What happens if two teams tie for wildcard

Because they have identical records, home-field advantage would go to the team with a better head-to-head record. If the division rivals end the regular season with the same record, the Wild Card Game would be played in Boston because the Red Sox won the season series against the Yankees The three tied teams would choose or receive A, B and C designations. Once the clubs are designated, two games will take place:.

This scenario is still a real possibility in the American League. I love chaos. Here's how it would work. Because the Red Sox went against both the Yankees and Blue Jays this season, they would have first pick of designation. Home field advantage in each game will be determined by the rules above for a two-team tiebreaker.

A third tiebreak game will be played between the loser of the game to determine the Division Champion and the winner of the game between the two Clubs outside the division at the ballpark of the team outside the division to determine the Wild Card.

One will feature the two Clubs tied for the Division to determine the Division Champion, and the other will feature the other two Clubs outside the division to determine one Wild Card Club. A third tiebreak game will be played between the loser of the game to determine the Division Champion and the loser of the game between the two Clubs outside the division to determine the second Wild Card Club. Home field advantage in the game will be determined by the rules above for a two-team tiebreaker.

The winner of that game would then host Club C to determine the Division Champion. The loser of the game would be declared the Wild Card Club. The loser of the game would be declared one Wild Card Club. The loser of the game would be declared the other Wild Card Club. The winner of the game would be declared the Division Champion and the loser would be declared the Wild Card Club.

The winner of the game would be declared the Division Champion and the loser would be declared one Wild Card Club. The winner of the game would be declared one Wild Card winner. The winners of each of those games would then meet, hosted by the winner of the game between Club A and Club B, to determine the Division Champion.

The losers of the original two games would meet, hosted by the loser of the game between Club A and Club B, to determine the other Wild Card Club. The winners of each of those games would then meet, hosted by the winner of the game between Club A and Club B, to determine the Wild Card Club. The winners of each of those games would be declared the Wild Card Clubs.

How to determine playoff tiebreakers. In this case, the Yankees would earn the top wild-card spot, and the Red Sox and Mariners would each be tied for the second one. Boston and Seattle would play in a Game at Fenway Park on Monday night, because the Red Sox won their head-to-head series, 4—3, with the Mariners this season. The winner would then face the Yankees in the Bronx on Tuesday night.

The Blue Jays would be eliminated. If both Group 1 teams lose and only one of the Group 2 teams win, we'd have three teams tied for the two wild-card spots. As Baccellieri writes: "A three-way tie would involve a draft of sorts—there are three different pathways for how to proceed, and the three clubs would get to pick who gets which, with the draft order determined by their head-to-head records:.

The club with the first pick would get to choose which team it wants to be: A, B or C. The roles for those designations are as follows:. In both of these permutations, the Red Sox would get the first pick in the draft, because they beat all three teams in their head-to-head series.

They'd be fools not to choose Team A. The Yankees holds the head-to-head advantage over the Mariners, so they'd pick second in Permutation 1. The Blue Jays would pick second in Permutation 2 because they won the season series vs. This situation would occur if only one of the Group 1 teams win and both Group 2 teams win. The winner of the Group 1 team would get the first wild-card spot, and host Tuesday's game, while the Group 1 loser would be tied with both the Group 2 teams for the second wild-card berth.

In this case, there would still be a draft, with the three teams picking if they want to be Team A, B or C, again.

Except this time, the roles are different. But instead of the winner going directly to the wild-card game while the loser goes to play Team C, the winner will now go to play Team C, and the loser will go home. Whoever wins that second game will then qualify for the wild-card game.

The Red Sox would get the first pick in Permutation 1 because they beat all three teams in the head-to-head series. Permutation 2 would involve a little bit more math, because the Yankees has the head-to-head advantage over the Mariners, the Mariners have the advantage over the Blue Jays, and the Blue Jays have the advantage over the Yankees.