The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be either a single game, a series of games, or a tournament, and may use a single-elimination system or one of several other different playoff formats. Playoff, in regard to international fixtures, is to qualify or progress to the next round of a competition or tournament.
2018 Serie B playoff final, 2nd leg. Frosinone, Italy, 16 June 2018.
In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivision had avoided using a playoff tournament to determine an annual national champion, which was instead traditionally determined by a vote of sports writers and other non-players. In place of such a playoff, various cities across the United States developed their own regional festivals featuring postseason college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals. Despite attempts to establish a permanent system to determine the FBS national champion on the field, various bowl games continue to be held because of the vested economic interests entrenched in them.
The 2006 Rose Bowl between Texas and USC at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California
Members of the national champion 2019 LSU Tigers national championship team are hosted at the White House; quarterback Joe Burrow is shown speaking.
The 1939 Cotton Bowl Classic between St. Mary's and Texas Tech
U.S. President John F. Kennedy (lower left of center) at the 1963 Orange Bowl in Miami