2016 and Beyond Playoff Format

[EHS1505]

I've been gone from the board for quite a while. I still checked in now and then to see what was being discussed, but thought I'd throw this out there.

What is everyone's favorite ideas for the new playoff format? With 8 districts of 6, would the state be able to avoid something like this year where D2s #3 and #4 could have maybe been a #1 or #2 in some other districts? I realize that scaling it back from 32 to 16 is immediately going to leave some borderline schools out just based on numbers, but I don't think the tiers will be as effective.

A school playing a non-district schedule like Hoover's, or Fort Dodge's, can really skew the quality of a district in a hurry.

Hoover was 6-3, combined opponents record for the teams they defeated: 8-46. Take out wins and losses against each other and the wins almost disappear.

Fort Dodge was 7-2, combined opponents record for teams they defeated: 15-48
Same concept, remove wins and losses against each other and the wins of their opponents nearly disappear.

Fort Dodge managed to play respectable games against respectable opponents, so perhaps they shouldn't be included in the conversation but Hoover, which would be a tier 2 team again, was beaten by a combined 205-38 in their 3 regular season losses.

I'm sure there are other examples of this, West or East but am running out of time to post.

What would you propose to make things as even as possible throughout the 8 districts?

 

[screwloose]

First of all, there will be six districts of eight.

 

[KidSilverhair]

Also, unless something really weird happens, the state won't consider any non-district games for playoff purposes. They've made it pretty clear up to now that only district games count toward playoff qualification.

So how do you determine the wild cards? I dunno. An AD I know says he favors including any teams tied for a district lead, which sounds fine to me - but what if that doesn't get you 16? Or worse yet, gets you more than 16? There will have to be some way to calculate which third-place (or even fourth-place?) teams get selected, whether it be some variation on the old playoff point system or something new.

I honestly don't know what they might come up with. It's difficult to create a system that can differentiate teams across districts - say you end up with Lewis Central, CR Jefferson and Urbandale all with 4-3 district records, but there's only one open playoff spot left. What do you do?

 

[DSMan]

all i hope is that they stop the reseeding bull.

 

[DarkThunder#61]

Also, unless something really weird happens, the state won't consider any non-district games for playoff purposes. They've made it pretty clear up to now that only district games count toward playoff qualification.

So how do you determine the wild cards? I dunno. An AD I know says he favors including any teams tied for a district lead, which sounds fine to me - but what if that doesn't get you 16? Or worse yet, gets you more than 16? There will have to be some way to calculate which third-place (or even fourth-place?) teams get selected, whether it be some variation on the old playoff point system or something new.

I honestly don't know what they might come up with. It's difficult to create a system that can differentiate teams across districts - say you end up with Lewis Central, CR Jefferson and Urbandale all with 4-3 district records, but there's only one open playoff spot left. What do you do?

Take either of the non-DSM suburb schools, clearly......

 

[tnobd]

8 team 4A districts give them a conference like alignment... plus it allows a 3A game or two in non district play to reduce travel.

 

[EHS1505]

Sorry screwloose I thought I had seen both mentioned in other threads. Will the wildcards be statewide or 2 from the east and 2 from the west?

 

[screwloose]

My guess would be two west and two east. Personally, I'd rather see open qualifying state-wide. You could run into a situation in 4A like they've got in 3A in the Quarterfinals.

Imagine this hypothetical scenario remaining...
Bettendorf(11-0), CR Kennedy(11-0), Cedar Falls(10-1), Marshalltown(9-2)
WDM Dowling(11-0), Mason City(8-3), SC East(7-4), CB Lewis Central(8-3)

Nightmare scenario for the IHSAA. Not only would the quarterfinals be unbalanced with five western and three eastern teams, but you would have isolated schools geographically that would force match-ups. What would the uproar be if they had to pair them like this?

CR Kennedy(11-0) @ Bettendorf(11-0)
Mason City(8-3) @ Cedar Falls(10-1)
Marshalltown(9-2) @ WDM Dowling(11-0)
SC East(7-4) @ CB Lewis Central(8-3)

This is extremely hypothetical, but the outcry would be damn near nuclear. Imagine two undefeated teams in the quarterfinals while a 7-4 and 8-3 were matched elsewhere. Matching them any other way would cost the state thousands in travel reimbursement and you know they aren't about that. For that reason alone, I think they will stay with two wild cards for each half of the state.

 

[KidSilverhair]

I don't think they will divide the wild cards between east and west. I don't have any inside information or anything, it's just my feeling.

The move to districts statewide was supposed to eliminate this artificial east/west split anyway. Now, in practice, it hasn't changed anything from the old MVC/MAC vs CIML/MRAC days, but in theory the entire state is supposed to be in play for whatever matchups the IHSAA might decide.

Screwloose does bring up a nightmare scenario - but I honestly don't think the state gives a crap about how unbalanced the quarterfinals might look. If the past is any precedent, once you've won a playoff game you're essentially equal with any other playoff team in the state's eyes. I just don't think they're going to be too worked up over two unbeatens meeting somewhere with a couple of non-district winners playing somewhere else.

I mean, look at the lower classes this year. In 3A Pella (11-0, 6-0) is on the road at Assumption (9-2, 6-0). Meanwhile, two second-place district teams are playing each other (Norwalk and Dallas Center-Grimes), which guarantees a team that didn't win their district is going to get to play in the Dome, while at least one district winner will not have that opportunity. In 2A the teams ranked 1 and 2 are playing each other (Albia and South Tama) while Anamosa and Mt. Vernon are also available opponents - but since they're just down the road from each other, they got paired up instead.

Long story, but I have no expectation the state is going to worry about an unbalanced quarterfinal round when they're coming up with wild card teams. If the entire reason for wild cards is to make sure 8-1 or 7-2 teams get in, they absolutely should not restrict themselves to just two from each half of the state.

Again - I don't know what they're actually going to come up with, and I could be ridiculously wrong.

 

[MAXIMUSHAWKEYE]

I really don't care how they do the playoffs. All I ask is for is fair impartial officiating. What I saw at Bettendorf was anything but.