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Explaining baseball's Wild Card points

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CHSAA's Wild Card points are, in effect, a formula to measure the relative strength of a team's schedule.

Baseball is among the sports that use this type of formula. However, in baseball, Wild Card points only factor into the postseason for classes 5A, 4A and 3A. Each of those classifications have a set number of qualifiers based upon league finish, and then fill in other spots based upon Wild Card point finish.

  • In 3A, 30 of the 32 postseason spots are filled by league finish. The other two spots can be claimed by Fort Lupton (which plays in the 4A Colorado 7 league) and Ridge View Academy (an independent) if either school wins 10 or more games against opponents in class 3A or higher. Thus, Wild Card points are only used in the event Fort Lupton and/or Ridge View Academy don't meet that automatic qualifying standard. In that event, the remaining spot(s) will be filled by the teams with the highest wild card points who haven't already qualified.
  • In 4A, 26 of the 32 spots are filled by league finish, and two more can come from individual qualifying criteria (Ponderosa and Valor Christian). Thus, between four and six spots in the 4A field come from Wild Card points.
  • In 5A, 25 of the 32 spots are filled by league finish. Seven spots come from Wild Card points.

However, CHSAA determines Wild Card points for all classes because of cross-classification games which affect 3A, 4A and 5A.

Out-of-state competition is assigned a Colorado-equivalent classification based upon enrollment.

Wild Card points also determine seeding in 4A and 5A.

  • Seeds Nos. 1-8 will be set by the standings.
  • Seeds Nos. 9-16 will also be set by the standings, but can be moved up or down a seed to avoid "significant geographical conflicts" as well as league matchups.
  • Seeds Nos. 17-32 will be paired geographically (avoiding league matchups in the first round). Teams can move 2-3 spots from the final Wild Card standings to meet these requirements.

The Wild Card point formula boils down to adding Victory Points & Defeat Points, then dividing the total by games played. The resulting total becomes a team's Wild Card points.

Victory Points & Defeat Points are determined by the number of wins an opponent has, as well as their classification. For example, a win over a 5A team with 12 wins is worth 129 points. A defeat to that same team is worth 95 points. A win over a one-win 5A team is worth 96 points; a loss to a 19-win team is worth 130 points.

Find a full breakdown of this process in the in the baseball bulletin. A chart for Victory & Defeat Points is below.

Class 5A
Victory Defeat
Wins Points Wins Points
0 93 1 40
1 96 2 45
2 99 3 50
3 102 4 55
4 105 5 60
5 108 6 65
6 111 7 70
7 114 8 75
8 117 9 80
9 120 10 85
10 123 11 90
11 126 12 95
12 129 13 100
13 132 14 105
14 135 15 110
15 138 16 115
16 141 17 120
17 144 18 125
18 147 19 130
19 150
Class 4A
Victory Defeat
Wins Points Wins Points
0 84 1 30
1 87 2 35
2 90 3 40
3 93 4 45
4 96 5 50
5 99 6 55
6 102 7 60
7 105 8 65
8 108 9 70
9 111 10 75
10 114 11 80
11 117 12 85
12 120 13 90
13 123 14 95
14 126 15 100
15 129 16 105
16 132 17 110
17 135 18 115
18 138 19 120
19 141
Class 3A
Victory Defeat
Wins Points Wins Points
0 73 1 20
1 76 2 25
2 79 3 30
3 82 4 35
4 85 5 40
5 88 6 45
6 91 7 50
7 94 8 55
8 97 9 60
9 100 10 65
10 103 11 70
11 106 12 75
12 109 13 80
13 112 14 85
14 115 15 90
15 118 16 95
16 121 17 100
17 124 18 105
18 127 19 110
19 130
Class 2A
Victory Defeat
Wins Points Wins Points
0 63 1 10
1 66 2 15
2 69 3 20
3 72 4 25
4 75 5 30
5 78 6 35
6 81 7 40
7 84 8 45
8 87 9 50
9 90 10 55
10 93 11 60
11 96 12 65
12 99 13 70
13 102 14 75
14 105 15 80
15 108 16 85
16 111 17 90
17 114 18 95
18 117 19 100
19 120
Class 1A
Victory Defeat
Wins Points Wins Points
0 53 1 0
1 56 2 5
2 59 3 10
3 62 4 15
4 65 5 20
5 68 6 25
6 71 7 30
7 74 8 35
8 77 9 40
9 80 10 45
10 83 11 50
11 86 12 55
12 89 13 60
13 92 14 65
14 95 15 70
15 98 16 75
16 101 17 80
17 104 18 85
18 107 19 90
19 110