What are people's thoughts on first round playoff matchups going into the last week of the season?
Playoff Picture
- Thread starter down_south
- Start date
District 1
1. LoMa 2. Audubon 3. St. Albert 4. MVAO
District 2
1. West Sioux 2. A-W 3. Lawton Bronson 4. Woodbury Central
District 3
1. Garrigan 2. West Hancock 3. Belmond Klemme 4. Newman
District 4
1. Denver 2. G-R 3. Grundy Center 4. AGWSR
District 5
1. Maq Valley 2. Lisbon 3. East Buc 4. North Linn
District 6
1. Pekin 2. WMU 3. Lone Tree 4. WACO
District 7
1. BGM 2. Colfax Mingo 3. Lynnville Sully 4. Montezuma
District 8
1. Mount Ayr 2. Pleasantville 3. Earlham 4. Bedford
1v4
LoMa vs. Woodbury Central
West Sioux vs. MVAO
Garrigan vs. AGWSR
Denver vs. Newman
Maq Valley vs. Montezuma
Pekin vs. North Linn
BGM vs. WACO
Mount Ayr vs. Bedford
2v3
Audubon vs. Lawton Bronson
A-W vs. St. Albert
West Hancock vs. Grundy Center
G-R vs. Belmond Klemme
Lisbon vs. Lone Tree
WMU vs. East Buc
Colfax Mingo vs. Earlham
Pleasantville vs. Lynnville Sully
1. LoMa 2. Audubon 3. St. Albert 4. MVAO
District 2
1. West Sioux 2. A-W 3. Lawton Bronson 4. Woodbury Central
District 3
1. Garrigan 2. West Hancock 3. Belmond Klemme 4. Newman
District 4
1. Denver 2. G-R 3. Grundy Center 4. AGWSR
District 5
1. Maq Valley 2. Lisbon 3. East Buc 4. North Linn
District 6
1. Pekin 2. WMU 3. Lone Tree 4. WACO
District 7
1. BGM 2. Colfax Mingo 3. Lynnville Sully 4. Montezuma
District 8
1. Mount Ayr 2. Pleasantville 3. Earlham 4. Bedford
1v4
LoMa vs. Woodbury Central
West Sioux vs. MVAO
Garrigan vs. AGWSR
Denver vs. Newman
Maq Valley vs. Montezuma
Pekin vs. North Linn
BGM vs. WACO
Mount Ayr vs. Bedford
2v3
Audubon vs. Lawton Bronson
A-W vs. St. Albert
West Hancock vs. Grundy Center
G-R vs. Belmond Klemme
Lisbon vs. Lone Tree
WMU vs. East Buc
Colfax Mingo vs. Earlham
Pleasantville vs. Lynnville Sully
1) The rankings don't matter.
2) The districts aren't paired, it's seeded by district finish and matched geographically.
3) The state champion is supposed to determine the single best team.
2) The districts aren't paired, it's seeded by district finish and matched geographically.
3) The state champion is supposed to determine the single best team.
You're correct, rankings don't matter obviously as 7 out of the 10 beat teams in the state will face off for 2 spots while only 3 teams will compete for 2 spots. Something that the IHSAA might want to consider is creating a formula that rewards teams for throughout the year performance and not just their geographic location.
No districts are not paired, but pretty sure when second and third round games come out you'll find that these districts are paired due to their geographic locations.
The state championship should get the best teams, but this system has flaws and rewards teams on geographic locations more than performance.
No districts are not paired, but pretty sure when second and third round games come out you'll find that these districts are paired due to their geographic locations.
The state championship should get the best teams, but this system has flaws and rewards teams on geographic locations more than performance.
Rankings dont matter and you should not be rewarded for being ranked as that's all subjective. Take a team like Maquoketa Valley in D-5 not ranked but only loses are non district to a 2A school in Monticello week 2 and class 1A 8-0 Alburnett in week 1. They will win the district but not be ranked although they should be.
Rankings are subjective to a point, however we in Iowa have the luxury of BCMoore, which is calculations. I betting that most poll voters use BC to some degree when voting.
Your Maq Valley example is a good case in point. The Alburnett loss is OK, however they are not that good a team. The Monticello loss??? Monticello is a bad team regardless of size. Just because Maq Valley will be 7-2 does not mean they should be ranked as their district is weak, much the same as WMU.
Maybe I give BC more credit than I should he's right more than he's wrong which is better than most of us on here.
Your Maq Valley example is a good case in point. The Alburnett loss is OK, however they are not that good a team. The Monticello loss??? Monticello is a bad team regardless of size. Just because Maq Valley will be 7-2 does not mean they should be ranked as their district is weak, much the same as WMU.
Maybe I give BC more credit than I should he's right more than he's wrong which is better than most of us on here.
unless you seen every single game played by all the teams you cant justify rankings in HS football, the few people who do vote haven't seen the majority of the teams and its not like college football where you can see games on tv whenever you want. Before you smash Monticello, they were a playoff team last season also and it does make a difference when you go up 2 classes to play just by the number of kids. If you want to go strictly by the rankings then why have a playoff, just let the 10 ranked teams that a FEW people vote on and let them play each other. The bottom line is, if you are good enough to win on that particular night you will and if not you wont because you can throw the rankings out the window come next wed night. Alburnett not that good of a team, I thought they were ranked, and yet you put all your stock in rankings.
Mount Ayr loses to 2A #1 Albia and 2A 6-2 Shenendoah.
Pleasantville loses to Mount Ayr by 10.
Both teams should be ranked.
Colfax loses to Pleasantville week 1 by 9 and to A #1 BGM they could be ranked and people wouldn't be upset.
Pekin has been very good in the past and who knows they may start playing their best ball of the year.
Maq valley plays up in non-district and loses.
BCMoore is a very good estimate, but you have to be able to expand on them. For example Mount Ayr is being "hurt" for "only" beating Clarinda Academy by 41. Perhaps they chose not to put up 75 on them? BCMoore also says teams 4-10 are within a touchdown of each other so it's not like teams are far and away better than others. BCMoore really gets much more accurate after more quality games are played aka playoff teams in competitive games.
Pleasantville loses to Mount Ayr by 10.
Both teams should be ranked.
Colfax loses to Pleasantville week 1 by 9 and to A #1 BGM they could be ranked and people wouldn't be upset.
Pekin has been very good in the past and who knows they may start playing their best ball of the year.
Maq valley plays up in non-district and loses.
BCMoore is a very good estimate, but you have to be able to expand on them. For example Mount Ayr is being "hurt" for "only" beating Clarinda Academy by 41. Perhaps they chose not to put up 75 on them? BCMoore also says teams 4-10 are within a touchdown of each other so it's not like teams are far and away better than others. BCMoore really gets much more accurate after more quality games are played aka playoff teams in competitive games.
Lets keep in mind this is High School football and location does matter. The current playoff format puts games on school nights and as it stands now the 2 hours distance to a game is the max. What you are wanting would have teams travel quite a distance to get you a "balanced" bracket based on rankings. Next year when the field is cut in half and games will be on traditional Friday nights then maybe it will make sense to have a team travel 2hrs+ for a playoff game.
Yes privateer13 that what I'd like to see. Heck I'd be happy with using the existing system for the first two rounds, then going to a systematic way of the final eight being ranked. That game is on Friday night, and for the most part could be played on neutral sites as it should put mostly district champs against each other.
It brings bias into the equation. Who do you "think" the best teams are and pair them with teams you "think" are easier. I like being able to play new teams that you don't normally get to compared to the old system, I just think when you hand pair rankings bias is introduced.
"rewards teams on geographic locations more than performance" Translation: I think the teams in my area are the best so all our teams should get easy roads. Just curious, if W-MU or Pekin gets the #1 seed in that "easy" district, and one of those "7 out of the best 10 teams" gets a #2 seed, who do you think should get home field advantage in that game?
I definitely agree with that. There should be a bracket. It's dumb that there isn't.
JMO this will be a life long argument, enrollments swing wildly as do groups of highly athletic students. BGM's program for example, has improved due to large classes of athletic boys sticking together and working for a common goal. They have had their downs and likely will again. Look at North Mahaska, state champs not that many years ago down the last few. District 7 the last few years has had tough teams with the likes of Montezuma, Lynnville-Sully, Pekin (was there 2 years ago) and BGM. Give it all a few years and it will all roll around again. Prior to the recent changes, BGM had to climb back out of their own district leaving very good teams behind. Same as what you are describing now. Truth be told everyone has the same chance to be undefeated and make it to a Championship title! If you get beat along the way by the final champ, you still had your chance!
I think you fail to see this concept as a whole and believe that since this is an A board that my blinders only see my team. So lets take this to another class for argument sake. In class 1A you're going to have West Branch, Regina and or DNH matched up before the Dome. Would you agree that all three of these teams would/should be Dome teams if not for their geographic location?? Would you rather see a 28-20 game in the Dome verses a 52-6 game?
What I'm getting at is quality of the product put on field at the dome lacks. I could care less of there were 3 eastern teams verses 1 western, just put the best product on the field when you get to the dome.
What I'm getting at is quality of the product put on field at the dome lacks. I could care less of there were 3 eastern teams verses 1 western, just put the best product on the field when you get to the dome.
I actually love this discussion. It's something everyone has their own opinion on - which is great. I don't ever see it getting to the point where everyone agrees its right and has been solved. Rankings, logically would seem to make sense and try to not have the top teams run into one another before Cedar Falls, but you can't do that. Not with certain teams strength of schedule vs others. Like it or not, some districts are cake walks and others are dog eat dog that change standings every Friday.
BCmoore honestly kind of solves what I just stated. A great job of it too. Would the state ever look into such a ranking? Probably not..It's just tough because other sports there are 4 classes and everyone has to basically win their area (district) and then win the next door district winner and boom, you're at state with 7 other substate winners.
With the football playoff changing back to the old way of doing things soon (I'm correct when I say that change is a for sure thing right?) a lot should be solved. Good teams make the playoffs and it's all up to who wants it most from there.
BCmoore honestly kind of solves what I just stated. A great job of it too. Would the state ever look into such a ranking? Probably not..It's just tough because other sports there are 4 classes and everyone has to basically win their area (district) and then win the next door district winner and boom, you're at state with 7 other substate winners.
With the football playoff changing back to the old way of doing things soon (I'm correct when I say that change is a for sure thing right?) a lot should be solved. Good teams make the playoffs and it's all up to who wants it most from there.
You could still have the same results thou correct? Any class, but especially the smaller ones, could have injuries to key players right down to the final game of the season (or even the final game!) Take BGM two years ago. Key player injured in the final game. I am not saying this was the only factor in that games outcome, but reverse the field, West Lyon loses a key player or two and BGM stays healthy??? What would that scoreboard have read then??? I agree with Hawks and Sox, change is coming for sure Good, Bad, or indifferent. (I believe all three)
I don't believe Regina and West Branch should both get to the Dome. They are 8 miles apart and everyone was complaining about it last year and West Branch didn't even make quarters did they?
So while some people want to hand pick winners, which is what you're trying to do, those teams aren't always the best.
I mean just stop and listen to what you are saying, you are intentionally attempting to manipulate the brackets so that teams you think are good get to the dome. If you were always 100% correct then as a fan it would be nice to see the meaningful games be competitive.
The only problem is people aren't 100% correct. 76% is pretty competitive in the prediction contest. BCMoore can give you statistics on their accuracy as well if you're really interested.
I'm just afraid there is nothing you can say to get me on board for biased hand picking teams you think should be there. My only proposal would be to somehow expand filming to include the quarterfinals so we could see some of these good teams we miss out on.
On a side note of things that we'd like changed is I would like the non-playoff qualifiers in the future have the option to play an additional game if they don't make playoffs against an equal district finisher (or close to same finish for distance reasons). I love the idea of getting to play teams you don't normally get to because of geography. Inter district play helps BCMoore especially when the games are competitive because of equal finishes.
So while some people want to hand pick winners, which is what you're trying to do, those teams aren't always the best.
I mean just stop and listen to what you are saying, you are intentionally attempting to manipulate the brackets so that teams you think are good get to the dome. If you were always 100% correct then as a fan it would be nice to see the meaningful games be competitive.
The only problem is people aren't 100% correct. 76% is pretty competitive in the prediction contest. BCMoore can give you statistics on their accuracy as well if you're really interested.
I'm just afraid there is nothing you can say to get me on board for biased hand picking teams you think should be there. My only proposal would be to somehow expand filming to include the quarterfinals so we could see some of these good teams we miss out on.
On a side note of things that we'd like changed is I would like the non-playoff qualifiers in the future have the option to play an additional game if they don't make playoffs against an equal district finisher (or close to same finish for distance reasons). I love the idea of getting to play teams you don't normally get to because of geography. Inter district play helps BCMoore especially when the games are competitive because of equal finishes.
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