Tie Breaking Procedures

Final league standings, at the conclusion of league play, shall be based on each teams winning percentage. Only Canada West league games are to be considered for tie breaking procedures. The tie breaking criteria are in the following prioritized order:

Two Teams Tied:

  • 1. Win/Loss record in head-to-head competition.
  • 2. Common Opponent
    • a) Win/Loss record versus common opponents.
    • b)  In the event that the teams tied have a discrepancy in the number of games played between common opponents, win percentage in games versus common opponents will be used as the second tie breaker. Should the teams remain tied, the fourth tiebreaker is removed from the process.
  • 3. Points difference in head-to-head competition between the tied teams.
  • 4. Points difference using all games versus common opponents. 
  • 5. Points difference using all games played.
  • 6. Coin flip conducted by the Canada West Managing Director.

Three or More Teams Tied:

  • Use the same procedure as two-teams tied to determine the higher ranked team. Once one team has been separated from the tied group, go back to step one with the remaining tied team(s). Once one team is a clear winner in a tie-breaker between the three teams, that team receives the higher ranking, and the remaining two go to a head-to-head tiebreaker. Should two teams tie for top spot in a criterion, the third team will receive the lowest ranking and the tied teams will return to the start of the tiebreaking procedure for a head-to-head.

Playoff Format 

The top seven (7) teams from the Prairie Division and top five (5) teams from the BC Division advance to playoffs based on their league standing using win/loss record.

All playoff games are single elimination.

Playoff Seeding: Top seed will alternate between divisions and opposite genders, year to year. 

2024-25 Men's Basketball Playoff Seeding

  1. Pacific 1
  2. Prairie 1
  3. Pacific 2
  4. Prairie 2
  5. Pacific 3
  6. Prairie 3
  7. Pacific 4
  8. Prairie 4
  9. Pacific 5
  10. Prairie 5
  11. Prairie 6
  12. Prairie 7

Week 1 – Play-in Round / Quarter-Finals 

Day 1

A: 12 vs 5 (@4)

B: 11 vs 6 (@3)

C: 10 vs 7 (@2)

D: 9 vs 8 (@1) 

Day 2

E: Winner A @ 4

F: Winner B @3

G: Winner C @2

H: Winner D @ 1 

 

Week 2 – Semifinals 

I: Winner E vs Winner H (at higher seed)

J: Winner F vs Winner G (at higher seed)

 

Week 3 – CW Final

CW Gold Medal Game (at higher seed)

CW Bronze Medal* (at higher seed)

*(If needed to determine U SPORTS representatives)