in Week 5.
#4 – Ghost Ballers have an 0-1 record against the other 3-3 teams in the league, having lost to 3’s Company in Week 5.
4) Week 7 will feature three games, all of which will be played on Saturday, July 30th.
First, the 4-2 Killer 3’s will play the 3-3 3’s Company. If 3’s Company, who have looked fantastic the past two weeks, lose, they will be done for the season.
After that, 3-3 Power will play 3-3 Tri State in a rematch of their Week 1 contest. Power won that game, but Tri State Captain Jason Richardson was out due to health and safety protocols, so reading too much into their prior showdown would not be the wisest course of action. This is a win-or-go-home game for both teams. The stakes get very high very quickly in the BIG3.
Finally, 4-2 Trilogy will play the 3-3 Ghost Ballers. This will be a rematch of their showdown in Week 3, when Trilogy came back from a 25-12 deficit at halftime to win the game by a final score of 50-47. If Trilogy gets the win, the Ghost Ballers’ season will end.
5) Week 8 will consist of the 3 Headed Monsters playing the #6 seeded team, the Aliens playing the #5 seeded team, and the #3 and #4 seeded teams playing each other. The 3 Headed Monsters are guaranteed a playoff spot, and will be playing for the top seed. No other team has a guaranteed ticket to the playoffs.
Given the sheer amount of possible outcomes between now and the end of Week 8, all you need to know at this point is that six teams will enter Week 8, four will make the playoffs, and the Three Headed Monsters will be one of those four teams.
5) Week 9 is the official start of the playoffs, and the action will take place in Tampa. The #1 team will play the #4 team, the #2 team will play the #3 team, and the winners will play each other in Atlanta in the 10th and final week of the season.
6) Week 10 will take place in Atlanta. The matinee showing will be the All-Star game, which will consist of top players and two coaches who will not be participating in the Championship game playing against each other.
After that, it’s the Main Event, as the two winners from Week 9 will go at it for the 2022 BIG3 Championship.
So that’s that. This is what the BIG3 is about. From now until a champion is crowned, every single game is crucial. Do yourself a favor and make sure not to miss any of them.