Standings (sports)

In sports, standings, rankings, or league tables group teams of a particular league, conference, or division in a chart based on how well each is doing in a particular season of a sports league or competition. These lists are generally published in newspapers and other media, as well as the official web sites of the sports leagues and competitions.

A partial view of the Green Monster at Fenway Park, with standings for the American League East division at the end of the 2007 Major League Baseball season

Formulation

The standings shows where each team ranks in their conference or division. Teams may be ranked in terms of simple winning percentage (the proportion of the games played to date which the team won), or based on total points, with differing numbers of points awarded for wins and ties (draws). Many league tables show further statistics and may display:

  • wins
  • losses
  • ties (draws)
  • goal differential (Goals scored minus goals conceded)
  • goals scored
  • goals allowed (conceded)
  • home/away win–loss records

Usually, if a league is divided into conferences and divisions, the league table will also be. Often, a less specific table is also included. For example, National Hockey League tables will normally have a detailed table for each division, plus a table for each conference showing just the points totals.

As an example, below is the league table for the Northeast Division of the National Hockey League, as of March 31, 2004:

Team         GP   W   L   T  OL   GF   GA  Pts
x-Boston     79  40  18  14   7  201  179  101
x-Toronto    80  43  24  10   3  234  204   99
x-Ottawa     79  41  22  10   6  254  178   98
x-Montreal   79  40  28   7   4  201  182   91
Buffalo      79  36  32   7   4  213  210   83

x - clinched a playoff spot
y - clinched the division championship

In the above table, an "'X" placed before a team's name shows that the team has qualified for playoff position; other letters may be used to show that a team is guaranteed first place, has been eliminated from contention and so forth. From this table, we can see that Boston, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal are all guaranteed playoff positions; the absence of a " y" shows that the division championship is still to play for. Meanwhile, because Buffalo has no symbol at all, they are not out of playoff contention, but have yet to clinch a playoff position. The following day, a new league table would appear in newspapers, updated based on the previous night's games. Of course, the above table would also be accompanied by those of the other divisions in the league.

Instances

Applications include:

See also

References

    Further reading
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