WhoWins(tm) Best-of-7

HISTORICAL VICTORY PROBABILITIES AND TEAM PERFORMANCE RECORDS FOR BEST-OF-7 FORMAT MLB, NBA, AND NHL PLAYOFF SERIES

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BEST-OF-7 SERIES RESULTS
The master list: Winner and loser of each and every best-of-7 MLB, NBA, and NHL playoff series from 1905 (the year of the first best-of-7 series).

BEST-OF-7 HISTORICAL VICTORY PROBABILITIES
SERIES STATUS IN GAMES
leading, 1-game-nil
leading, 2-games-nil
leading, 3-games-nil
leading, 2-games-1
leading, 3-games-1
leading, 3-games-2

WhoWins™ BEST-OF-7 GREATEST COMEBACK EVER
Surmounting the 3-games-nil deficit.

WhoWins™ BEST-OF-7 ANNIHILATIONS
The ultimate ignominy: Sweeps during which the swept team never, ever leads.

BEST-OF-7 FRANCHISE SERIES OUTCOMES
ALL ROUNDS
Irrespective of Game 1 site
Game 1 played at home
Game 1 played on road
FINALS
Irrespective of Game 1 site
Game 1 played at home
Game 1 played on road
SEMIFINALS
Irrespective of Game 1 site
Game 1 played at home
Game 1 played on road
QUARTERFINALS (NBA, NHL)
Irrespective of Game 1 site
Game 1 played at home
Game 1 played on road
PRELIMINARIES (NBA, NHL)
Irrespective of Game 1 site
Game 1 played at home
Game 1 played on road

BEST-OF-7 FRANCHISE GAME OUTCOMES
ALL ROUNDS
All | Home Games | Road Games
FINALS
All | Home Games | Road Games
SEMIFINALS
All | Home Games | Road Games
QUARTERFINALS (NBA, NHL)
All | Home Games | Road Games
PRELIMINARIES (NBA, NHL)
All | Home Games | Road Games

BEST-OF-7 FRANCHISE SCORING OUTCOMES
MLB: all runs for/against
NBA: all points for/against
NHL: all goals for/against

BEST-OF-7 SCORING RECORDS
BEST-OF-7 MLB, NBA, NHL Series and Game Scoring Records

RESOURCES
Societies, books, and other resources.

BEST-OF-7 FEATURES
Articles on best-of-7 series phenomena.

FAQ
Frequently-asked questions.

SEARCH RESULTS
Related search terms from popular search engines.

PROBABILITY FORMULAE
Mathematical formulae for best-of-7 probability computations.

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HISTORICAL SERIES VICTORY PROBABILITIES (UP 1-GAME-NIL)

Here's what has happened -- in both the series and the following game -- when an MLB/NBA/NHL team led a best-of-7 series 1 game to nil. "Site" means the site (H=home or V=road) where a team played Game 1: For example, the row in which sport=MLB, round=Finals, and site=V refers to MLB teams with a 1-game-nil MLB World Series lead, having played Game 1 on the road; for a second example, the row in which sport=NHL, round=Semis, and site=H refers to NHL teams with a 1-game-nil NHL Stanley Cup Semifinals-round lead, having played Game 1 at home. Theoretical series victory probability for series-leading team = .65625 (based on theoretical game victory probabilities of .5). Table updated through Fall 2007.
sport round site Game 2 rec. series rec.
all all all 552-470 (.540) 729-293 (.713)
all all H 439-245 (.642) 541-143 (.791)
all all V 113-225 (.334) 188-150 (.556)
all Finals all 121-107 (.531) 159-69 (.697)
all Finals H 93-59 (.612) 117-35 (.770)
all Finals V 28-48 (.368) 42-34 (.553)
all Semis all 147-131 (.529) 200-78 (.719)
all Semis H 111-69 (.617) 139-41 (.772)
all Semis V 36-62 (.367) 61-37 (.622)
all Qtrs all 180-136 (.570) 238-78 (.753)
all Qtrs H 152-75 (.670) 189-38 (.833)
all Qtrs V 28-61 (.315) 49-40 (.551)
all Prelim all 104-96 (.520) 132-68 (.660)
all Prelim H 83-42 (.664) 96-29 (.768)
all Prelim V 21-54 (.280) 36-39 (.480)
MLB all all 68-75 (.476) 89-54 (.622)
MLB all H 44-39 (.530) 53-30 (.639)
MLB all V 24-36 (.400) 36-24 (.600)
MLB Finals all 49-50 (.495) 62-37 (.626)
MLB Finals H 35-24 (.593) 39-20 (.661)
MLB Finals V 14-26 (.350) 23-17 (.575)
MLB Semis all 19-25 (.432) 27-17 (.614)
MLB Semis H 9-15 (.375) 14-10 (.583)
MLB Semis V 10-10 (.500) 13-7 (.650)
NBA all all 204-159 (.562) 285-78 (.785)
NBA all H 180-88 (.672) 231-37 (.862)
NBA all V 24-71 (.253) 54-41 (.568)
NBA Finals all 29-32 (.475) 44-17 (.721)
NBA Finals H 26-19 (.578) 36-9 (.800)
NBA Finals V 3-13 (.188) 8-8 (.500)
NBA Semis all 59-43 (.578) 81-21 (.794)
NBA Semis H 48-22 (.686) 59-11 (.843)
NBA Semis V 11-21 (.344) 22-10 (.688)
NBA Qtrs all 90-70 (.563) 129-31 (.806)
NBA Qtrs H 81-42 (.659) 109-14 (.886)
NBA Qtrs V 9-28 (.243) 20-17 (.541)
NBA Prelim all 26-14 (.650) 31-9 (.775)
NBA Prelim H 25-5 (.833) 27-3 (.900)
NBA Prelim V 1-9 (.100) 4-6 (.400)
NHL all all 280-236 (.543) 355-161 (.688)
NHL all H 215-118 (.646) 257-76 (.772)
NHL all V 65-118 (.355) 98-85 (.536)
NHL Finals all 43-25 (.632) 53-15 (.779)
NHL Finals H 32-16 (.667) 42-6 (.875)
NHL Finals V 11-9 (.550) 11-9 (.550)
NHL Semis all 69-63 (.523) 92-40 (.697)
NHL Semis H 54-32 (.628) 66-20 (.767)
NHL Semis V 15-31 (.326) 26-20 (.565)
NHL Qtrs all 90-66 (.577) 109-47 (.699)
NHL Qtrs H 71-33 (.683) 80-24 (.769)
NHL Qtrs V 19-33 (.365) 29-23 (.558)
NHL Prelim all 78-82 (.488) 101-59 (.631)
NHL Prelim H 58-37 (.611) 69-26 (.726)
NHL Prelim V 20-45 (.308) 32-33 (.492)