PEBA Playoff History
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2020 1:09 pm
With West Virginia currently undefeated heading into the 2030 PEC, Mike mentioned on Slack that he didn't thing we've ever had a team go undefeated through the postseason. Thankfully, the PEBA history pages provide the playoff details for each season, and I can confirm that Mike is correct. The 2020 Yuma team is the only other team to sweep their way into the PEC, but they lost to Florida in 7 games.
There has yet to be a team to even lose just 1 game in the postseason, however we have had a team lose only twice. That was the 2007 New Jersey Hitmen. They swept San Antonio 3-0 in the division series, defeated Charleston 4-1 in the Alliance League Tournament (now called the League Championship Series), and then overcame Palm Springs 4-1 in the PEC.
The following year, 2008, New Orleans won it all... and they did kind of the opposite. They lost 7 games but still managed to win it all. They beat Arlington 3-2 in the division series, New Jersey 4-3 in the Alliance Tournament, and Crystal Lake 4-2 in the PEC. Losing 7 games isn't actually that uncommon. It's one fewer than the max was at that time, and I guess it shows that most playoff teams are fairly evenly matched. Other teams that lost 7 games en route to winning it all include 2017 Bakersfield, 2020 Florida, and 2025 Florida.
The one team that had more losses and still won was Duluth, in 2026. They lost 8 games. This was after the expanded playoffs with the wild card round came into being in 2021. Duluth, a division champ, could have lost a grand total of 9 games, but only took 6 games to knock off Aurora in the LCS.
Most championship teams lose 5 games en route to their title. A full 10 teams have done that, with Aurora counting for 5 of those.
In 23 seasons (through 2029), only 3 PEBA champions were not division winners. That group includes 2010 Charleston and 2012 Tempe, both of who did it prior to expansion. They were not weak teams. Charleston won 99 games and Tempe won 109, but both were behind the division winners those years. The only team post expansion to win it all, playing through all 4 rounds of the playoffs, is Shin Seiki in 2027. There were a 105 win team.
There has yet to be a team to even lose just 1 game in the postseason, however we have had a team lose only twice. That was the 2007 New Jersey Hitmen. They swept San Antonio 3-0 in the division series, defeated Charleston 4-1 in the Alliance League Tournament (now called the League Championship Series), and then overcame Palm Springs 4-1 in the PEC.
The following year, 2008, New Orleans won it all... and they did kind of the opposite. They lost 7 games but still managed to win it all. They beat Arlington 3-2 in the division series, New Jersey 4-3 in the Alliance Tournament, and Crystal Lake 4-2 in the PEC. Losing 7 games isn't actually that uncommon. It's one fewer than the max was at that time, and I guess it shows that most playoff teams are fairly evenly matched. Other teams that lost 7 games en route to winning it all include 2017 Bakersfield, 2020 Florida, and 2025 Florida.
The one team that had more losses and still won was Duluth, in 2026. They lost 8 games. This was after the expanded playoffs with the wild card round came into being in 2021. Duluth, a division champ, could have lost a grand total of 9 games, but only took 6 games to knock off Aurora in the LCS.
Most championship teams lose 5 games en route to their title. A full 10 teams have done that, with Aurora counting for 5 of those.
In 23 seasons (through 2029), only 3 PEBA champions were not division winners. That group includes 2010 Charleston and 2012 Tempe, both of who did it prior to expansion. They were not weak teams. Charleston won 99 games and Tempe won 109, but both were behind the division winners those years. The only team post expansion to win it all, playing through all 4 rounds of the playoffs, is Shin Seiki in 2027. There were a 105 win team.