From Goff's blog: "Meantime, the Insider has learned that Women's Professional Soccer, the new USA league, will have a single table (it's just seven teams) and a unique playoff format. The first-place team at the end of the 20-game regular season will receive a bye directly to the championship game. The No. 4 seed will play at the No. 3 seed, with the winner facing the No. 2 seed. That survivor will go to the championship, which will be held in late August and hosted by the top seed." I absolutely love this format. It really rewards the team that finishes at the top of the table. Thoughts?
A stepladder playoff, huh? That would be unique in American team sports. Pro bowling used to do their tournament finals that way, i think.
wow. interesting. I'd like to hear the scheduling though. Hopefully the 3/4 match would be midweek. I like having a week off but three weeks off going into a one off championship match... IDK. we'll see!
Yes, it could definitely work out negatively for the best team. They get a bye into the finals, but meanwhile they sit idly by for two weeks and lose their edge, while the other teams stay at their competitive best. Layoffs can be bad in sports, especially if the team was playing it's best at the end of the season.
I agree with the previous two posts. A brief one-week layoff may be good, but longer would be counter-productive.
On another thread, Peter Wilt said there would be two weeks between the end of the regular season and the title game. So, I guess one of those playoff games is a midweek game.