Playoff Rules

 

Teams emerging from Pool Play

4 & 5 Team Pools: The top 2 Teams advance to the Playoff Round
6 & 7 Team Pools: The top 3 Teams advance to the Playoff Round

Tie-Breakers
Our objective is for the strongest teams to advance.  We recognize there are various ways to measure this "strength."  We're publishing our system so that everyone is aware of the rules that we employ.  Please note, we do not play tie-breaker games.

1st, we look to head-to-head competition among the tied teams.  The team with the best record advances.

2nd, if tied, we look to the point differential among the tied teams; the team(s) with the highest average point differential advances.

3rd, if still tied, we look to the point differential of the tied teams against all the teams in the pool; again, the team(s) with the highest average point differential advances.

4th, if still tied, we flip a coin.


Average Point Differential Defined

The point differential (PD) is the point spread in the game. 
Example:  If Team A beats Team B by a score of 25 - 17, Team A's PD for that game is plus 8.  If Team A loses to Team C 23 - 25, the PD is minus 2.  The average point differential for Team A based on these two games is 3, which is determined by taking the total point differential, 6 (+8 & -2), and dividing it by the number of games, 2.


Seeding for the Playoff Round
Our objective is for the strongest teams to have the easiest route to the finals.  But we do have a bias against seeding teams from the same pool into the same bracket for the 1st round of the playoffs. 

If we have 2 or 4 pools, we'll seed as follows:
2 Pools: 1st Ct A v. 2nd Ct B; 1st Ct B v. 2nd Ct A.
4 Pools: 1st Ct A v. 2nd Ct D; 1st Ct B v. 2nd Ct C; 1st Ct C v. 2nd Ct B; 1st Ct D v. 2nd Ct A.  (Ct A is the lowest numbered court/division, B is the 2nd lowest, C the 3rd lowest & D is the highest.

If we have 3, 5, 6 or 7 pools, we'll seed the playoffs based on relative strength. 

Important Note: Under the relative strength seeding, a team just might end up playing another team from its pool in the 1st round of the playoffs, unless we can avoid it.  For example, in a 6-team playoff format, where the top 2 1st place teams receive byes, it is possible that the weakest 1st place team from pool play was in the same pool as the weakest 2nd place team.  Come playoffs, those two teams could meet in the 1st round.

Again, we recognize there are various ways to measure this "strength."  We use the following approach:

1st, we look to the won/lost record with the teams with the lowest number of loses getting the highest seeds.  So, an undefeated team in a 4-team pool is treated as tied when comparing that team to an undefeated team in a 5-team pool, even though the team from the 4-team pool will have more wins (having played more games).  Likewise, a team with 1 loss in a 4-team pool is treated as tied with a team with 1 loss in a 5-team pool.

2nd, if tied, we look to the pool play point differential among the tied teams; the team with the highest average point differential will receive the highest seed.

3rd, if still tied, we flip a coin.