SLAMMERS HIGH SCHOOL SHOWCASE TOURNAMENT
2010
PLAYOFF and
TIEBREAKER RULES
The following Playoff and
Tie-Breaker Rules only apply when determining eligibility/qualifying for
playoff games. Tiebreaker rules have always been difficult. This is
especially true in the case where there are several teams with the same or
tied record worthy to go on to the playoffs; yet, due to a limits on fields
and time to complete the tournament, not every team with tied records can be
assured a playoff spot. The only way to “guarantee” a playoff spot is to
remain undefeated.
It is our sincere belief
that the following set of tiebreakers is the fairest, because the focus is
on win-loss percentages first, head-to-head competition second, and the
“best defensive teams in a given situation”, with least runs allowed, next.
There are also four key
principles to which we consistently adhered:
1) As a general rule, a
tiebreaker between teams with the same win-loss percentage should be
determined on a “head-to-head” since it is the best determinant of which of
the teams in question is the better team;
2) Based on fairness,
where teams with the same win-loss percentage are
vying
for the
final
playoff spot
(usually the runner-up spot or a “wild-card”), and those 2 teams have not
played one another, then the best defensive team in a given situation with
average least runs allowed will be used.
3) If head-to-head did
occur, but that game ended in a tie, and the least runs allowed for each
team is the same, the team with the highest average winning margin in pool
play is the pool winner;
4) If a forfeit occurs in
pool play, the forfeit win will count towards the tiebreaker for win-loss
percentage, and the head-to-head determinants. However, forfeit wins will
not count towards the tiebreaker for average least runs allowed, nor highest
average winning margin in pool play. If a team forfeits a game during pool
play, the NABA reserves the right to exclude the team forfeiting the game
from the playoffs. NABA reserves these rights in order to protect teams
against forfeiting teams gaining an unfair advantage in playoff games.
DETERMINATION OF POOL WINNERS and RUNNER-UPS
A Pool Winner is the team
with the best win-loss percentage within a pool. However, if more than one
team in a pool has the same win-loss percentage, then you must revert to the
tie-breaker(s) below. All examples assume a three game pool schedule.
Determining the Pool Winner/Runner Up
There are two basic
scenarios: A) A tiebreaker involving two teams with the same win-loss
percentage; and B) A tiebreaker involving three (or more) teams with the
same win-loss percentage.
A) Pool
Winner: Two teams with the same win-loss percentage:
In the event two (2)
teams in the same pool finish with the same win-loss percentage, the order
of tiebreakers is as follows:
1) Head-to-Head. (The
team that beat the other is the Pool Winner.)
2) Average Least Runs
Allowed. (If head-to-head
did occur, but that
game ended in a tie, then the team with the fewest runs allowed in pool play
is the Pool Winner.) Average Least Runs Allowed is the total runs allowed
divided by the number of games played. For the purposes of the remaining
examples, this will be referred to as “Least Runs Allowed” (and we will
assume the same number of games played by the teams involved in the
tie-breaker examples).
3) Highest Average
Winning Margin in pool play. (If head-to-head
did occur, but that
game ended in a tie, and, the Least Runs Allowed for each team was the same,
then the team with the Highest Average Winning Margin in pool play is the
Pool Winner.) (For situations where two teams in the same pool with the
same win-loss percentage did not play each other, see (C)(1) below.)
Average Winning Margin is the following: The difference between the total
runs scored and total runs allowed, divided by the number of games played.
For example, in pool play A, with a 2-1 record scored 30 runs and allowed 20
runs in its 3 games, its Average Winning Margin is 3.3.
((30-20)/3=10/3=3.3)
4) Coin Flip. (All
coin flips must take place in the presence of a Tournament Protest Committee
Member.)
The foregoing will be
referred to as the “Two Team Tie-breaker” and/or “Tie-breaker A”. The team
that is not the Pool Winner is the Runner-up.
B) Pool
Winner and Runner-up: Three teams with the same win-loss percentage:
In the event three (3)
teams in the same pool finish with the same win-loss percentage, the order
of tiebreakers is as follows:
1) If one team beats
the other 2 teams, it is the Pool Winner. You then proceed to the “Two Team
Tie-breaker” to determine the Runner-up as to the remaining two teams
starting with head-to-head.
2) If all 3 teams
involved in the tie-breaker beat one another, then
the
team with the most runs allowed among the three involved during all pool
play games is eliminated.
The two remaining teams
revert to the tiebreaker rule for “two teams with the same win-loss
percentage”.
The tiebreaker is as
follows:
a) Head-to-head play
between the two teams involved will determine the pool winner.
b) The non-pool winner
with the least or second fewest runs allowed is the runner-up.
Example: Teams A,
B and C are in the same pool and have 2-1 records (examples made up):
Team A beats Team C 6-2
Team B beats Team A 7-4
Team C beats Team B 6-5
In the event two teams
with the same win-loss percentage played each other twice and split (one win
each), then the team with the highest average winning margin in their two
games is the winner. If this does not resolve the tiebreaker, the
“Tie-greater A” beginning with (A)(2) will determine the winner.
It is possible in an odd
pool, a team (Team A) with a 1-1-1 record same win-loss percentage as a 2-2
team (Team B); in such a case the
Average Runs
Allowed comes into play: Team A allows 21 runs and Team B allows 24, Team B
has a lower Average Runs Allowed (24/4 is 6 which is less than 21/3, or 7).
Each team, thus, has
beaten one of the other two teams and the runs allowed comparison is as
follows:
Team
Runs Allowed
(As between the 3)
A (2-1) 9
B (2-1) 10
C (2-1) 11
And, thus, Team C is
eliminated because it allowed the most runs as between the three teams; and,
since Team B beat Team A, Team B is the Pool Winner (reverting back to
the “Two Team Tie-breaker” in (A)(1). Team A is the Runner-up.
3) If three (3) teams have
the same win-loss percentage and only two of the teams have played against
each other, then the team with the most runs allowed among the three
involved during all pool play is eliminated first. The two remaining teams
revert to the tiebreaker rule for “two teams with the same win-loss
percentage”. This rule applies not only for determination of pool winner
and runner-up, but also for seeding purposes in pools for playoffs.
Good Luck!
(UP-01/10)
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