WFBL PLAYOFF HISTORY

In the inaugural short season of 1998, the two division winners and the next two overall clubs with the best records made the playoffs. Beginning with the league's first Expansion season in 1999 and running through the 2002 season, each Division pennant winner received a bye. The next four best overall teams were seeded 1-4 and played one another in an Opening Round. In those first five seasons it was possible for two teams from the same division to meet in the WFBL Championship, and this happened in both 2001 & 2002. 

For the WFBL's 2nd Expansion season of 2003 and continuing through the 2010 season the league introduced Divisional playoffs, with the 1-4 and 2-3 place finishers in each division meeting one another with no byes, and then Divisional playoff winners advancing to meet in a true East vs West battle for the WFBL Championship. 

For the league's 3rd Expansion beginning in 2011, a 3-division setup was introduced with all pennant winners receiving byes and the next 2 best overall teams meeting in a Wildcard game. Then in 2018-19 thanks to the makeup of the MLB schedule, an extra "Opening Round" of playoffs was added, allowing four 'Wildcard' teams into the postseason along with the three Pennant winners.

The 2020 campaign was severely altered by the COVID19 pandemic, with a Divisional Round Robin setting up an eight-team playoff in which the three pennant winners were joined by the next five teams in a one-year response to the virus. In 2021 the schedule returned to normal with the 2011-17 setup of three Pennant winners and two Wildcard teams making the playoffs. 

For 2022, eight teams made the postseason, with a Quarter-Finals, Semis, and Finals. Then in 2023, the largest postseason field ever saw 12 teams advance. There was a Wildcard round of four matchups with four teams (the three pennant winners and top second-place club) receiving byes, Quarter-Finals, Semis, and Finals. That 2023 playoff format begins a back-and-forth playoff format for the WFBL for the foreseeable future, changing every other year with the following 2024 format. 

In 2024, the alternating year format was inaugurated. Each of the three divisional Pennant winners and the top second place team receive a bye. The overall 5th and 6th records face each other in an Opening Round, with the winner moving on to face that top second place team in a Wildcard Game. The winner of that matchup advances into the Semi-Finals along with the three Pennant winners.

The thought process behind the alternating years format is that for one year the playoffs expand to a dozen teams, giving more teams a shot at the Championship for interest sake. Then the restricted half-dozen alternate year allows for the rewarding of only the league's regular season best to compete for the title.

Also, in 2024 a 'Draft Pick Playoff' was originated. This 'DPP' allows the teams who did not make the Championship playoffs that year to continue compete in a seeded tournament with the winner receiving the 19th overall pick in the following year's WFBL Minors Draft.