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  Development Academy  
  Development Academy Playoffs & Finals Week


The Development Academy 2008-09 season includes a new postseason process introduced at the Academy Annual General Meeting in July 2008. Below is an explanation of the new process. A printer-friendly version of this document is also available here.

Automatic Qualification
Teams are ranked in their division based on the points accumulated from only their Division games. The top three (3) teams from each division automatically qualify for the Playoffs.

Example: If the Division’s season ended as follows, Team A, B and C would qualify for the Playoffs due to the number of points accumulated in their division games.

  DivisionRecord OverallRecord
  W L T Pts. W L T Pts. Pts./GP
1. Team A 9 0 2 29 11 0 3 36 2.57
2. Team B 6 4 2 20 8 5 2 26 1.73
3. Team C 4 3 5 17 5 7 5 20 1.18
4. Team D 4 4 4 16 4 4 7 19 1.27
5. Team E 4 5 3 15 8 6 3 27 1.59
6. Team F 3 5 5 14 4 6 6 18 1.13
7. Team G 1 6 2 5 3 10 3 12 0.75
8. Team H 0 4 4 4 2 6 7 13 0.87

Wild Card Eligibility
The fourth place team in the division standings will be eligible to qualify for a wildcard berth to the Playoffs.

Example: Team D would be a wildcard candidate given their fourth place finish in the division standings.

  DivisionRecord OverallRecord
  W L T Pts. W L T Pts. Pts./GP
1. Team A 9 0 2 29 11 0 3 36 2.57
2. Team B 6 4 2 20 8 5 2 26 1.73
3. Team C 4 3 5 17 5 7 5 20 1.18
4. Team D 4 4 4 16 4 4 7 19 1.27
5. Team E 4 5 3 15 8 6 3 27 1.59
6. Team F 3 5 5 14 4 6 6 18 1.13
7. Team G 1 6 2 5 3 10 3 12 0.75
8. Team H 0 4 4 4 2 6 7 13 0.87

Wild Card Qualification for Playoffs
The Wild Card candidates are then ranked based on their points/game from their Overall Record, including Division, Conference and Showcase games. The top five (5) Wild Card candidates qualify for the Playoffs.

Example: Wildcard A, Wildcard B, Wildcard C, Wildcard D and Wildcard E will qualify for the Playoffs because they have the five (5) highest Pts/GP from the Wild Card candidates.

  DivisionRecord OverallRecord
  W L T Pts. W L T Pts. Pts./GP
1. Wildcard A 4 3 5 17 7 3 5 26 1.73
2. Wildcard B 6 4 3 21 7 4 5 25 1.56
3. Wildcard C 6 3 4 22 6 4 5 23 1.53
4. Wildcard D 6 1 5 23 6 3 7 24 1.5
5. Wildcard E 5 3 4 19 5 3 7 22 1.47
6. Team X 4 3 5 17 5 4 6 21 1.40
7. Team D 4 4 4 16 4 4 7 19 1.27
8. Team Y 4 6 2 14 4 6 5 17 1.13
9. Team Z 4 4 4 16 4 7 4 16 1.07

Seeding for Playoffs
Once in the playoffs, the 32 Playoffs teams will be seeded 1 to 32 based on their points/game from their Overall Record, including Division, Conference and Showcase games. The teams will then be split into eight (8) groups of four (4) teams based on their seeds, as indicated below. The teams will play three (3) games and the group winner will qualify for Finals Week.

Group A

#1 Seed
#16 Seed
#17 Seed
#32 Seed

Group B

#8 Seed
#9 Seed
#24 Seed
#25 Seed

Group C

#4 Seed
#13 Seed
#20 Seed
#29 Seed

Group D

#5 Seed
#12 Seed
#21 Seed
#28 Seed

Group E

#2 Seed
#15 Seed
#18 Seed
#31 Seed

Group F

#7 Seed
#10 Seed
#23 Seed
#26 Seed

Group G

#3 Seed
#14 Seed
#19 Seed
#30 Seed

Group H

#6 Seed
#11 Seed
#22 Seed
#27 Seed

Seeding for Finals Week
The winners of each Playoff Group will be placed into two groups for Finals Week. Each team will play the other three teams in their group.

Group 1

Group A Winner
Group B Winner
Group C Winner
Group D Winner

Group 2

Group E Winner
Group F Winner
Group G Winner
Group H Winner
 

Winner Finals Week Placement Games
At the end of group play, each team will then play a Placement Game against the team from the other group that finished in the same position.

Home   Away
Winner Group 1 vs. Winner Group 2
Second Place Group 1 vs. Second Place Group 2
Third Place Group 1 vs. Third Place Group 2
Fourth Place Group 1 vs. Fourth Place Group 2

Wildcard, Playoff and Finals Week Tiebreakers
Tiebreakers are specified in the Academy Regulations available online on the Academy Administrators page.

Playoff Location & Dates
Playoffs at Bryan Park in Greensboro, N.C. from June 26-29, 2009.

Finals Week Location & Dates
Finals Week at Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. from July 10-17, 2009.

Additional Academy Information
Click here for a complete listing of Conferences, Divisions and Teams.  

06/28/2009  
U.S. Men 2
Brazil 3
06/24/2009  
U.S. Men 2
Spain 0
06/21/2009  
U.S. Men 3
Egypt 0
U.S. Men vs. Grenada
Live on FSC and TeleFutura
07/04/2009  6:00 PM  PT
U.S. Men vs. Honduras
Live on FSC and TeleFutura
07/08/2009  9:00 PM  ET
U.S. Men vs. Haiti
Live on FSC and TeleFutura
07/11/2009  7:00 PM  ET
U.S. Women vs. Canada Women
07/19/2009  3:00 PM  ET
Rochester Rhinos Stadium; Rochester, N.Y.
U.S. Women vs. Canada Women
07/22/2009  8:00 PM  ET
Blackbaud Stadium; Charleston, S.C.
U.S. Men vs. El Salvador
09/05/2009  5:30 PM  MT
Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah
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