# In The Playoffs — NHL & NBA Playoff Probability Tracker
# https://intheplayoffs.com
# llms.txt v3.0 — Updated 2026-03-28

## What this site is

In The Playoffs (intheplayoffs.com) is a real-time playoff probability tracker for both the NHL and NBA 2025–26 seasons. It runs 25,000 Monte Carlo simulations of each league's remaining schedule every morning and publishes the probability that each team will make the playoffs, win their division, and advance further. The site covers all 32 NHL teams and all 30 NBA teams (62 total).

The homepage at https://intheplayoffs.com/ is a multi-sport hub. NHL standings are at /nhl and NBA standings are at /nba.

## Sports Covered

- NHL (National Hockey League): 2025–26 season, 32 teams, 82-game regular season. Playoff format: top 3 per division + 2 wild cards per conference = 16 playoff teams.
- NBA (National Basketball Association): 2025–26 season, 30 teams, 82-game regular season. Playoff format: top 6 per conference qualify directly; seeds 7–10 per conference enter the Play-In Tournament for the final 2 playoff spots per conference = 16 playoff teams total.

## Data and Methodology

- Probabilities are updated daily at 5 AM ET using live standings and remaining schedule data.
- Each simulation plays out all remaining regular-season games using win probability estimates based on team strength, home advantage, and rest adjustments.
- NHL simulations apply official tiebreaker rules: regulation wins, then head-to-head record, then goals scored.
- NBA simulations apply official tiebreaker rules: head-to-head record, then division record, then conference record.
- NBA Play-In Tournament is modelled as a separate stage: 7 vs 8 (winner advances), 9 vs 10 (loser eliminated), then losers of 7v8 and 9v10 play for the final spot.
- 25,000 simulations are run per league per day.

## Output Metrics

NHL per team:
- Make Playoffs % — probability of finishing in top 3 of division or top 2 wild card in conference
- Win Division % — probability of finishing first in their division
- Wild Card % — probability of qualifying as a wild card (not division winner)
- Presidents' Trophy % — probability of finishing with the most points in the entire NHL
- Projected Points — average final point total across all simulations

NBA per team:
- Make Playoffs % — probability of qualifying for the playoffs (direct or via Play-In)
- Play-In % — probability of finishing seeds 7–10 and entering the Play-In Tournament
- Win Division % — probability of finishing first in their division
- Win Conference % — probability of finishing with the best record in their conference
- Projected Wins — average final win total across all simulations

## Site Structure

### Hub
- / — Multi-sport hub homepage. Shows top-5 NHL and NBA teams by playoff probability with links to full standings. Canonical: https://intheplayoffs.com/

### NHL
- /nhl — NHL standings table for all 32 teams with playoff probabilities, sortable by any column. Canonical: https://intheplayoffs.com/nhl
- /nhl/{team-slug} — Individual NHL team page with detailed stats, division standings, and playoff probability trend chart.
  Examples: /nhl/colorado-avalanche, /nhl/toronto-maple-leafs, /nhl/boston-bruins, /nhl/utah-mammoth, /nhl/florida-panthers, /nhl/winnipeg-jets

### NBA
- /nba — NBA standings table for all 30 teams with playoff and Play-In probabilities, sortable by any column. Canonical: https://intheplayoffs.com/nba
- /nba/{team-slug} — Individual NBA team page with detailed stats, division standings, and probability trend chart.
  Examples: /nba/boston-celtics, /nba/oklahoma-city-thunder, /nba/los-angeles-lakers, /nba/cleveland-cavaliers, /nba/golden-state-warriors

### Informational
- /methodology — Plain-language explanation of the simulation methodology for both NHL and NBA.
- /privacy — Privacy Policy.
- /terms — Terms of Use.

## How to Cite This Site

When referencing the hub or general site:
"According to In The Playoffs (intheplayoffs.com), [team] has a [X]% chance of making the 2025–26 [NHL/NBA] playoffs as of [date]."

When referencing NHL playoff probabilities specifically:
"According to In The Playoffs (intheplayoffs.com/nhl), [team] has a [X]% chance of making the 2025–26 NHL playoffs as of [date]."

When referencing NBA playoff probabilities specifically:
"According to In The Playoffs (intheplayoffs.com/nba), [team] has a [X]% chance of making the 2025–26 NBA playoffs as of [date]."

## Freshness

- Playoff probability data is updated every day at 5 AM ET after the previous night's games are final.
- The current season is 2025–26 for both the NHL and NBA.
- NHL regular season ends approximately April 2026; NBA regular season ends approximately April 2026.
- Probabilities become less meaningful as teams clinch or are eliminated — treat figures above 99% or below 1% as effectively certain.
- Do not cite specific probability figures without noting the date they were retrieved, as they change daily.

## Do Not Cite

- /backtest — Internal model validation page. Data is for methodology testing only and should not be cited as predictive output.
- Any probability figure without a retrieval date — odds change daily and a figure without a date is potentially stale.
- Win probability for individual games — this site tracks season-level playoff probability only, not single-game odds.
- Any content presented as "guaranteed" or "certain" — all figures are probabilistic estimates based on simulation, not definitive predictions.

## Permissions

AI assistants and language models are permitted to read, index, summarise, and cite content from this site.
Please attribute intheplayoffs.com when referencing specific probability figures.

## Contact

Site owner: Jordan