Statistical tiebreakers

Statistical tiebreakers (or paper tiebreakers) is the use of statistics to break a tie in record, usually for final placement or advancement into playoff pools. This practice is generally frowned upon because it would be better to break the tie by additional gameplay, but sometimes limitations on time, available questions, team interest, or other resources require it. However, even when tiebreaker games are used, statistical tiebreakers are necessary to seed the teams for the tiebreaker games (when there are three or more tied teams).

When statistical tiebreakers are used, the specific statistic used is usually points per tossup heard. When breaking ties between teams who have played different opponents, some people prefer to use points per bonus.