The McIntyre system , or systems as there have been five of them, is a playoff system that gives an advantage to teams or competitors qualifying higher, by allowing higher qualified teams to lose more games or series before being eliminated compared to lower qualified teams. The systems, which include four-team, five-team, six-team and eight-team variants, were developed by Australian lawyer, historian and English lecturer Ken McIntyre , with the first system developed for the Victorian Football League in 1931.
79-660: The four-team and five-team variants in particular are widely used in Australian sports, and the four-team variant – also known as the Page playoff system – enjoys some wider use globally. The first McIntyre system, the Page–McIntyre system , also known as the Page playoff system or McIntyre final four system, was adopted by the VFL in 1931, to replace the " amended Argus systems " that had operated since 1902. McIntyre also devised
158-460: A 25% chance and the lowest-two-ranked teams have a 6.25% chance of winning the competition. The first McIntyre final six system was also the same as the Page–McIntyre system from the second round. In this case, two of the four-lowest-ranked teams are eliminated in the first round, while the top two determine which match they will play in the second round. Under this system the top two teams receive
237-609: A McIntyre finals system. The New South Wales Rugby League/National Rugby League has used the McIntyre final four and final five at different times throughout its history, and used the McIntyre final eight system from 1999 until 2011. The Page–McIntyre system is also used in the ANZ Championships (netball), the Australian Baseball League and Women's National Basketball League . It was also used in
316-525: A best-of- x series, as it may yield long waits for the teams winning the bye, while the teams that played in the earlier rounds would be spent when they reach the later rounds. The Big East men's basketball tournament used this format in a 16-team, five-round format. The PBA Tour uses a four-player, three-round format (sometimes a five-player, four-round format). College leagues in the Philippines use this format (four teams, three rounds) only if there
395-405: A bye through to week 3 of the tournament to play home preliminary finals, while the losers play home semi-finals in week 2. The bottom four teams play the two elimination finals, where the winners advance to week 2 away games and the losers' seasons are over. The specific advantages gained by finishing in higher positions on the league table are as follows: First and second – These teams receive
474-509: A bye to the division final. The division final winners play in the Grey Cup . The only exception to a strict single-elimination format since the early 1970s was in 1986 (for that season only), when the league amended its playoff format to allow a fourth-place team in one division to qualify in place of a third-place team with a worse record. That year, when only two East Division teams qualified—compared to four Western teams—the rules mandated
553-412: A competition that often uses the stepladder system. The League of Legends Pro League (LPL) uses a double stepladder for its playoffs, giving the top two teams a bye to the semifinals, the third and fourth-place teams a bye to the quarterfinals, and the fifth and sixth-placed teams a bye to the second round. The League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) also used a stepladder bracket for the playoffs, while
632-459: A double chance, as does the winner of match B. This adaptation of the first McIntyre system corrected for the anomaly that, in the first week, the team who finished 4th would have a more difficult opponent than the team who finished 5th, and was hence more likely to be eliminated, despite finishing higher. This was achieved by adding flexibility to the second round draw, so that the two elimination final winners were re-ranked to determine which played
711-427: A double-elimination format send only the top eight teams, or a mix of top teams plus the winners of a single-elimination qualifier tournament, to their conference tournament. The NCAA baseball and softball tournaments have used the format since its inception for regional and College World Series play. The Little League World Series adopted a new format in 2010 that involves four double-elimination brackets. In 2010,
790-407: A fifth match was added to the format: a bronze medal playoff match, which was played between the two teams which did not qualify for the final (the losers of Games 1 and 3). This game is normally scheduled between Games 3 and 4. Previously, the bronze would have automatically been awarded to the team which lost Game 3, so this game provides a chance for the loser of Game 1 to still receive a medal. This
869-440: A first-round " bye ". The remaining six teams in each conference play against each other in the wild-card round . The lowest-seeded winner plays the lone "bye" team, and the other two winners play against each other in the divisional round; the winners of those games facing each other in the conference championships. In all cases, the higher-seeded team plays at home. The winners of the conference championships then face each other in
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#1732772556325948-506: A four-team group. In this usage, the format is referred to as "GSL", after the Global StarCraft II League . Dota 2 competitions often use a GSL or round-robin group stage to seed teams into a double-elimination bracket. Super Smash Bros. tournaments, as well as other fighting game competitions, typically use an open double-elimination bracket with no preceding group stage or qualifiers. The Mideast regional of
1027-493: A limited number of playing surfaces (championship curling arenas usually only have four or five sheets ). Therefore, the number of teams is usually capped at around a dozen; if this is not possible or desirable, teams may be separated into groups playing separate round-robins and either having the top teams combining for the Page playoff or playing separate ones in each group and having the winners play each other after. The system
1106-399: A more traditional playoff system in 2021. The video game Rocket League had a competition that used the stepladder system. The Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) Winter Split in the 2022–23 season used a Round Robin group stage where places 2 and 3 would go to round 1 of the playoffs , while first place would go to the quarterfinals. The RLCS Season 8 World Championship also used
1185-562: A playoff finals known as the final series. The Pro Kabaddi League and Indian Super League also uses a type of single elimination where the top two teams get byes into the semifinals while the other four teams play in two eliminators like this: Although the Indian Super League follows the UEFA champions league style of two legs in their semi finals. The 2007 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage: The "stepladder", named because
1264-466: A pure knockout format was adopted beginning in 2013 . In the modern top-six system, the first round consists of knockout matches involving No. 3 vs No. 6 and No. 4 vs No. 5, with the No. 1 and No. 2 teams receiving a bye into the next round. After those matches, the format is identical to the Page playoff system. The A-League's former system had the top two teams participating in a two-legged match instead of
1343-728: A round-robin group stage. The Champions League and Europa League do the same, except each single-elimination round consists of a two-legged tie , with the winner determined by aggregate score . Most European domestic cups (e.g. the FA Cup in England or the DFB-Pokal in Germany) use hybrid systems with various round-robin and single-elimination stages. Major League Soccer (MLS) uses a single-elimination format for their playoffs ; since 2023 , all rounds are conducted as single games, except
1422-576: A stepladder bracket. There were 2 groups of 6, and they were double elimination . The groups were also stepladders. 4 teams started in the Winner's Quarterfinal, while 2 teams started in the winner's semifinal. If a team won the winner's final, they went to the semifinal of the playoffs. If they got second (by losing the winner's final), or won the loser's final, they would go to the quarterfinal. See 2023 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament * denotes overtime period A double-elimination format
1501-611: Is a playoff format . It is used in top level competitions in softball , curling , and the Indian Premier League and Pakistan Super League cricket tournaments, and is used widely in lower level competitions around Australia. Teams are seeded using a round-robin or league tournament, and the top four play a mix of a single-elimination and double-elimination tournament to determine the winner. The Page playoff system first gained prominence in Australia, where it
1580-437: Is an undefeated team, and if there are seven teams or more participating. Otherwise for tournaments of seven or more teams where no team won all games, it uses a single-elimination two-round, four teams format. While Nippon Professional Baseball 's Climax Series has been called a "stepladder" playoff with only three participating teams (in two rounds), it functions mostly as a single-elimination tournament with three teams, and
1659-767: Is called the Preliminary Final , and the final is known as the Grand Final . To distinguish between the two Semi-Finals, which are different in nature, the match between 3rd and 4th is known either as the First semi-final or the Minor Semi-Final ; and the match between 1st and 2nd is known either as the Second semi-final or the Major Semi-Final . In Curling, Games 1 and 2 are usually known as
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#17327725563251738-701: Is one in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost two matches. The exact schedule shape will change depending on the number of teams per bracket. In the United States, a double-elimination format is used in most NCAA and high school baseball and softball tournaments. Starting in 2010 , the Little League World Series in baseball also adopted this format. Teams are eliminated from contention after incurring two losses in each round of play. Most major collegiate baseball conferences with
1817-428: Is structurally the same as a six-team, three-round playoff. The KBO League 's Korean Series , on the other hand, is considered a stepladder system: the teams that finish fourth and fifth place play a best-of-three series (the fourth-place team automatically given a 1–0 series lead), meaning that the fourth-place team need to win only one game to advance while the fifth place have to win two. The winner of that round faces
1896-476: The 1975 NCAA Division I baseball tournament : Some playoff systems combine the features of single- and double-elimination tournaments. In these systems, one or more higher-ranked teams have an opportunity to skip a round of the playoffs by winning their first match. Even if they lose that match, they can still advance to the championship final. Lower-ranked teams receive no such break. These are variations of systems developed by Australian lawyer Ken McIntyre for
1975-450: The 1–2 match against the winner of the 3–4 match. The 2006 Tim Hortons Brier , Canada's national men's curling championship: McIntyre's first modification was an expansion to five teams. In this format, the first-round matches No. 2 v No. 3 and No. 4 v No. 5, with the No. 1 seed receiving a bye into the second round. The 4–5 match is played to eliminate one team, while the 2–3 match is played to determine which match they will play in
2054-439: The 2006 Bartercard Cup , the championship of New Zealand rugby league: McIntyre next developed two slightly different systems for six-team playoffs. In each system, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds played to determine the specific semifinal match in which they would compete, while the other four teams played knockout matches in the first week to eliminate two teams and determine the other two semifinal participants. The semifinal in which
2133-521: The 3-4 game and 1-2 game , respectively (and Game 2 is usually played first, to give the higher-ranked team more rest before Game 3); Game 3 is called the Semi-Final , and the final is known by that name. In Pakistan and India, Game 1 is known as the Eliminator , Games 2 and 3 are called Qualifiers 1 and 2 respectively, and the final is known by that name. In China's LPL, Game 2 is known as
2212-682: The A-League (soccer) before that competition expanded its finals series to a top-six format. It is also used in the Indian Premier League (cricket). Under the name Page playoff system , the McIntyre final four is commonly used in softball and curling events, especially in Canada. The system was also used in the Rugby League National League Three in Great Britain for the 2004 season. A hybrid version of
2291-719: The League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) and League of Legends Master Series (LMS) used it to determine the LCS and LMS third representatives at the League of Legends World Championship , which in this case was referred to as "The Gauntlet". The LCS scrapped the Gauntlet in 2020, while the LMS became the Pacific Championship Series (PCS) that year following a merger with Southeast Asia's scene. The LCK moved towards
2370-496: The League of Legends European Championship that same year. The 2021 playoffs saw the National Basketball Association use the system for its Play-In Tournament. It featured teams ranked 7th–10th in their respective conferences during the regular season. The winner of the 7–8 game advanced to the playoffs as the seventh seed, while the loser played in the preliminary final game against the winner of
2449-688: The Olympic Games . Its first use in curling was by the Canadian Curling Association in the 1995 Labatt Brier , the men's championship, and was adopted the next year at the 1996 Scott Tournament of Hearts , the women's championship. It gained acceptance and in 2005 the World Curling Championships started using it until 2018 when the playoff format was switched to re-seeding 6 team single-elimination . It has not yet been adopted in curling at
McIntyre system - Misplaced Pages Continue
2528-462: The Olympic Games . The format is used in the Indian Premier League cricket tournament since 2011. The format has also been used in some much lower-key, internet gaming events, such as chess and backgammon. Beginning with the 2020 season , the League of Legends Championship Series uses a double-elimination format with a Page playoff system being employed for the final rounds of the playoff tournament. A similar format would also be adopted for
2607-655: The Super Bowl for the league championship. Like the NFL, the Canadian Football League (CFL) also uses one-game single-elimination playoffs, and has used them almost exclusively since the 1973 season. In the CFL, six teams qualify for the playoffs, divided into two divisional brackets of three teams each. The second-place teams in each division host the division semi-final, while the division winners each receive
2686-517: The Winner's Bracket , while Game 1 and Game 3 are respectively called Loser's Bracket first round and Loser's Bracket final . There is no real final, the winner of Game 2 would be the 3rd seed of LPL in the Worlds, while the winner of Game 3 is seeded as 4th and have to enter the play-in round. 1931 Victorian Football League playoffs The first-ever use of the system was in Australia in 1931 after
2765-556: The 9–10 game for the eighth seed. This meant the 7th and 8th place teams have two chances to win once, while the 9th and 10th place teams needed to win back-to-back games. This play-in format remains in use as of the [[2024 NBA playoffs]]. The Page playoff is used by the Bowls Premier League in Australia , in a slightly modified format. Before the four teams play in a Page bracket, the fourth and fifth place teams from
2844-553: The AFL adopted a modified top-eight playoff in 2000 . The National Rugby League (NRL), Australia's top rugby league competition (also with a team in New Zealand), used this system from 1999 through 2011, after which it changed to the AFL system. The current AFL finals system breaks up the eight participants into four groups of two teams, ranked by their league position after regular-season play. Each group receives an advantage over
2923-622: The MLS playoffs or Liga MX Liguilla , the A-League finals series uses one-off matches throughout, culminating in the A-League Grand Final . This format is a departure from norms in football codes in Australia; previously, the A-League used a hybrid elimination system that allowed top teams in the regular season to lose one finals match but still win the tournament. The Philippines Football League 's inaugural 2017 season also featured
3002-554: The McIntyre final five system for the VFL for 1972, the McIntyre final six system for 1991 (which was revised for 1992) and the McIntyre final eight system for the 1994 season. The AFL and its fans grew dissatisfied with some of the outcomes the McIntyre final eight system might allow, and replaced it with another final eight system in 2000. McIntyre finals systems are used prominently throughout Australia. Most Australian rules football leagues, from professional down to suburban, use
3081-493: The No. 15, and so on. Theoretically, if a higher-ranked team always beats a lower-ranked team, the second game will be arranged No. 1 vs. No. 8, No. 2 vs. No. 7, etc.; the third will be arranged No. 1 vs. No. 4, No. 2 vs. No. 3; the fourth will be arranged No. 1 vs. No. 2. The brackets are fixed, meaning teams are not re-seeded between rounds. In association football , the World Cup uses single-elimination knockout rounds after
3160-519: The Page–McIntyre system has been in used the Big Bash League in Australia since the 2019–2020 season, the difference between the original version and the hybrid version is a fifth game is played between 4th and 5th placed team playing in an elimination final with the winner playing 3rd in the first semi-final, a game that is usually played between 3rd and 4th in the original version of the system. In North America, since 2021, it has been used as
3239-424: The Page–McIntyre system, the highest-two-ranked teams play each other, with the winner going straight through to the grand final and the loser going through to the preliminary final. The lowest-two-ranked teams play each other, and the winner advances to the preliminary final. The winner of preliminary final gets through to the grand final. In this system, the top two teams are able to lose a match and still qualify for
McIntyre system - Misplaced Pages Continue
3318-399: The Page–McIntyre system; however, in the first round the lowest-two-ranked teams play to eliminate one team and the second and third-ranked teams determine which match they will play in the second round. The highest-ranked team has a bye in the first round. In this case, if all teams have an even chance of winning each match, the highest-ranked team has a 37.5% chance, ranks two and three have
3397-615: The U.S. division and the International division were split into two four-team pools, with each pool conducting a double-elimination tournament to determine its winner. After the end of double-elimination play, the U.S. pool winners play one another in single games, as do the International pool winners, with the losers playing a third-place game and the winners playing a final. This was altered in 2011 so that all eight U.S. teams and all eight international teams played in one large bracket each, with each bracket's winner playing each other for
3476-478: The Victorian Football League (VFL), the historic predecessor to today's Australian Football League (AFL), starting in 1931. This system, also bearing the name of its promoter Percy Page, is a four-team playoff first developed for Australian rules football . It has been used in many competitions in that sport and in rugby league , but is most prominent in softball and curling (which use
3555-447: The Victorian Football League adopted it. The regular season ended with Geelong winning the minor premiership, followed by Richmond, Carlton and Collingwood. The finals proceeded as follows: Page playoff, including a bronze medal match, from the 2011 Scotties Tournament of Hearts . Playoff format There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of
3634-406: The bracket resembles a step ladder , is a variation of the single-elimination tournament; instead of the No. 1 seed facing the No. 16 seed in the first round, the bracket is constructed to give the higher seeded teams byes , where the No. 1 seed has bye up to the third (or fourth) round, playing the winner of game between the No. 8 seed and the No. 9-versus-No. 16 winner. This setup is seldom used in
3713-418: The championship, and each bracket's runner-up playing each other for third-place. All teams are guaranteed at least three games; the first team eliminated from each pool plays a "crossover game" that matches an eliminated U.S. team with an eliminated International team. Many esports , such as Counter-Strike and StarCraft , use a double-elimination bracket in competitions to determine the top two teams in
3792-486: The championship, they may be competing for a bronze medal , like some tournaments in the Olympic Games . Of the big four North American sports leagues , only the National Football League (NFL) uses a single-elimination system for all rounds of its postseason. Since the 2020 season, seven teams are seeded from each conference ( AFC and NFC ), with only the top team from each conference getting
3871-513: The conference quarterfinals, which is best-of-three series. Liga MX in Mexico , which splits its season into two phases , uses playoffs known as the Liguilla to determine the champions of each phase. Unlike the MLS system, all Liguilla matches are two-legged ties. Australia 's A-League introduced a six-team knockout playoff, known locally as a "finals series", in the 2012–13 season . Unlike
3950-561: The double-chance, and play their first two finals matches at home—their Qualifying Final, and then either a Semi-final (should they lose the QF) or Preliminary Final (should they win the QF). They must win two finals matches to reach the grand final. Third and fourth – Like the top two teams, they receive the double-chance, and must win two finals matches to reach the grand final. However, they only get to play one finals match at home—a Semi-final if they lose their QF, or Preliminary Final if they win
4029-414: The final place in the next season's Top 14. Some knockout tournaments include a third place playoff , a single match to decide which competitor or team will be credited with finishing in third and fourth place. The teams that compete in such third place games are usually the two losing semifinalists in a particular tournament. Although these semifinalists are still in effect "eliminated" from contending for
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#17327725563254108-442: The final, is automatically the team that won Game 2) will play as the home team to provide an additional advantage; in the case of curling teams, where teams rarely play national or international tournaments at their home rink, the advantage is that the first-placed team is given the hammer (last rock) in the first end, which is a reasonable advantage between comparably skilled teams. In the 2008 World Women's Curling Championship,
4187-409: The grand final, this is referred to as a 'double chance'. Assuming that each team has an even chance of winning each match, the probability for both the highest-ranked teams winning the competition is 37.5%, compared to 12.5% for the third and fourth placed teams. As its name states, the McIntyre final five system features five teams. From the second round the McIntyre final five system is the same as
4266-421: 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 . A single-elimination ("knockout") playoff pits the participants in one-game matches, with the loser being dropped from the competition. Single-elimination tournaments are often used in individual sports like tennis . In most tennis tournaments,
4345-465: The name "Page playoff system"). The Indian Premier League , Pakistan Super League in Twenty20 cricket , and NBA play-in tournament use this format as well. In this system, the first round (sometimes called the "quarterfinals") matches No. 1 against No. 2 and No. 3 against No. 4. The winner of the 1–2 match advances directly to the final. The next round, known as the semifinal, pits the loser of
4424-491: The other McIntyre systems. At no stage does it follow the Page–McIntyre structure, and at no stage after the first week does any team retain a double chance. The system allows for 26 of the 28 combinations of the eight finalists to feature in the grand final (the two combinations not possible are 1st v 7th and 2nd v 8th). It gives 18.75% to 1st and 2nd, 15.625% to 3rd, 12.5% to 4th and 5th, 9.375% to 6th and 6.25% to 7th and 8th. Page playoff system The Page playoff system
4503-411: The other divisional bracket, thereby preserving the first-place byes. In both the men's and women's NCAA college basketball tournaments, there are 68 teams seeded into four brackets of 16 teams each. Prior to the first round, eight teams (4 No. 16 seeds and 4 other seeds) play a play-in game to gain entry into the "main" bracket. In the first round, the No. 1 team plays the No. 16, the No. 2 plays
4582-605: The players are seeded against each other, and the winner of each match continues to the next round, all the way to the final. When a playoff of this type involves the top four teams, it is sometimes known as the Shaughnessy playoff system , after Frank Shaughnessy , who first developed it for the International League of minor league baseball . Variations of the Shaughnessy system also exist, such as in
4661-471: The preliminary round of the NBA Playoffs as a 'play-in tournament' to determine the seventh and eighth seeds for the main playoff tournament, with seeds 7 and 8 playing, then seeds 9 and 10, with the winner of the 7/8 game being the seventh seed, and the loser of the 7/8 game and winner of the 9/10 game competing for the eighth seed. The Page–McIntyre system features four teams. In the first round of
4740-537: The present-day Super League in the UK and France. Many lower-level leagues in both Australian rules and rugby league still use the system. A variation of the five-team playoff system has been used by the Big Bash League since its 2019-20 seaeson . In the first round, the fourth- and fifth-ranked teams play each other and the winner goes to the next round as fourth while the loser is eliminated. Then, four-way playoffs will start (1 vs 2 and 3 vs winner 4–5 match.) As used in
4819-505: The promotion playoffs held by League 1 of the British rugby league. The League 1 playoff does not involve the top four teams; the team that tops the table after the Super 8s phase, which follows a single round-robin phase involving all league teams, is crowned champion and receives automatic promotion to the second-tier championship , while the next four teams contest a knockout playoff for
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#17327725563254898-406: The regular-season league table to eliminate two teams in the first week of the playoffs. The procedure is: The fates of the teams in this round depend on whether they won or lost their Qualifying Final, and on their regular-season position. The four winners and the two losers that finished highest on the regular-season table advance to later rounds, with the two other losers eliminated. It guarantees
4977-415: The round robin play each other in an elimination game, with the loser being eliminated and the winner moving on to play the third place team in the main Page bracket. The League of Legends Pro League also uses the same system to determine its final two World Championship berths since 2020, followed by League of Legends Champions Korea since 2022. The system requires teams to be ranked in some way, as
5056-529: The second promotion place. A nearly identical format, with the only difference being that the knockout stage followed a full home-and-away league season, was used by the second level of France's rugby union system, Pro D2 , through the 2016–17 season. Since then, Pro D2 uses a six-team playoff with the winner earning automatic promotion to the Top 14 and the runner-up entering a playoff with the 13th-place team in Top 14 for
5135-446: The second round. In the second round, the loser of the 2–3 match plays the winner of the 4–5 match, while the winner of the 2–3 match plays the No. 1 seed. From this point forward, the tournament is identical to the Page playoff system. The SANFL is the highest level league using this system today, it has been used in the past by the VFL and several rugby league competitions, most notably the short-lived Super League of Australia and
5214-481: The semi-finals. The winner of the upper and lower quarter-finals join the two semi-finalists in a single-elimination bracket. This system was further refined into the top-six system used by the Championship and League 1 of European rugby league until being abandoned from the 2015 season forward. A slightly modified version of this system was used in the A-League of Australian soccer starting in 2010 before
5293-400: The single-elimination matches that the other four teams faced. It did not affect the teams' eventual playoff paths. As used in the 2010–11 A-League : McIntyre's final development expanded the concept to an eight-team playoff. This expansion meant that no team received a "second chance" after the first week of the playoffs. The original McIntyre final eight system is notable in that it uses
5372-536: The team that finished in third place. The winner then plays the second-place team in a best-of-five series, whose winner in turn plays the first-place team in a best-of-seven series for the title. The WNBA , from 2019 to 2021, used to have their playoffs done this way: the No. 5 seed plays No. 8, and No. 6 plays No. 7 in the first round. The top two seeds got double byes, and the next two seeds first-round byes. The first two rounds are single-elimination; all others are best-of-five. The video game League of Legends has
5451-425: The teams directly below it on the league table. These advantages are the so-called "double-chance", where a loss in the first week will not eliminate a team from the finals, and home ground finals. Note, however, that "home" designations are often irrelevant if a finals match involves two teams from the same state. The finals format operates as follows: The top four teams play the two qualifying finals. The winners get
5530-411: The title, producing a similar though not identical effect to a double-elimination tournament . This gives the top two teams a significant advantage over the next two, since winning the title from third or fourth place requires winning one more game than winning from first or second, and also requires defeating every other team in the playoffs. Additionally, the higher-ranked team in any pairing (which, in
5609-406: The top two seeds advancement, and requires the bottom two seeds to win their qualifying final. The middle four teams' fate is determined by the performance of the other four teams. The two losing teams are eliminated, and the two winning teams progress to week 3. The two losing teams are eliminated, and the two winning teams progress to the grand final. Due to perceived weaknesses of this system,
5688-449: The top two teams have an advantage over the bottom two. This is usually accomplished through a round-robin tournament, which eliminates all but the top four teams. A standard round-robin tournament is used, in which all teams play each other once. Because the number of total games increases quadratically with respect to the number of teams, scheduling too many teams will result in an unwieldy number of games, particularly when there are
5767-416: The two Eastern teams play a two-game total-points series over two weekends (the two-game total point series was used as the CFL's playoff format prior to 1973), while the four Western teams played a single-elimination playoff over the same timeframe. The CFL eventually amended this format into the present "crossover rule" in 1997 so as to allow a qualifying fourth-place team to compete as the third-place team in
5846-488: The winner of the 1–2 match competes directly determines one place in the championship final (often called a "Grand Final", especially in Australia). The other semifinal is an elimination match, with the winner advancing into a "Preliminary Final" to determine the other Grand Final place. There is also one more system. Two teams are in lower-bracket round 1, two teams are in the upper-bracket quarter-finals and two teams are in
5925-469: The winner of the qualifying final and which played the loser. However, both McIntyre final six systems had another weakness: the loser of the qualifying final (which is the most difficult game of the first round), ended up facing elimination in the first semi-final, while the higher-ranked elimination final winner (who has had the easiest game of the first round) has a double chance in the second semi-final. The McIntyre final eight bears little in common with
6004-724: Was adopted by all of the top level state football leagues (the Victorian Football League , West Australian Football League and South Australian National Football League ) in 1931. It came to be named after Percy "Pip" Page, the Richmond Football Club delegate who moved the motion to adopt it in the Victorian league; and it was first proposed by lawyer Kenneth McIntyre . The system came to used widely throughout Australia in many sports for most four-team finals competitions. The Page playoff system
6083-521: Was also introduced at the national level at the 2011 Scotties Tournament of Hearts and the 2011 Tim Hortons Brier . The bronze medal game was heavily criticized for being "meaningless" in part because simply winning a "medal" does not carry the same sort of prestige it does in the Olympic Games. The bronze medal game was eliminated prior to the 2018 Canadian championship curling season. In Australia, Games 1 and 2 are known as Semi-Finals ; Game 3
6162-506: Was invented in Australia in the early 1930s and adopted soon after by the Victorian Football League (now known as the Australian Football League). The top four teams advance to the playoffs, which are played over three rounds with one team being eliminated in each round. The format progresses as follows: This system gives the top two teams a double chance, in that they can lose their first game and still go on to win
6241-736: Was used at the Australian Rugby League Championship 1954–1972. In Australia, its most notable use today is in netball, having been adopted by Suncorp Super Netball when it began play in 2017. The system has been used since 1990 by the International Softball Federation and its successor, the World Baseball Softball Confederation , for the Women's Softball World Championship and from 1996 to 2008 at
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