The Basketball Bundesliga (English: Federal Basketball League) — commonly abbreviated BBL — is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season is split into a league stage and a playoff stage. At the end of the league stage the top eight teams qualify for the playoff stage and the teams positioned 17th and 18th are relegated to a lower league. The playoffs are played in "Best of five" format. The winning team of the final round are the German Champions of that season. Additionally to the league competition, all BBL teams compete for the German Cup (BBL-Cup). Teams playing in the second league (Pro A or Pro B) or in a lower Regionalliga are also eligible to participate. Always 3 knock-out rounds are played for the BBL-Cup. If more teams of the leagues below the BBL apply for participation than available places, additional qualification rounds are added for them. The final four remaining teams determine the rankings for bronze, silver and gold medals in knock-out matches termed the BBL-TOP4. The gold winning team is the German Cup winner.