# Sports in which no scoring is possible **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 22, 2022, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396 "2022-11-22T18:10:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/21 "2022-11-22T21:45:31Z")
Clicking on the first link in that article brings up all the games which ended tied at nothing. One interesting case is [this late-season game from '65](https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN196510022.shtml? __hstc=205977932.f6beb94f4a14a27475d2bc22bfbfe1ab.1669152987159.1669152987159.1669152987159.1&__ hssc=205977932.4.1669152987159&__hsfp=51313006) – second game of a double-header called after 18 scoreless innings and both starters went 15 of 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/22 "2022-11-22T21:48:40Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > There is also the possibility of both teams scoring over and over in overtime and still winding up in a tie. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > This is true in college football (at least in Division 1) Perhaps I misunderstood this point, but college football plays until there’s a winner. Just last year, Illinois and Penn State played a nine-overtime game, with Illinois winning 20-18. > **[Illinois stuns No. 7 Penn State, wins first 9OT game in history](https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2021-10-23/illinois-stuns-no-7-penn-state-wins-first-9ot-game-history?utm_campaign=inline-article)** > > Illinois outlasted No. 7 Penn State to win 20-18 in the ninth period of overtime on the road. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/23 "2022-11-22T21:52:39Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Perhaps I misunderstood this point, but college football plays until there’s a winner. Just last year, Illinois and Penn State played a nine-overtime game, with Illinois winning 20-18. No, I partially misinterpreted @Rick_Kitchen 's post (I was only looking at the first half of it), where he said: > [@](#): > > There is also the possibility of both teams scoring over and over in overtime and still winding up in a tie. It’s true that in NCAA football (in D1, at least; I’m not sure about the other divisions) both teams can score over and over again in overtime (as you note), but those overtime possessions will, indeed, continue until there’s finally a victor. However, in the NFL, overtime is very different. It’s sudden-death (i.e., the first team to score wins), but with a recent rules adjustment, allowing for play to continue if the team with the opening possession in overtime scores a field goal. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/24 "2022-11-22T21:56:48Z")
Most recently in MLB, [the Cubs and the Pirates had a tie game at 1-1 in 2016](https://www.espn.com/mlb/game/_/gameId/360929123). The game was stopped because of rain and then was never completed because it didn’t make any difference in the final standings. The Cubs won the NL Central by a comfortable margin, and everyone else but Pittsburgh was some number and a half games behind. It would have been treated the same way had no one scored. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/25 "2022-11-22T22:06:00Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It’s true that in NCAA football (in D1, at least; I’m not sure about the other divisions) It’s true in all NCAA divisions. Recent rule changes have teams running just one play (a two-point conversion attempt), beginning with the 3rd overtime. And you are correct in your note regarding the NFL overtime. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/26 "2022-11-22T22:33:41Z")
Any form of racing – people, horses, cars, etc. – can end in a tie, and of course there’s no scoring. For that matter, any track & field event can end in a tie. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/27 "2022-11-22T22:36:20Z")
Handball can end in a tie with no tie-breaker if it’s not a knock-out game, but a 0-0 draw is only a theoretical possibility in such a high scoring game and most probably has never happened in the history of the sport. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/28 "2022-11-22T22:47:17Z")
I haven’t tried for years, and with good reason, but if my memory serves me well it is impossible _for me_ to score a goal in any sport whatsoever. Except agains weak [table football](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_football) oponents, if that is a sport in your book. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/29 "2022-11-23T01:30:58Z")
Not sure on the rule but auto racing where every driver crashes/malfunction/DQed/etc. before the first lap is complete. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/30 "2022-11-23T01:33:21Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > Any form of racing – people, horses, cars, etc. – can end in a tie, and of course there’s no scoring. Are you sure? Let’s say the first 3 finishers get 10 - 7 - 5 points respectively. If there is a tie for first then each get 8.5 points. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/31 "2022-11-23T01:37:39Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Let’s say the first 3 finishers get 10 - 7 - 5 points respectively. If there is a tie for first then each get 8.5 points. Is there a type of racing in which those sorts of scores are actually awarded, and are relevant to the particular race being contested? I add that last bit because there are racing _series_, such as in NASCAR, in which points are awarded in each race, to help determine season standings, and the season “champion” at the end, but the outcome of a particular race is solely determined by order of finish. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/32 "2022-11-23T01:49:17Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Baseball goes into extra innings and just continues ad infinitum till one of the teams winds up ahead at the end of an inning. Didn’t the MLB All-Star Game end in a tie at least once? > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > In most basketball rules codes (NBA, FIBA, NCAA), a game can’t end in a tie. Unless different “rules codes” count as different sports, I think this thread’s question is flawed. It looks as though what determines whether it’s possible for a game to end in no score is not something fundamental to the sport itself, but the specific details of the rules codes being used for that particular league or game or whatever—specifically, how ties are resolved. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/33 "2022-11-23T01:51:52Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Didn’t the MLB All-Star Game end in a tie at least once? Yes, [in 2002](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Major_League_Baseball_All-Star_Game); it ended in a 7-7 tie, after 11 innings, when both leagues ran out of available pitchers. After that year’s game, MLB changed the rules regarding playoffs, and began using the outcome of the ASG to determine which league would get home field advantage in the World Series; this was done in an effort to make the outcome of the ASG more meaningful, and discourage another tie. (However, that rule is no longer in place.) However, as it’s effectively an exhibition game, it doesn’t necessarily have to follow MLB’s general rules about ties (or not having games end in ties). ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/34 "2022-11-23T01:55:04Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Agreed. With modern kickers who can kick field goals of 55 yards or farther, both teams would have to fail to get within 40 yards of the other team’s goal, otherwise there would be at least one field goal in the course of the game. That’s a virtually impossible scenario. That assumes a good, dry field. There was a game between the Steelers and Dolphins that ended up as a 3-0 Steelers victory because of terrible weather conditions - the sole points being a Pittsburgh field goal. The field was so slick that even short-range field goals were no guarantee at all. That game could easily have ended 0-0. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/35 "2022-11-23T01:57:47Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > There was a game between the Steelers and Dolphins that ended up as a 3-0 Steelers victory because of terrible weather conditions - the sole points being a Pittsburgh field goal. The field was so slick that even short-range field goals were no guarantee at all. That game could easily have ended 0-0. I was thinking of that game in 2007 (commonly called the “Mud Bowl”) – there was driving rain, and I remember one punt that hit the ground, and didn’t bounce – it just cratered into the muddy turf, like a golf ball plopping into a sand trap. The one successful field goal in that game was from 24 yards out; there were only three drives of longer than 30 yards in the entire game. > **[Miami Dolphins at Pittsburgh Steelers - November 26th, 2007 |...](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200711260pit.htm)** > > Miami Dolphins 0 at Pittsburgh Steelers 3 on November 26th, 2007 - Full team and player stats and box score [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/x7DTNEa2E7w/hqdefault.jpg "Stick 'em punt - Dolphins @ Steelers MNF") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7DTNEa2E7w) ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/36 "2022-11-23T02:40:27Z")
As an Oregon State alumni I always like to share that OSU and Oregon played in one of the last scoreless ties in NCAA football, a game referred to as the “Toilet Bowl” because both the level of play and the weather were poor. > **[1983 Oregon State vs. Oregon football game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Oregon_State_vs._Oregon_football_game)** > > The 1983 Oregon State vs. Oregon football game was a college football game played on November 19, 1983, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, the 87th playing of the annual Oregon–Oregon State football rivalry game, then known as the Civil War. The game ended in a scoreless tie, and since overtime was added to NCAA Division I games in 1996, this is likely to be the last such game. However, there have been two more scoreless ties in regulation since then, in 2005 and 2014. > Due to the very poor... ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/37 "2022-11-23T10:05:05Z")
Though 73 scoreless ties have happened in NFL history, none have happened since the Giants-Lions game on November 7, 1943, according to Scorigami. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/38 "2022-11-23T10:12:43Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Even a cricket match can end up tied (or drawn!) It would be extraordinarily exceptional, but a cricket match could theoretically end in a 0-0 draw. 10 or 20 ducks on each side, depending on the type of match, is a possibility, however unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/39 "2022-11-23T10:20:09Z")
It also just occurred to me that there are many sports where there is no score. In most races, it’s the first person across the finishing line that counts. You could say that their time is their score. But it’s not unusual for the fastest time of a track event to occur in the semi-finals or earlier, and sometimes from a different athlete than the winner. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396/40 "2022-11-23T10:58:05Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > It would be extraordinarily exceptional, but a cricket match could theoretically end in a 0-0 draw. It is not unusual for cricket games to be a 0-0 draw; due to the fixture being abandoned without a ball being bowled. There have been dozens in Sydney alone this summer so far. However, if both teams were dismissed without scoring, that would be exceptional to the extreme but the result would be a tie, not a draw. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-in-which-no-scoring-is-possible/975396.md?page=3)