Some of you have to be more knowledgable than me in this area. How did qualifying for the playoffs work before district play was implemented? Looking at my alma master's football history, from the start of having playoffs in 1972, they had an undefeated season 4 times being conference champs a few more than that before making the playoffs for the first time in 1986. So what did it take to reach the playoffs?
Playoff Format History.
- Thread starter Gamefly
- Start date
There were only 4 qualifiers per class for the first several years. And those were divided geographically (one per quadrant). Even when it first expanded to 8 per class, the geographic division stayed in place. You could be 8-0, but rank third in your "section" due to the point system, and sit home. Meanwhile, a 6-2 team from another "section" might get in.
The point system was a great benefit to schools who had conference opponents in a higher class, and a great hindrance to those with lower-class conference opponents.
The point system was a great benefit to schools who had conference opponents in a higher class, and a great hindrance to those with lower-class conference opponents.
I can’t remember the school, but there was a school in the late 70s or early 80s that finished 8-1 there only loss was to the state champion in the class above them and that was in overtime and they beat the state champion in the class below them and the didn’t qualify.
I seem to recall before district/group format and when schools were still playing conference foes, if you were a smaller enrollment HS in a “4A conference” and you won the conference, you qualified as a 4A team (e.g., Assumption, North Scott or Xavier).
Regis last qualified in 1991. They won the WaMaC that year. Joined the MVC in 1992.
That sort of thing happened quite a bit, along with undefeated teams staying home. The class of teams in your conference played a big role in your chances of getting into the playoffs. If you were a 2A school, and had 6 3A teams in your league, that was 30 extra points from the jump. If you were a 2A school, and had 6 1A teams in your league, that's 30 points lost.
The first year (1972), Lake Mills was 8-0 and tied for the best point average in all of Class 2A. They didn't get in. Tripoli, the other #1 points team, was in the same section. Tripoli won the tiebreaker (opponent record). Regina got in at 5-4 (#3 overall) because they were in a different section, and also banked a ton of "bonus" points by playing a bunch of schools in higher classes.
A similar thing happened to Postville in 1974. Undefeated, tied for #1 points in their class, but lost the tiebreaker to another team in their section (Wapsie).
There were also times when an 8-game schedule could be an advantage over a 9-game schedule because of the "average" nature of the point calculations. You could win that "extra" game and still have your point average drop.
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