Has there ever been a time where all 5 teams in a division have made the playoffs?

Question

I remember five years ago in the Northwest Division 4 out of the 5 teams made the playoffs, just wondering if all 5 have ever made it.

Answer 1

It has never happened, and would be a hard thing to do

In order for it to happen
- each team in a division would need to be 0.500 within the division (by nature of every game having a winner and loser, interdivisional play is ALWAYS 0.500 in a year)
- once that happens, each team in that division would have to ace their non-divisional schedule

If those two things both happen, the possibility exists that all 5 teams in a division could make the playoffs.


Cdn24fan...........you hit the nail on the head with the rest of your answer...............at my age, even typing can be tiring....plus everytime I wrote it out, it didn't make perfect sense, (i.e. I knew what I was trying to say, but couldn't write it out eloquently enough)

Huntnikk2000.............you need to take a math course, it can be done!

Answer 2

I was going to answer basically what LITY and Cdn24 had said here but they already have it covered so here I go off on a tangent again.
Doesn't this question underline a missed opportunity? We complain about so many kids not getting a good education these days and perhaps it's because we just don't approach them on a level they can get or will catch their interest.
Would not using sports instead of apples and oranges to get more kids interested in what math can do for them?
I only say this because clearly if you look at this as a mathematics question the answer is pretty plain when you break it down so why not use examples like this to teach math. School seems to miss reaching far too many kids and just maybe it's because teaching methods are using tired, old subject matter. I know a few people who pop into this section are in the teaching field and I hope they see the opportunity that has just been laid at their feet here.
I know this isn't exactly the right place to say this but, I just found this smacked me right between the eyes and thought it needed saying.

Answer 3

Great answer Lity

As Lity said it would be extremely difficult, you would need all of Lity's conditions .500 within the division with a lot of OT/shutout games to get an extra point.

A sweep of games outside the division

And finally one dominant team in each of the other divisions that would dominate its games within its division to keep the other teams lower.

Not likely to happen.

Answer 4

Nope it's never happened, and btw I like youe name it happens to be the same one I have (Aaron M)

Answer 5

Actually it can't happen the way they setup the scheduling these days. You could have 4 but not 5
UPDATE!!!!
Try it on paper with this years schedule.
I bet you will see it can't happen, but try it anyway..