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How Standings & Tiebreakers Work

Points Per Match (PPM)

Standings are ranked by Points Per Match, or PPM — a team's total points divided by the number of matches it has played. Using PPM instead of total points means a team that has played fewer games isn't penalized for it; every result carries equal weight no matter how many games each team has played.

3

Win

1

Draw

0

Loss

PPM = Total Points ÷ Matches Played

Only first place is ever tiebroken

The Gio Cup awards a single trophy to the team with the best PPM. Because of that, tiebreakers are only ever used to settle a tie for first place.

If two or more teams are tied anywhere else in the standings — 2nd place, 3rd place, and so on — that tie is simply shown as a shared rank, like “T-2,” and no tiebreaker is applied. This is true even if the tied teams played each other and one of them won that match. Tiebreakers only ever come into play when the tie is for the top spot.

When Two Teams Are Tied for First

When exactly two teams finish tied for the best PPM, the following questions are asked in order. As soon as one question tells the teams apart, that settles the tie — the rest are never needed. If two teams are exactly even on every single one of these, they are declared co-champions and share first place.

  1. 1Which team earned more points in the matches the two teams played against each other?
  2. 2Which team had the better goal differential (goals scored minus goals allowed) in those head-to-head matches?
  3. 3Which team allowed fewer goals in those head-to-head matches?
  4. 4Which team won the most recent time the two teams played each other?
  5. 5Which team has the better overall goal differential per match across all Gio Cup matches?
  6. 6Which team has allowed fewer goals per match across all Gio Cup matches?
  7. 7Which team has the better MaxPreps ranking?

When Three or More Teams Are Tied for First

Head-to-head comparisons only make sense between two teams at a time, so when three or more teams are tied for first, those questions are set aside at first. Instead, the group is narrowed down using:

  1. 1Which teams have the better overall goal differential per match across all Gio Cup matches?
  2. 2Which teams have allowed fewer goals per match across all Gio Cup matches?
  3. 3Which 2 teams have the highest MaxPreps ranking?

Each question is used to narrow the group down to the teams that are still tied. As soon as the group narrows down to exactly two teams, the full two-team process above — starting again from head-to-head points — is applied to just that pair to determine the champion.