MHSAA Tiebreaker Procedure
1. Head-to-head - Straight W/L records among the tied teams. With three or more teams, if the W/L records are equal - regardless of how much that team won by - then they are still tied in this tiebreaker and proceeds to tiebreaker 2.
2. How the tied teams did against the highest seeded non-tied teams - In other words, how the tied teams did against the highest remaining team not involved in the tiebreaker. This is by straight W/L as well. If the tied teams all won or all lost to the same team, then it goes to the next highest seeded team. If the tied teams all won or all lost there, then the next highest seeded team until all the teams in the region have gone through the same procedure. This tiebreaker is really only used if an odd number of tied teams are tied since an even number will likely have the tie broken on tiebreaker 1. If the tied teams all won and all lost against the same teams, then continue to tiebreaker 3.
3. Point difference in games among the tied teams - This varies by sport, but the overall tiebreaker is the same on all fronts. The maximum amount of points that can be earned in Football and Basketball is 12. In Baseball and both Slow-Pitch and Fast-Pitch Softball, that maximum number is 10 (due to the NFHS 10-run rule that is in play). In Soccer, it is 3. In Volleyball, they use Sets instead of points within each set, and of course since 3 sets is the most anyone can win by, that maximum is 3 as well (but in truth there is no maximum in Volleyball). An example of this: If Team A beats Team B by 7, and Team B beats Team C by 15, and Team C beats Team A by 4, then you have this. Team A won by 7 but lost by 4, that puts them at +3. Team B won by 15, but only gets credit for 12, and lost by 7, that puts Team B at +5. Team C won by 4, but lost by 15 (but only has credit for 12), that puts Team C at -8. The tiebreaker would go Team B +5, Team A +3, Team C -8. Team B would be one, Team A is 2, and Team C is 3. If at the end of this tiebreaker that the tied teams difference is all at 0, then go to tiebreaker 4.
4. Point difference in games among the highest seeded non-tied teams - This is basically tiebreakers 2 and 3 put into one, except you do it team-by-team. Same procedure as tiebreaker 2, and same point maximum in tiebreaker 3. If the teams are still tied after this, go to tiebreaker 5.
5. Points allowed in all region games - Point blank exactly what it says. The only thing here is that there is no maximum points in this tiebreaker.
If it is still a tie after tiebreaker 5, tiebreaker 6 is a coin flip.
It is VERY important to note that after a tie has been broken at any point, the remaining tied teams ONLY go back to tiebreaker 1 IF there is a tie WITHIN the tie. If there is a difference between all teams involved in the tiebreaker that breaks the tie, the teams are seeded in that order.
1. Head-to-head - Straight W/L records among the tied teams. With three or more teams, if the W/L records are equal - regardless of how much that team won by - then they are still tied in this tiebreaker and proceeds to tiebreaker 2.
2. How the tied teams did against the highest seeded non-tied teams - In other words, how the tied teams did against the highest remaining team not involved in the tiebreaker. This is by straight W/L as well. If the tied teams all won or all lost to the same team, then it goes to the next highest seeded team. If the tied teams all won or all lost there, then the next highest seeded team until all the teams in the region have gone through the same procedure. This tiebreaker is really only used if an odd number of tied teams are tied since an even number will likely have the tie broken on tiebreaker 1. If the tied teams all won and all lost against the same teams, then continue to tiebreaker 3.
3. Point difference in games among the tied teams - This varies by sport, but the overall tiebreaker is the same on all fronts. The maximum amount of points that can be earned in Football and Basketball is 12. In Baseball and both Slow-Pitch and Fast-Pitch Softball, that maximum number is 10 (due to the NFHS 10-run rule that is in play). In Soccer, it is 3. In Volleyball, they use Sets instead of points within each set, and of course since 3 sets is the most anyone can win by, that maximum is 3 as well (but in truth there is no maximum in Volleyball). An example of this: If Team A beats Team B by 7, and Team B beats Team C by 15, and Team C beats Team A by 4, then you have this. Team A won by 7 but lost by 4, that puts them at +3. Team B won by 15, but only gets credit for 12, and lost by 7, that puts Team B at +5. Team C won by 4, but lost by 15 (but only has credit for 12), that puts Team C at -8. The tiebreaker would go Team B +5, Team A +3, Team C -8. Team B would be one, Team A is 2, and Team C is 3. If at the end of this tiebreaker that the tied teams difference is all at 0, then go to tiebreaker 4.
4. Point difference in games among the highest seeded non-tied teams - This is basically tiebreakers 2 and 3 put into one, except you do it team-by-team. Same procedure as tiebreaker 2, and same point maximum in tiebreaker 3. If the teams are still tied after this, go to tiebreaker 5.
5. Points allowed in all region games - Point blank exactly what it says. The only thing here is that there is no maximum points in this tiebreaker.
If it is still a tie after tiebreaker 5, tiebreaker 6 is a coin flip.
It is VERY important to note that after a tie has been broken at any point, the remaining tied teams ONLY go back to tiebreaker 1 IF there is a tie WITHIN the tie. If there is a difference between all teams involved in the tiebreaker that breaks the tie, the teams are seeded in that order.