99 Stats Until Kickoff (#71) Six Stats you may not know about… Super Bowl cities, states
From May 30 and every day until September 5… the start of the 2013 NFL season… Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ will publish “99 Stats Until Kickoff” a daily dose of NFL stats that will get you ready for the 2013 NFL season.)
Super Bowl XLVIII will be played at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. It will be the first Super Bowl hosted in New Jersey. Here’s a look at Super Bowl host cities and states.
1. By hosting last year’s game, New Orleans is now tied with Miami as the cities that have hosted the most Super Bowls with 10. The other cities to host three or more times are Pasadena (5), Tampa (4) and San Diego (3). The state of Florida has hosted 15 Super Bowls followed by California with 11 and Louisiana with 10.
2. The NFC is 7-4 in Super Bowl games in California… the AFC is 10-5 in Florida-hosted Super Bowls… the two conferences have each won five games in 10 that have been hosted in Louisiana… the NFC is 20-12 in Super Bowls outside of Florida… The NFC is 5-0 in Super Bowls played in either Minnesota, Georgia or Arizona.
3. The NFC has won six of the last seven Super Bowls played in California… the AFC has won five of the last six Super Bowls held in Florida… the NFC has won three of the last five Super Bowl games played in Louisiana.
4. In 17 of the 47 Super Bowls, the final score was a margin of eight points or less. Seven of those 17 games were played in Florida.
5. In 18 of the 47 Super Bowls, the two teams combined for 50 or more points. Seven of those games were played in California. The highest scoring Super Bowl was Super Bowl XXIX when San Francisco and San Diego combined for 75 points. That game was played in Miami.
6. How well have teams done in specific time zones? Glad you asked. The NFC is 8-11 in Super Bowl games played in the Eastern Standard Time; the NFC is 8-7 in Central Standard Time Super Bowl games; the NFC is 2-0 in games played in Mountain Standard Time; and the NFC is 7-4 in games played in Pacific Standard Time. This year’s game in New Jersey will be played in an Eastern Standard Time zone city.
“99 Stats Before Kickoff” (Stats you need to know before the start of the 2013 NFL season) is available from e-book publisher Smashwords. Go to www.smashwords.com to download a copy, including a pdf version which can be viewed on your home computer. Cost is $2.99.
NHL Playoffs: The Conference Semifinals ‘seed’ advantage
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published multiple times weekly focusing on stats that go beyond the numbers.
The next round of the NHL playoffs begin tonight as the first of the four Conference Semifinals will have Phoenix and Nashville facing off in Phoenix. The matchups for the Conference Semis:
No. 2 St. Louis vs. No. 8 Los Angeles
No. 3 Phoenix vs. No. 4 Nashville
No. 1 NY Rangers vs. No. 7 Washington
No. 5 Philadelphia vs. No. 6 New Jersey
Since we have each of the eight seeds (No. 1, No. 2 through No.8) represented in the second round, how well has each seed done in previous Conference Semifinals? Following are the series records of each seed in the second round from 1994-2011. (The playoffs in 1994 was the first year the league ranked eight teams from each of the two conferences No. 1 through No. 8, the current playoff format.) Notice how the No. 2 seed has the best series record since 1994; also notice how well the No. 6 seed has performed in the second round.
Series Record (series won/lost) of Seeds in Conference Semifinals
No. 1 Seed… 17-8 .680
No. 2 Seed… 14-5 .737
No. 3 Seed… 9-13 .409
No. 4 Seed… 11-11 .500
No. 5 Seed… 4-8 .333
No. 6 Seed… 7-5 .583
No. 7 Seed… 4-11 .267
No. 8 Seed… 2-7 .222
Let’s take it a step further. Here are the actual seed matchups from the second round from 1994-2011
Conference Semifinals Matchups (by seed) 1994-2011
No. 1 vs. No. 4: Series tied at 2-2; No. 1 vs. No. 5: No. 1 has won five series and lost two; No. 1 vs. No. 6: No. 1 has won two series and lost three; No. 1 vs. No. 7: No. 1 has won eight series and lost one.
No. 2 vs. No. 3: No. 2 has won nine series and lost two; No. 2 vs. No. 4: No. 2 has won one series and lost two series; No. 2 vs. No. 5: series tied at 1-1; No. 2 vs. No. 8: No. 2 has won all three series.
No. 3 vs. No. 4: No. 3 has won five series and lost three; No. 3 vs. No. 5: No. 3 lost the only series; No. 3 vs. No. 8: No. 3 has won both series.
No. 4 vs. No. 6: Series tied at 1-1; No. 4 vs. No. 7: series tied at 1-1; No. 4 vs. No. 8: No. 4 has won two series and lost one.
No. 5 vs. No. 6: No. 5 has lost only series; No. 5 vs. No. 8: No. 5 has lost only series.
No. 6 vs. No. 7: Series tied at 2-2.
Did you know? The higher seed has won the 64.7 percent of the NHL Conference Semifinals series from 1994-2011.
As mentioned above, each of the eight seeds (No. 1 through No. 8) have a team playing in the second round. This is the fourth time this has happened in the second round of the playoffs since 1994 (1995, 1999, 2006 and 2010). The No. 2 seed in 2010 and 2006 won the Stanley Cup that year… could this bode well for the St. Louis Blues?
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp