JHML Playoff Tiebreaker Scenarios

  1. Division Champions

    The team with the best record in each division is the Division Champion. Ties for the division are always broken on the field, following the procedures in Section VI below. After ties for the division are broken, any teams in the tie that did not win the division are considered to have their original final regular season record restored to then determine if they are eligible for 2nd or 3rd place playoff spots. (In other words, playoff games played to determine a division winner cannot help or hurt a team's record for subsequent determination of 2nd & 3rd place standing.

  2. 2nd & 3rd Place Playoff Qualifiers

    Once the Division Champion is determined, and any teams involved in division tiebreak games have their records restored, the next two best records in each division also qualify for the playoffs. The one with the best record is the 2nd Place Qualifier and the other is the 3rd Place Qualifier. If there is a tie between these two teams, the determination of which is the 2nd Place Qualifier and which is the 3rd Place Qualifier is based on:
    1. Who won the head-to-head regular season competition between the two teams (tiebreak games do not count).
    2. If that is tied, overall regular season record in division games (tiebreak games do not count).
    3. If that is also tied, the seeding is determined by random chance.

  3. Ties for 2nd & 3rd Place Qualifier Spots

    Ties for the last qualifying spot to make the playoffs are played off on the field, following the procedures in Section VI and Section VII below. These include 2-or-more-way ties for 3rd place in the division, or 3-or-more-way ties for 2nd place in the division. Most of these procedures are detailed in Section VI, but there are a few instances where a 4-or-more-way tie for the Division Champion exists, and the same playoff that determines the Division Champion can also be used to determine the 2nd and 3rd Place Qualifiers. Those exceptions are detailed in Section VI.

  4. Playoffs

    The 2nd and 3rd Place Qualifiers play a best-of-5 series, with the 2nd Place Qualifier hosting games 1, 2, and 5. The normal playoff schedule is as follows. Consider Day 0 to be the last day of the JHML Regular Season, with Day 1 being the first day of the season:

    The Qualifier Series winner and the Division Champion then play a best-of-7 series, with the Division winner home for games 1, 2, 6, and 7, starting on Day 9. Note that even if the Qualifier Series ends in fewer than 5 games, this series still does not start until Day 9. Games are played on Day 9, 10, 12, 13, 14 (if necessary), 16 (if necessary), and 17 (if necessary).

    The two Division Championship Series winners then play the World Series, with the higher seeded team having home field advantage for Games 1, 2, 6, and 7. (Seeding is determined based on JHML Rule II.D.13.1, as follows: If one World Series contestant is a regular season Division Champion while the other is a 2nd or 3rd Place Qualifier, the Division Champion shall have the higher seed. Otherwise, the team with the better regular season record shall have the higher seed. If that is tied, head-to-head regular season record between the two teams is used to determine the higher seed. If that is also tied, random chance is used). The World Series begins, after two off days on Days 18 and 19, and games are played on Days 20, 21, 23, 24, 25 (if necessary), 27 (if necessary), and 28 (if necessary).

    If any playoff tiebreak games described below in Section VI and Section VII are required to determine regular season Division Champions or 2nd and 3rd Place Qualifiers, those games begin the day after the season ends (Day 1). The beginning of the Qualifier Series in that division is delayed as long as required and begins the soonest day possible. Off Days and Travel Days are eliminated from the above schedule until it "catches up" to where it is supposed to be.

    Note that it is possible to have a 2-way tie for the division, as well as a 2-or-more-way tie for the 3rd Place Qualifier spot. In this one particular case, the two sets of playoffs to break these ties (the first described in Section VI.A and the second described in Section VII), can be going on simultaneously, both starting on Day 1. In all other instances, the division tie must be broken first before any Qualifier ties are broken.

    Examples:

    2-way tie for Division is resolved on Day 1 according to Section VI.A. Therefore the Qualifier Series involving the loser of this tie can begin as scheduled on Day 2.

    4-way tie for Division is resolved in 2 days (Day 1 & Day 2) according to Section VI.C, and the Qualifiers are resolved using this same process. Qualifier series then begins on Day 3, and the scheduled off day on Day 4 is eliminated so that the series "catches up" with the schedule.

    5-way tie for 3rd Place Qualifier Spot takes 3 days to resolve (Days 1, 2, and 3) as per Section VII.D. Qualifier Series then begins on Day 4, and the scheduled off day is eliminated from the series. If the Qualifier Series goes 5 games, it takes until Day 8, originally scheduled as an off day. The Divisional Championship then begins as scheduled normally on Day 9.

  5. Playoff Tiebreak Games

    1. The roster and player usage for all playoff tiebreak games described in Section VI and Section VII below are described in JHML Rule II.D.5 in the Official JHML Rules.
    2. Home field for all playoff tiebreak games described in Section VI and Section VII below is determined as follows:
      1. The team with the best-head-to-head record in regular season games shall be the home team.
      2. If that is tied, the team with the best record in regular season division games shall be the home team. [Note: If a future JHML playoff format allows for wild cards, or potential playoff spots that can be competed for by teams from different divisions, this step would not apply to tiebreak games for those playoff spots].
      3. If that is tied, home team shall be determined by random chance.

  6. Breaking Divisional Ties

    1. Two teams tied for first place in the division: a one-game playoff is played on Day 1. The winner is the Division Champion.
    2. Three teams tied for first place in the division: one team is chosen at random to receive a bye. The other two teams play on Day 1. The winner plays the bye team in a game on Day 2. The winner of that game is the Division Champion. The other two are both Playoff Qualifiers, and their seeding is determined based on the rules in Section II above.
    3. Four teams tied for first place in the division: the teams are paired randomly and playoff on Day 1. On Day 2, the winners from Day 1 play each other. The winner of this Day 2 game is the Division Champion. The loser is one of the two Playoff Qualifiers.

      Meanwhile, the Day 1 losers also play each other on Day 2. The winner of this game is one of the two Playoff Qualifiers. The loser is eliminated. The seeding of the two Playoff Qualifiers is determined as described in Section II above.

    4. Five teams tied for first place in the division: two teams are chosen at random to play off on Day 1. The loser is eliminated from contention for the Divisional Championship but not from contention for playoff qualification.

      The Day 1 winner, and the other three teams, are now in a 4-team battle for the Divisional Championship. They are paired randomly, and play off on Day 2.

      The winners of the two Day 2 games play off for the division title on Day 3. The Day 3 winner is the Division Champion.

      All four teams which did not win the Division title are now tied for the 2nd & 3rd Place Qualifier spots. See Section VII.F to see how this tie is broken, noting however that the games are played on Day 4 instead of Day 1.

    5. Six teams tied for first place in the division: they are paired randomly and playoff on Day 1. The three losers are eliminated completely. Proceed to Section VI.B above to continue, starting on Day 2.
    6. All seven teams tie for first place in the division: One of the teams is chosen at random to receive a bye. The other 6 teams are paired randomly, and play off on Day 1. The three losing teams are eliminated from divisional contention, but not from Playoff Qualification. There are now four teams remaining. They are paired randomly on Day 2, and play off. The two Day 2 winners play off on Day 3. The Day 3 winner is the Division Champion.

      Now there are 6 teams left for the two Playoff Qualifier spots. Proceed to Section VII.H to break this tie, beginning on Day 4.

  7. Breaking Playoff Qualifier Ties

    This section deals with ties for 2nd and 3rd Place Playoff Qualifier spots. The first four sub-sections deal with ties for the 3rd Place Qualifier spot. The last four subsection deals with ties among 3 or more teams for both Qualifier spots (i.e. 3 or more teams are tied for 2nd). Note that a 2-way tie for 2nd is not broken on the field but is decided based on the seeding rules in Section II above.
    1. Two teams tied for the 3rd Place Playoff Qualifier spot: the teams play off on Day 1. Winner is the 3rd Place Qualifier.
    2. Three teams tied for the 3rd Place Qualifier spot: one team is chosen at random to receive a bye. The other two teams play on Day 1. The winner plays the bye team on Day 2. The winner of that game is the 3rd Place Qualifier.
    3. Four teams are tied for the 3rd Place Qualifier spot: the teams are paired randomly and play off on Day 1. The winners play on Day 2. The winner of that game is the 3rd Place Qualifier.
    4. Five teams are tied for the 3rd Place Qualifier spot: two teams are chosen at random to play off on Day 1. The loser is eliminated. The Day 1 winner, and the other three teams, are now in a 4-team battle for the 3rd Place Qualifier Spot. They are paired randomly, and play off on Day 2. The winners of the two Day 2 games play off for the 3rd Place Qualifier spot on Day 3. The Day 3 winner is the 3rd Place Qualifier.
    5. Three teams tied for the two Playoff Qualifier spots (i.e. 3 teams tied for second place): one team is chosen at random to receive a bye. The other teams play on Day 1. The winner plays the bye team in a game on Day 2. The winner of that game is one of the Playoff Qualifiers. The Day 1 loser and the Day 2 loser play on Day 3. The winner of that game is a Playoff Qualifier and the loser is eliminated. The seeding of the two teams is determined as specified in Section II above. (Only scheduled regular season games are used in tiebreakers II.A and II.B; none of the tieberak games described inths paragraph count towards that determination.
    6. Four teams tied for the two Playoff Qualifier spots (i.e. a 4-way tie for 2nd place): The teams are paired randomly and play off on Day 1. The winners are the two Playoff Qualifiers. The seeding of the two teams is then determined as specified in Section II above.
    7. Five teams tied for the two Playoff Qualifier spots (i.e. a 5-way tie for 2nd place): two teams are randomly chosen to play on Day 1. The loser is eliminated. There are now four teams remaining. They are paired randomly and play on Day 2. The winners are the two Playoff Qualifiers, and the losers are eliminated. The seeding of the two teams is then determined as specified in Section II above.
    8. Six teams tied for the two Playoff Qualifier spots (i.e. a six-way tie for 2nd place): the teams are paired randomly, and play off on Day 1. The losers are eliminated. The three winners now proceed to Section VII.E above, starting on Day 2.