Alternative Method
Another method can be used to determine the Elimination Number which uses only the Games Remaining and Games Behind Leader (GBL) statistics, as follows: ,
where means Games Remaining for Leader (similarly, means Games Remaining for Trailer).
Refer back to the example presented above. The elimination number for Team B is once again "5": .
It is necessary to use this method if the teams play different numbers of games in the full season, for instance due to cancellations or ties that will not be replayed. Note that this algorithm also is limited by the aforementioned subtleties.
Read more about this topic: Magic Number (sports)
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