The 2016 arrived with a general sense of tension among the teams. It had now been five years of Red Zone play, and still only two teams had won the Schadenfreude. An uprising seemed inevitable.
Astonishingly, that uprising kicked off into high gear right from Week 1. Both IO and RG stumbled into 0-2 starts with very poor showings all around. The league was abuzz from the power vacuum, with MN, NSA, and TC2 all vying to fill the position. However, by the time Week 9 rolled around, IO had righted the ship and was tied for first with the impressive MN and TC2, all with 6-3 records. NSA and 302 were close behind at 5-4. Amazingly, RG still languished at 3-6. Missing the playoffs seemed certain.
RG finished the season strong, competing with 302 and VV (in Dan Wanous' first season) for the final two playoff positions. Given the three-way tie in record at 6-7, points-scored was the critical tie-breaker. 302 had the most, followed by a razor-thin margin pushing RG ahead of VV.
But wait. Awakening the following morning, IO discovered that ESPN had granted the last two spots to 302 and VV, not 302 and RG. A closer look revealed that once the three-way tie was broken (by points-scored, favoring 302), the remaining two teams had a normal head-to-head tiebreaker, which favored VV's early season victory over RG. The #6 seed belonged to VV. RG was out of the playoffs for the first time.
MN secured the #1 seed, IO the #2, and TC2 the #3, with NSA, 302, and VV rounding out the top-6. Due to a rash of unfortunate injuries, the #3 team TC2 was actually a bit underpowered, and lost in the first round versus their chosen opponent, 302 (score: 78.7-108). NSA survived a nail-biter against VV (score: 100.4-98.9), and Dan Wanous' rookie season Cinderella story came to a close. In the second round, top seed MN chose to play 302, which was a smart decision (135.7-114.7). IO was beaten soundly by the seemingly-unstoppable David Johnson-led NSA (89.1-136.3). For the first time, both IO and RG would not even be able to compete for a championship.
In a season of close margins, the championship game proved to be the cherry on top of the sundae. Both teams scored impressive totals (130+), with NSA having two players top 30 points, and MN having three players top 23 points. Both teams brought their A-game, but when the dust settled, MN came out on top, with a score of 136.8 to 133.2. It was the closest championship match in league history, a margin of just 3.6 points. There was some new blood at the top of the leaderboard for the first time in six years.