Best-of-five playoff
Best-of-five playoff is a sport event which consists of a competition between two teams head-to-head which must win three games to win the series. Three is chosen as it would constitute a majority of games played; if one team has won three games before all five games have been played, the games that remain are omitted.
At present, only one American professional sports body - Major League Baseball - makes use of the best-of-five playoff, doing so in its first round, known as the Division Series. At one time, however, the League Championship Series was best-of-five, from its birth with both leagues' realignment into two divisions in 1969, and continuing until this round was lengthened to best-of-seven in 1985. When the wild card was created in 1995 (actually in 1994, but that year's entire postseason was cancelled due to a players' strike), the best-of-five format was authorized for the new Division Series, in which eight teams participate.
During the time that the League Championship Series was best-of-five, one team hosted the first two games, the other the last three (these respective roles alternating between the Eastern and Western Division champions regardless of which one finished with the better regular-season record). This procedure was repeated at first when the best-of-five Division Series was added in 1995 (except that two of each league's now three division winners hosted three games and the wild card could never do so), but starting in 1998 the home-field advantage was awarded to the two division winners in each league that had the best records; also in 1998, the team with the home-field advantage was given the first, second and fifth games at home instead of the third, fourth and fifth.
The National Basketball Association and National Hockey League both formerly used best-of-five series, the NBA in its second round prior to the 1957-1958 season, and in the first round from 1960-1961 through
1966-1967, and again from 1983-1984 until lengthening it to best of seven starting in 2002-2003, and the NHL for its first-round series beginning with the 1979-1980 season and lasting until that league increased its first round to best-of-seven in 1986-1987.
Unlike in baseball, in both NBA and NHL best-of-five series the higher regular-season finisher always hosted the first, second, and (if necessary) fifth games.
See also
Best-of-three playoff
Best-of-seven playoff
Best-of-nine playoff
