The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be either a single game, a series of games, or a tournament, and may use a single-elimination system or one of several other different playoff formats. Playoff, in regard to international fixtures, is to qualify or progress to the next round of a competition or tournament.
The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Baseball Championship tournament—featuring 64 teams in the first round—which determines the NCAA Division I college baseball champion. The eight participating teams are split into two, four-team, double-elimination brackets, with the winners of each bracket playing in a best-of-three championship series.
A bracket or tournament bracket is a tree diagram that represents the series of games played during a knockout tournament. Different knockout tournament formats have different brackets; the simplest and most common is that of the single-elimination tournament. The name "bracket" is American English, derived from the resemblance of the links in the tree diagram to the bracket punctuation symbol ] or [. The closest British term is draw, although this implies an element of chance, whereas some brackets are determined entirely by seeding.
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden-death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, whose winner becomes the tournament champion. Each match-up may be a single match or several, for example two-legged ties in European sports or best-of series in North American pro sports. Defeated competitors may play no further part after losing, or may participate in "consolation" or "classification" matches against other losers to determine the lower final rankings; for example, a third place playoff between losing semi-finalists. In a shootout poker tournament, there are more than two players competing at each table, and sometimes more than one progresses to the next round. Some competitions are held with a pure single-elimination tournament system. Others have many phases, with the last being a single-elimination final stage, often called playoffs.
A double-elimination tournament is a type of elimination tournament competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost two games or matches. It stands in contrast to a single-elimination tournament, in which only one defeat results in elimination.
There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the single elimination, the best-of- series, the total points series more commonly known as on aggregate, and the round-robin tournament.
The Page playoff system is a playoff format used primarily in softball and curling at the championship level, and the Indian Premier League and Pakistan Super League cricket tournaments. Teams are seeded using a round-robin tournament and the top four play a mix of a single-elimination and double-elimination tournament to determine the winner. It is identical to a four-team McIntyre system playoff, first used by the WANFL, SANFL and VFL in Australia in 1931, originally called the Page–McIntyre system, after the VFL delegate, the Richmond Football Club's Secretary, Percy "Pip" Page, who had advocated its use. A form has been adopted in the Canadian Premier League national soccer competition.
In sports, a bye is the preferential status of a player or team that is automatically advanced to the next round of a tournament without having to play an opponent in an early round.
The NCAA Division I Baseball Championship is held each year from May through June and features 64 college baseball teams in the United States, culminating in the eight-team Men's College World Series (MCWS) at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Southeastern Conference baseball tournament is the conference tournament in baseball for the Southeastern Conference (SEC). It is a partially double-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season conference records. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The SEC Tournament champion is separate from the conference champion. The conference championship is determined solely by regular season record.
The Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament, sometimes referred to simply as the ACC tournament, is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). In 2017, the event adopted a modified twelve-team pool play format. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
The Big 12 Conference baseball tournament is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Big 12 Conference. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The format has changed multiple times sincd the inaugural tournament was held in 1997, currently the top 10 teams qualify with the top two seeds receiving a first-round bye in two 5-team double-elimination brackets, and the semi-final winners playing in a single-elimination championship game.
The Sun Belt Conference baseball tournament is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Sun Belt Conference. The winner of the tournament receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. After Coastal Carolina University hosts the competition in Conway, South Carolina, in 2019, the tournament will move to a neutral site, Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, AL, from 2020 to 2024.
The Southland Conference baseball tournament is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Southland Conference. The winner of the tournament receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
The 1988 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1988 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series, a double-elimination tournament in its forty-second year. Eight regional competitions were held to determine the participants in the final event. Each region was composed of six teams, resulting in 48 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament. The forty-second tournament's champion was Stanford coached by Mark Marquess. The Most Outstanding Player was Lee Plemel of Stanford.
The 1987 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1987 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series, a double-elimination tournament in its forty first year. Eight regional competitions were held to determine the participants in the final event. Each region was composed of six teams, resulting in 48 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament. The forty-first tournament's champion was Stanford, coached by Mark Marquess. The Most Outstanding Player was Paul Carey of Stanford.
The 2000 Conference USA baseball tournament was the 2000 postseason baseball championship of the NCAA Division I Conference USA, held at Florida Power Park in St. Petersburg, Florida, from May 17 through 21. Houston defeated Cincinnati in the championship game, earning the conference's automatic bid to the 2000 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
The American Athletic Conference baseball tournament is the conference championship tournament in college baseball for the American Athletic Conference. It is a round-robin tournament, with seeding based on regular season records. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship each season. The Tournament champion is separate from the conference champion. The conference championship is determined solely by regular season record.
The 2014 Mountain West Conference baseball tournament took place from May 21 through 25. All seven of the league's teams met in the double-elimination tournament held at University of Nevada, Las Vegas's Earl E. Wilson Stadium. This is San Jose State's first year in the league after joining from the Western Athletic Conference. San Diego State won the tournament, earning the Mountain West's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
The 2015 Mountain West Conference baseball tournament took place from May 21 through 25. All seven of the league's teams met in the double-elimination tournament to be held at University of Nevada, Reno's William Peccole Park. The winner of the tournament earned the Mountain West Conference's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
