ACFL Playoff Tie Breaker Procedure

[League Office]

ACFL/NFL Tie-Breaker Procedures

Formats used to determine Division and Wild Card playoff berths

DIVISION TIES
If at the end of the regular season, two or more clubs in the
same division finish with identical best won-lost-tied percentage,
the following steps will be taken until a champion is determined.
The same steps are used to determine the sites.

TWO CLUBS
1. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games
between the clubs).
2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the
division.
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the
conference.
4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games if
applicable.
5. Best points against in division games.
6. Best points against conference games.
7. Strength of schedule.
8. Best points against in all games.
9. Coin Toss.

THREE OR MORE CLUBS
1. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games
among the clubs).
2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the
division.
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the
conference.
4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games.
5. Best points against in division games.
6. Best points against in conference games.
7. Strength of schedule.
8. Best net touchdowns in all games.
9. Coin Toss.

Note: If one team wins multiple-team tiebreaker to advance to
playoff round, remaining teams revert to Step One of applicable
two-club format, i.e., either in division tiebreaker or Wild
Card tiebreaker. If two teams in a multiple-team tie possess
superior marks in a tiebreaking step, this pair of teams advance
to the top of the applicable two-club format to break the tie.
One team advances to playoff round while other returns to
original group and Step One of applicable tiebreaker.

WILD CARD TIES
If necessary to break ties to determine the three Wild Card
clubs from each conference and the site of one of the two first-
round playoff games, the following steps will be taken:
1. If the tied clubs are from the same divisions, apply
division tie-breaker.
2. If the tied clubs are from different divisions, apply
the following steps.

TWO CLUBS
1. Head-to-head, if applicable.
2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the
conference.
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum
of four.
4. Best points against in conference games.
5. Best points against in all games.
6. Strength of schedule.
7. Coin Toss.

THREE OR MORE CLUBS
1. Apply division tiebreaker to eliminate all but the
highest ranked club in each division prior to proceeding to Step
Two. The original seeding within a division upon application of
the division tiebreaker remains the same for all subsequent
applications of the procedure that are necessary to identify the
three Wild Card applicants.
2. Head-to-head sweep (Applicable only if one club has
defeated each others, or if one club has lost to each of the
others).
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the
conference.
4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum
of four.
5. Best points against in conference games.
6. Best points against in all games.
7. Strength of schedule.
8. Coin Toss.

Note: If two clubs remain tied after a third or other clubs are
eliminated, the tie-breaker reverts to Step One of the applicable
two-club format. When the first Wild Card team has
been identified, the procedure is repeated to name the second
Wild Card, i.e., eliminate all but the highest-ranked club in
each division prior to proceeding to Step Two, and repeated a
third time, if necessary, to identify the third time, if
necessary, to identify the third Wild Card. In situations where
three or more teams from the same are involved in the procedure,
the original seeding of teams remains the same for subsequent
applications of the tiebreaker if the top-ranked team in that
division qualifies for a Wild Card berth.

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