View source for Points per tossup heard

:''See also: [[points per game]]''

'''Points per tossup heard''' (or '''PPTUH''') is a [[statistic]] calculated as the number of points earned divided by the number of tossups it had the opportunity to answer. This can be calculated within a single game or over the course of several games, and for individual players (considering only tossup points, which in most formats means [[powers]] and regular tossup answers and [[interrupts]]) or for teams (considering tossup points, bonus points, and any other type of points that may be available).

PPTUH is similar to [[points per game]] (PPG), but adjusts for the fact that games may have different numbers of [[tossups heard]], perhaps due to some games going into [[overtime]], or due to the games being [[timed games|timed]].

PPTUH is often reported as '''PP20TUH''' (points per 20 tossups heard), i.e., PPTUH times 20, designed to approximate the number of points a team or player would score "in a typical game". In some formats, numbers other than 20 are used.

==Application==
The team version of PPTUH is widely used as a tiebreaker among teams who are tied in [[record]]. It is especially commonly used to break ties among teams who played the same opponents; some tournament directors prefer not to use it as a tiebreaker for teams who played different opponents (see [[points per bonus]]). PPG is sometimes used as a substitute, especially if games were untimed. If games varied in number of tossups read, including the case in which any games went into overtime, PPG is imperfect because different teams will have had different numbers of opportunities to score points. If any games went into overtime and bonuses are not used in overtime, PPTUH is also imperfect because some of the tossups heard did not lead to the opportunity to score bonus points; theoretically one should use PPTUH ''in regulation'' or apply a correction by giving teams their average points per bonus for overtime tossups, but these are rarely if ever done.

The individual-player version of PPTUH is widely used for [[individual awards]]. As above, PPG is sometimes used as a substitute, especially if games were untimed, though if any games went into overtime that's not ideal. Usually only preliminary games are considered for individual awards, since in theory teams' preliminary schedules should be fairly evenly balanced, while better teams will play tougher competition in the playoffs (likely deflating their scoring) and less good teams will play weaker competition in the playoffs (likely inflating their scoring).

[[Category:Statistics]]