Points per tossup heard

See also points per game

Points per tossup heard (or PPTUH) is a statistic calculated as the number of points earned divided by the number of tossups it had the opportunity to answer. This can be calculated within a single game or over the course of several games, and for individual players (considering only tossup points, which in most formats means powers and regular tossup answers and interrupts) or for teams (considering tossup points, bonus points, and any other type of points that may be available).

PPTUH is similar to points per game (PPG), but adjusts for the fact that games may have different numbers of tossups heard, perhaps due to some games going into overtime, or due to the games being timed.

PPTUH is often reported as PP20TUH (points per 20 tossups heard), i.e., PPTUH times 20, designed to approximate the number of points a team or player would score "in a typical game". In some formats, numbers other than 20 are used.

Application

The team version of PPTUH is widely used as a tiebreaker among teams who are tied in record. It is especially commonly used to break ties among teams who played the same opponents; some tournament directors prefer not to use it as a tiebreaker for teams who played different opponents (see points per bonus). PPG is sometimes used as a substitute, especially if games were untimed. If games varied in number of tossups read, including the case in which any games went into overtime, PPG is imperfect because different teams will have had different numbers of opportunities to score points. If any games went into overtime and bonuses are not used in overtime, PPTUH is also imperfect because some of the tossups heard did not lead to the opportunity to score bonus points; theoretically one should use PPTUH in regulation, but this is not widely observed.

The individual-player version of PPTUH is widely used for individual awards. As above, PPG is sometimes used as a substitute, especially if games were untimed, though if any games went into overtime that's not ideal.