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 3-GAMES-1)

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 3 games to 1. "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 3-games-1 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 3-games-1 NHL Stanley Cup Semifinals-round lead, having played Game 1 at home. Theoretical series victory probability for series-leading team = .875 (based on theoretical game victory probabilities of .5). Table updated through Fall 2022.

sport round site Game 5 rec. series rec.
all all all 391-301 (.565) 634-58 (.916)
all all H 295-152 (.660) 420-27 (.940)
all all V 96-149 (.392) 214-31 (.873)
all Finals all 64-56 (.533) 112-8 (.933)
all Finals H 44-33 (.571) 72-5 (.935)
all Finals V 20-23 (.465) 40-3 (.930)
all Semis all 98-76 (.563) 161-13 (.925)
all Semis H 68-38 (.642) 101-5 (.953)
all Semis V 30-38 (.441) 60-8 (.882)
all Qtrs all 121-74 (.621) 183-12 (.938)
all Qtrs H 95-35 (.731) 124-6 (.954)
all Qtrs V 26-39 (.400) 59-6 (.908)
all Prelim all 108-95 (.532) 178-25 (.877)
all Prelim H 88-46 (.657) 123-11 (.918)
all Prelim V 20-49 (.290) 55-14 (.797)
MLB all all 45-47 (.489) 78-14 (.848)
MLB all H 26-26 (.500) 45-7 (.865)
MLB all V 19-21 (.475) 33-7 (.825)
MLB Finals all 26-21 (.553) 41-6 (.872)
MLB Finals H 15-9 (.625) 20-4 (.833)
MLB Finals V 11-12 (.478) 21-2 (.913)
MLB Semis all 19-26 (.422) 37-8 (.822)
MLB Semis H 11-17 (.393) 25-3 (.893)
MLB Semis V 8-9 (.471) 12-5 (.706)
NBA all all 163-108 (.601) 258-13 (.952)
NBA all H 139-48 (.743) 183-4 (.979)
NBA all V 24-60 (.286) 75-9 (.893)
NBA Finals all 18-18 (.500) 35-1 (.972)
NBA Finals H 14-13 (.519) 26-1 (.963)
NBA Finals V 4-5 (.444) 9-0 (1.000)
NBA Semis all 31-28 (.525) 55-4 (.932)
NBA Semis H 23-11 (.676) 33-1 (.971)
NBA Semis V 8-17 (.320) 22-3 (.880)
NBA Qtrs all 67-34 (.663) 96-5 (.950)
NBA Qtrs H 58-15 (.795) 71-2 (.973)
NBA Qtrs V 9-19 (.321) 25-3 (.893)
NBA Prelim all 47-28 (.627) 72-3 (.960)
NBA Prelim H 44-9 (.830) 53-0 (1.000)
NBA Prelim V 3-19 (.136) 19-3 (.864)
NHL all all 183-146 (.556) 298-31 (.906)
NHL all H 130-78 (.625) 192-16 (.923)
NHL all V 53-68 (.438) 106-15 (.876)
NHL Finals all 20-17 (.541) 36-1 (.973)
NHL Finals H 15-11 (.577) 26-0 (1.000)
NHL Finals V 5-6 (.455) 10-1 (.909)
NHL Semis all 48-22 (.686) 69-1 (.986)
NHL Semis H 34-10 (.773) 43-1 (.977)
NHL Semis V 14-12 (.538) 26-0 (1.000)
NHL Qtrs all 54-40 (.574) 87-7 (.926)
NHL Qtrs H 37-20 (.649) 53-4 (.930)
NHL Qtrs V 17-20 (.459) 34-3 (.919)
NHL Prelim all 61-67 (.477) 106-22 (.828)
NHL Prelim H 44-37 (.543) 70-11 (.864)
NHL Prelim V 17-30 (.362) 36-11 (.766)