NSCF Procedural List


Here is the current NSCF procedural list. It is largely the same as originally proposed by the de facto NSCF Commissioner prior to season five – and given consensus approval by member nations – and should be used for subsequent seasons, unless member nations vote otherwise.

The last edit to the procedural list was made by Osarius, prior to NSCF 19. Cosmetic alterations were made prior to NSCF 15, but the content of the procedural list itself remained the same.

If you notice any inaccuracies in the list, please contact Osarius via Telegram on Nationstates, or post in the NSCF discussion thread – you can also use email or twitter – and someone will try and sort it out ASAP.






NSCF Procedural List: Index


This section governs all NSCF rules pertaining to the NSCF Committee.
  • (001a) The NSCF Committee is responsible for the following:
    • Voting on the venue for the NSCF Championship game each season.
    • Voting on who will occupy the two designated "committee vote" playoff berths.
    • Voting on the winners of the end of season awards.
    • Voting on changes to the NSCF procedural list.
  • (001b) NSCF Committee eligibility is awarded to nations who have met one of the following sets of criteria:
    • Scorinated a conference, out-of-conference games, or playoff games AND have entered a team in the most recent season of NSCF.
    • Entered a team in both of the two most recent seasons of NSCF AND have either posted a roleplay or roster in each.
  • (001c) One nation in the NSCF Committee will be nominated to act as NSCF Commissioner, whose duties will be the following:
    • Create all necessary threads for each season
    • Tabulate overall NSCF rankings at the end of each season
    • Manage any voting processes required during his/her tenure
    • Assign conferences for each team at the start of each season, adhering to the conference alignment rules.
  • (001d) The commissioner role does not have a fixed term, but he or she is obligated to invite nominations for a new commissioner at least once every three seasons of NSCF competition.


This section governs all NSCF rules pertaining to scheduling.
  • (002a) The regular season should consist of no more than ten mandatory games.
  • (002b) Teams cannot schedule or play multiple NSCF games on a single matchday.
  • (002c) Teams are permitted to arrange no more than three Non-Conference games (i.e. games against teams in other conferences) for NSCF competition.
  • (002d) Any additional matches played beyond the limits described here will not be considered for NSCF standings or records purposes.
  • (002e) These Non-Conference games will take place on three designated matchdays at the end of the regular season.
  • (002f) In the case of independent colleges, the Non-Conference game limit, and timing restriction are both waived.
  • (002g) Conference championship games do not count toward the limit for mandatory regular season games.


This section governs all NSCF rules pertaining to NSCF conferences and the official NSCF standings.
  • (003a) There will be no more than eight NSCF conferences (as of NSCF 9)
  • (003b) Conferences will be kept the same where possible, using the conference alignment rules.
  • (003c) Each conference will have its own "host", preferably not the same host as in a previous season where possible.
  • (003d) A conference host cannot assume scorination duties for a conference in which there is a team he or she controls.
  • (003e) The conference host is responsible for creating the conference schedule, and providing results to all games within the conference.
  • (003f) Conference schedules are to be released at least 48 hours prior to the cutoff point of matchday one.
  • (003g) Games are to be scorinated three times a week, on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
  • (003h) All conference hosts are to produce standings tables adhering to the conference standings tabulation rules.
  • (003k) Non-Conference games have no bearing on conference standings tabulation, and will only factor into playoff eligibility and seeding calculation.
  • (003m) In the case that fewer teams sign up for a season than the one preceding it, the number of conferences may need to be reduced accordingly. When this happens, the following rules should be followed:
    • (003m-1) Conferences with fewer returning teams (after allocating new teams from the same nations) should be suspended first
    • (003m-2) If a team's conference is suspended, they are allowed to elect their new conference. If they choose not to exercise this right, the team should be drawn randomly into a new one for the upcoming season, according to conference alignment rules
    • (003m-3) Teams should return to their original conference upon its reinstatement
  • (003p) Requests for a change of conference may be made prior to the finalization of the conferences for a season.
    • (003p-1) To prevent abuse, the final decision on these requests will be at the discretion of the Commissioner.
    • (003p-2) Objections from other returning schools from the same conference should be taken into consideration by the Commissioner.
  • (003s) Change of conference requests will not be granted for schools from the same nation in consecutive seasons.
  • (003t) Schools that request a change of conference and are granted that request will be assigned a new conference at random.
    • (003t-1) Where possible, schools from the same nation will remain in the same conference, even when a transfer is requested.


This section governs all NSCF rules pertaining to the NSCF post-season.
  • (004a) The playoffs are to be contested by no more than one third of the teams participating in the regular season.
  • (004b) All conference champions are guaranteed a playoff berth.
  • (004c) All but two of the remaining playoff berths – after conference champions have been awarded berths – are awarded to the teams with the best at-large records using Oracle Sporting Performance Index (OSPI) and the playoff seeding rules.
  • (004d) The remaining two playoff berths are to be selected by Committee vote.
    • (004d-1) Committee members may not vote for teams they control when deciding at-large berths.
    • (004d-2) If votes are tied, the NSCF Commissioner may cast the deciding vote.
    • (004d-3) In the case that the NSCF Commissioner is the controller of one of the teams being voted on, he or she should not vote, and a run-off vote should be held between teams with an even number of votes if required
  • (004e) The playoffs are to be a seeded, single-elimination tournament with the higher seed enjoying home advantage until the NSCF Championship game.
  • (004f) The NSCF Championship game will take place at a venue voted on by the NSCF Committee prior to the start of the playoffs.
  • (004g) The two highest ranked teams (by OSPI) who do not qualify for the playoffs and have not competed in a prior season of NSCF will be invited to the Pioneer Bowl.
    • (004g-1) Pioneer Bowl invitations may be extended to any other newcomer teams in the event that initial invitations are declined.
    • (004g-2) Preference for Pioneer Bowl invitations should be given to teams with superior OSPI scores.


This section governs all NSCF rules pertaining to the official NSCF rankings and awards.
  • (005a) The official NSCF rankings are to be calculated as follows:
    • Divide the number of games won by the maximum number of games played.
    • Multiply this "winning percentage" by four for the most recently completed season.
    • Multiply this "winning percentage" by two for the second most recently completed season.
    • Do not multiply this "winning percentage" for the third recently completed season.
    • The sum of these three figures is a team's overall ranking.
  • (005b) The official NSCF rankings are to be used as base ranks for scorination purposes.
  • (005c) All participating teams may nominate up to two recipients for each of the NSCF awards.
  • (005d) The current list of awards is as follows:
    • Most Outstanding Player
    • Offensive Player of the Year
    • Defensive Player of the Year
    • Special Teams Player of the Year
    • Coach of the Year
  • (005e) NSCF award voting is conducted by the Committee only.
  • (005f) Each nation on the committee may name up to three selections per award, in order of preference.
  • (005g) Nominees are awarded points based on votes received; i.e. first choice gets three points, second choice gets two points, third choice gets one point. The nominee with the most points at the end of the voting period shall be declared the winner.
  • (005h) In case of a tie, the nominee with the most first choice votes will be declared the winner. If this is tied, use second place votes, and so-on.
  • (005k) If the above method does not break the tie, remove all votes for nominees from their own nation and repeat.
  • (005m) If this still does not break the tie, the NSCF Commissioner's vote will count double to settle the tie.
    • (005m-1) In the event there is a tie and the NSCF Commissioner controls a team to which a nominee belongs, a run-off vote should be held instead.


This section governs all NSCF rules pertaining to scorination and roleplaying.
  • (006a) All games will be scorinated using the latest available version of xkoranate.
  • (006b) The sport will be set to American football, using the Post-World Bowl XXXI formula (alternate link) with IFAF overtime.
  • (006c) Home advantage should be enabled for all games except the Championship game.
  • (006d) All conference hosts must be designated before the season starts, and they must declare an approximate RP cutoff time for their conference(s).
  • (006e) Backup hosts must also declare before the season starts.
  • (006f) The playoffs are to be scorinated by at least two persons, if they have teams in the most recent season of NSCF, or one neutral third-party.
    • (006f-1) In the event that the two persons scorinating the playoffs control one each of the teams in the Championship game, a third party scorinator should be found.
  • (006g) Scorinators are to use the official NSCF rankings as base ranks for all teams.
  • (006h) A maximum of FIVE points RP bonus may be awarded per matchday, regardless of the number of RPs posted.
  • (006k) The amount of RP bonus awarded is entirely at the discretion of the person doing the scorination.
  • (006m) RP bonus is to degrade by fifty percent every three matchdays; that is, after matchdays three, six and nine, all accumulated RP bonus to that point is halved. Subsequent RP bonus is added to this amount.
  • (006p) RP bonus is reset to zero after in-conference games are completed, prior to the first round of Non-Conference games.
  • (006s) RP bonus is cumulative through the three Non-Conference matchdays with no degradation.
  • (006t) RP bonus carries over from Non-Conference games and does not degrade or reset during the playoffs.


This section governs the NSCF rules pertaining to how teams are assigned to conferences every season. The following rules should be read in order of precedence, i.e. a rule higher in the list overrules another lower down if there is any conflict.
  • (007a) Returning conference champions always return to the same conference, unless that conference ceases to exist.
  • (007b) New teams from the same nation as a returning team are automatically placed in the same conference as the returning team where possible.
  • (007c) A new team from a nation which competed in the previous season, will be placed in the same conference as the previous team from the same nation.
  • (007d) When a conference is suspended, the returning teams may select which conference they would prefer to be re-assigned to.
    • (007d-1) In the case that there are not enough spaces for all teams to enter their preferred choice, priority is given to the team with higher finish in the previous season.
  • (007e) If a returning team from a suspended conference does not indicate a preference, they should be relocated at random.
  • (007f) When new conferences are created, teams from existing conferences may be randomly selected to populate the new conference alongside new teams if other rules take precedent.
  • (007g) Otherwise, returning teams retain the same conference where possible.
  • (007h) Remaining teams are randomly assigned conferences based on remaining spaces.


This section details the calculation method for the NSCF's primary seeding mechanism.

(008a) The formula should be made readily available at all times, for all participants. The current formula is:
  • ((Winning Percentage * 2) + Opponents' Winning Percentage) / 3
(008b) Winning Percentage (WP) should be calculated as follows:
  • (008b-1) Take the number of home wins multiplied by 0.4
  • (008b-2) Take the number of away wins multiplied by 0.6
  • (008b-3) WP is sum of these numbers, divided by total games played
(008c) Opponents' Winning Percentage (OWP) is an average of the WP for each opponent faced by a team. It should be calculated by the following method:
  • (008c-1) Take the OWP for the opposing team in each game played by a team for the season.
  • (008c-2) Sum those values and divide by the number of games played.


This section details the tie-breaking criteria used for conference standings in NSCF competition.

(009a) The tie-breaking rules should be made clear prior to matchday one of the season by the NSCF Commissioner. The approved list of tie-breakers, in order, is:
  • Number of Wins
  • Number of Head-to-Head Wins
  • Head-to-Head Point Differential
  • Overall Point Differential
  • Total Points Scored
  • Total Away Points Scored
  • Previous Season Rank (optional)
  • Alphabetical Order (optional)

(009b) The final two rules, being almost completely arbitrary, may be omitted at the discretion of the NSCF Commissioner prior to the start of any season.
(009c) If previous season rank is used, new teams – who would not have a previous season rank – are typically assigned an arbitrary rank in pre-season to serve as this value.
(009d) If additional rules are to be included, they must be approved by the NSCF Committee.
(009e) If any of the above (non-optional) rules are to be removed, or the approved list changed in any way, there must be a vote by the NSCF Committee.


This section details the tie-breaking criteria used for deciding at-large berths for the playoffs, as well as playoff seedings in NSCF competition.
(010a) They are, in the following order:
  • Oracle Sporting Performance Index
  • Number of Head-to-Head Wins
  • Head-to-Head Point Differential
  • Overall Point Differential
  • Total Points Scored
  • Total Away Points Scored
  • Previous Season Rank (optional)
  • Alphabetical Order (optional)

(010b) The final two rules, being almost completely arbitrary, may be omitted at the discretion of the NSCF Commissioner prior to the start of any season.
(010c) If previous season rank is used, new teams – who would not have a previous season rank – are typically assigned an arbitrary rank in pre-season to serve as this value.
(010d) If additional rules are to be included, they must be approved by the NSCF Committee.
(010e) If any of the above (non-optional) rules are to be removed, or the approved list changed in any way, there must be a vote by the NSCF Committee.


This section lists all edits made to the procedural list, and links the previous version for comparison purposes. Edits made prior to the end of NSCF 18 may not be listed here, as details have been lost to the sands of time.

Date Link Amendment notes
2018-04-13
Post-NSCF 18
View Added two amendments unanimously ratified by the committee post-NSCF 18.
Also updated the list with reference numbers and a history section
2014-09-08
Pre-NSCF 10
View No notes available. Included for posterity.