Question

A softball league has 15 teams. How many different end of season rankings of first, second, and third place are possible (eliminating ties). ----This is counting methods and probability.

Answer 1

There will be three teams for the three awards, and order matters. Thus, you need to use the permutations formula, which states there are\[n!/(n-j)!\] ways to pick j items from a group of n items, in which different orders are distinct. For your problem, the formula yields 15!/12! = 15x14x13 = 2730.