FICS Teamleague

Section 6 - Playoffs

A. In the cases when an entire section only forms one or two divisions:

i. If a section can only form a single division, then the winner of this division shall be declared the Sectional Champion.

ii. When two divisions are formed in a section, then the winners of each division shall play a match for the Championship.

iii. In a 7-team division there will be a playoff game between the first and second place teams to determine the Section champion. It is a winner take all match, using Championship tiebreak rules.

B. In cases where there are three to eight divisions, the following methods will be applied. In each setting, teams are ranked, or seeded, by their records in regulation play, as given in Section 13. As the playoffs progress, the winning teams retain their original order of seeding. Each match is "single elimination", as in Section 6. A. ii.

i. With three divisions the three division winners, and Best Second Place team from those divisions, are ranked: #1 plays #4, #2 plays #3. The winners play off.

ii. With four divisions, the division winners are ranked: #1 vs #4 and #2 vs #3. The winners play off.

iii. With five to eight divisions, the division winners and three to zero Best Second Place Teams from among the divisions are ranked: #1 vs #8, #2 vs #7, #3 vs #6, #4 vs #5. The four winners are ranked and play as in 6.B.ii. The two winners then play off for the Section League Championship.

C. All ‘Best Second Place’ teams shall be seeded below all Division Champions. However, no two teams from the same division shall play in the first round; seedings of Best Second Place shall be modified accordingly. Modified seedings will not be changed after the first round.

D. Should there be more than eight divisions in a Section, it is suggested that the Steering Committee consider splitting the section/league into two leagues, perhaps geographically, with the winning teams in each “league” competing for a World Championship.