Playoff Format - Total Points Series (aggregate)

Total Points Series (aggregate)

Various playoff formats, including two-legged ties and total points series pair off participants in a number of games (often two), with the winner being determined by aggregate score: the winner being the one who scores the most points/goals etc. over the series of games. Two-legged ties are common in association football, and were used in NHL playoff series until 1937.

In 2004, NASCAR adopted a total points playoff of a different stripe, creating a "Chase for the Cup" that allowed a golf-style cut of the high ten or 400 points of the leader, whichever is greater, to compete for the championship in the last ten races. Effective with the 2007 season, the Chase was expanded to include the top 12 drivers after 26 races. The points of the drivers in the cut are elevated far beyond those of the pack. From 2007 to 2010, each Chase driver received 5,000 points, with a 10-point bonus for each race won prior to the Chase. Starting in 2011, the points system and Chase qualification criteria were significantly changed. Now, the top 10 drivers after 26 races automatically qualify for the Chase, joined by the two drivers with the most race wins among those ranked between 11th and 20th in points after 26 races. Reflecting a major change to the points system, in which the race winner can now earn a maximum of 48 points as opposed to 195 in the former system, driver points are now reset to a base of 2,000. After the reset, automatic qualifiers will receive 3 bonus points for each race win, while the wild card qualifiers will not receive a bonus for wins. Regardless of the exact format, the driver in that group with the most points after the final ten races wins the Sprint Cup.

In November 2005, the PGA Tour announced that a similar total points playoff would be used to lead up to the PGA Championship, starting in 2007. The player with the most points at the end of the year would take home the FedEx Cup.

Prior to the 1986 Playoffs, the Canadian Hockey League (especially the Ontario Hockey League) used the point series, to determine, which team would advance. In those situation, where the higher seeded host in odd number of game (game #1, 3, 5, 7), while the other team host the even number (game #2, 4, 6, 8). There would be no overtime, except for the deciding game, because a tie in the last game, of the series would not declare a series winner, so should that happens, there would be a sudden-death overtime, with the winner getting 2 points, and the losing team get nothing.

The game show Jeopardy! uses a two-game series in the final round of its tournaments. Each game is played separately (i.e., money from day one cannot be wagered on day two), and the money is added together to determine the winner. The only exception to this was in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions, when the two semifinal matches were both two-game series, and the final was a three-game series.