Play-off Format

GUIDE TO THE SENIOR PLAY-OFFS

13/02/10

With the regular league season approaching its climax, it’s time for us to undertake out annual review of the way the post-season play-offs work in the various divisions.

Since the play-offs have been going for over 30 years (having been introduced into NBL Division 1 in the 1978-9 season), and since the basic principles have remained the same ever since, such an explanation may seem superfluous, but with so many different divisions having their own quirks (which often change from year to year) it’s often easy to lose track of exactly how each one works.

The basic principles of the play-offs are that they involve the top eight teams in each division, in a straight knock-out competition. The top seed plays the eighth seed in the quarter finals, with 2nd playing 7th, 3rd taking on 6th and 4th meeting 5th, with the top seed at home in each tie.

Then, in the semi finals the winners of the ties involving the top two seeds meet the winners of 4v5 and 3v6 respectively, so that the top two seeds are kept apart until the final.

In the top Men’s Division and the top Women’s Division, the semi-finals and finals are played over one weekend, in a “Final Four” format, and this year that event is once again at Manchester’s Amaechi Basketball Centre.

	EBL 1 MEN
	Quarter Final		Semi Final		Final
	10/11 April		24 April @ ABC Manchester		25 April @ ABC Manchester
1	______________________	}
8	______________________	}	______________________	}
				}	______________________	}
4	______________________	}	______________________	}		}
5	______________________	}				}
						}
2	______________________	}				}
7	______________________	}	______________________	}		}
				}	______________________	}
3	______________________	}	______________________	}
6	______________________	}

	EBL 2 MEN
	Quarter Final		Semi Final		Final
	3/4 April		10/11 April		25 April @ ABC Manchester
1	______________________	}
8	______________________	}	______________________	}
				}	______________________	}
4	______________________	}	______________________	}		}
5	______________________	}				}
						}
2	______________________	}				}
7	______________________	}	______________________	}		}
				}	______________________	}
3	______________________	}	______________________	}
6	______________________	}

	EBL 3 MEN
	Quarter Final		Semi Final		Final
	20/21 March		27/28 March		10 April @ Edmonton Green
1N	______________________	}
4S	______________________	}	______________________	}
				}	______________________	}
2S	______________________	}	______________________	}		}
3N	______________________	}				}
						}
1S	______________________	}				}
4N	______________________	}	______________________	}		}
				}	______________________	}
2N	______________________	}	______________________	}
3S	______________________	}

	EBL 4 MEN
	Quarter Final		Semi Final		Final
	20/21 March		27/28 March		10 April @ Edmonton Green
1N	______________________	}
2M	______________________	}	______________________	}
				}	______________________	}
1SW	______________________	}	______________________	}		}
2SE	______________________	}				}
						}
1M	______________________	}				}
2N	______________________	}	______________________	}		}
				}	______________________	}
1SE	______________________	}	______________________	}
2SW	______________________	}

	EBL 1 WOMEN
	Quarter Final		Semi Final		Final
	10/11 April		24 April @ ABC Manchester		25 April @ ABC Manchester
1	______________________	}
8	______________________	}	______________________	}
				}	______________________	}
4	______________________	}	______________________	}		}
5	______________________	}				}
						}
2	______________________	}				}
7	______________________	}	______________________	}		}
				}	______________________	}
3	______________________	}	______________________	}
6	______________________	}

		EBL 2 WOMEN
		Quarter Final		Semi Final		Final
		20/21 March		27/28 March		10 April @ Edmonton Green
1	"Best" first place	______________________	}
8	2nd best 3rd place	______________________	}	______________________	}
					}	______________________	}
4	Best 2nd place	______________________	}	______________________	}		}
5	2nd best 2nd place	______________________	}				}
							}
2	2nd best first place	______________________	}				}
7	Best 3rd place	______________________	}	______________________	}		}
					}	______________________	}
3	3rd best 1st place	______________________	}	______________________	}
6	3rd best 2nd place	______________________	}

Division Two Men is very similar, except for the fact that only the Final is played on the Championship weekend in Manchester, and thus the quarter finals are a week earlier than those in Division 1, to allow time for the semi-finals to be played, leaving a fortnight before the Final.

In this case the top two seeds (or the lower seeds who beat them in the quarter finals!) have home advantage in the semis. This format ensures that teams are able to make provisional court-bookings for those matches, since they know whether or not they have a theoretical chance of being at home.

EBL Division 3 is fractionally more complicated, as it is not a unitary division, but has two regional leagues, North and South.

In this case, the top four from each section qualify for the play-offs, with the quarter finals consisting of cross-over matches between the two regions. Thus the Northern Champions play host to the fourth placed team from the South, the third placed Northern team visit the Southern runners-up and so on.

If games go to seeding, every game will match North against South, and the only time that teams from the same region could meet would be if a lower seed beats a higher one to take their place in the next round.

The EBL3 Final has taken place in recent years in a Finals event that includes Division 4 and Division 2 Women, and this year is no different, with the venue this time at Edmonton Green.

However, I do have one quibble - not with the venue (which can change from year to year, as EB put their Finals out to tender), but with the timing. Traditionally all Finals are held on a Sunday, and that means that, since the majority of league games are on a Saturday, most fans are able to get to both their own team’s regular season games and the big events. These Finals, however, will be on Saturday 10th April, which is the same day as the majority of Division 1 (Men and Women) quarter finals, and EBL 2 semi-finals. Crap decision!

The Division 4 Men’s play-offs follow a similar pattern to Division 3, but with a four-division crossover, instead of just two.

Since the competition Regulations state that play-offs will “normally involve the top eight teams”, this means that only the top two teams from each geographic region will qualify.

This is a great improvement on the convoluted method used last season, when there were only three regions, but I must say that it does seem a shame that not more teams are able to participate - say four from each sub-division, which would only involve one extra round.

That wouldn’t have been possible this year, as the dates of the regular season and the finals are fixed first, and then the play-off format announced in January. I can’t think of any other major sport where teams enter a league campaign not knowing exactly what they’re aiming for!

Speaking of three-division competitions brings us to EBL Division 2 women, and here the qualification system is much more complicated.

The fixtures on the EB website just refer to the eight “seeds”, and the details have only been sent to teams in those divisions, but I’m assuming that the determination of the top eight, and how they are paired in the play-offs, will be as it was last year.

If that is the case, the qualifiers will be the top two teams from each division, plus the two third-placed teams with the best record.

“Best record” is decided by a series of tests - first which team has the better percentage win/loss record (this takes account of the different numbers of teams in each section), then, if teams are still tied, “goal difference” is used to separate them. This method is also used to determine the overall seeding, so, for instance, the first-placed team with the best record is the top seed, and will play the eighth seed - the second-best third-placed team.

The drawback of this system is that it’s possible for teams from within the same division to meet in the quarter finals. Last year, for instance, in Division 4 (which then had three divisions) the first and third placed teams in the north met, as did first and third in midlands, while first and second in south-west also played each other!

Still, until we have enough teams to divide Women’s Division 2 into four, it’s the best system we can get.