The problem with 32 teams is that one of several things has to happen:
There would be a 5th playoff game with 32 teams (currently 4 games) so either:
A. the season has to start earlier in August
B. the season would go 1 week longer (into Thanksgiving)
C. teams would only play an 8 game reg season schedule
D. go back to playing 5 games in 4 weeks (including Wed & Mon night playoff games)
I'm personally not a fan of any of these so I'd like to see it stay at 16 schools. The argument when we had 32 teams was that teams that were 3-6 and 4-5 were making the playoffs and paired up against a 9-0 or 8-1 team. I have no data on how many of those #4 seeds won against the #1's, but I'd bet that 99+% of the time the #4 teams got smashed. Also many coaches didn't like subjecting their players to 5 games in 4 weeks, more injuries and that doesn't make for good football. Where is this data about 93% of coaches wanting to go back to 32 teams, not calling you a liar I've just never seen it and I try to stay caught up on prep sports.
The survey was sent out at the end of last season knowing this was the last year before the rotation. Since I'm not tec savvy and a cut and paste guy here is the results from the survey. This was in the IFCA winter newsletter.
4A 40 of the 42 schools responded, 30 favor 24 teams 10 favor 16 teams
3A thru 8man 281 schools responded
3A 88% favor 32 teams
2A 85% favor 32 teams
1A 90% favor 32 teams
A 90% favor 32 teams
8M 88% favor 32 teams
The proposal is not to go back to the wed - Monday format but yet keep it how it is with all games on Friday nights.They would either do one of 2 things, everyone starts the season week 0 or we play an 8 game sched. Not sure why people would be opposed to starting 1 week earlier since a lot of teams play a scrimmage anyway on week 0. Also for those worried about records keep in mind right now their are about 4 or so teams in various classes who will probably win their district at 5-4 but yet were worried about that same team getting pummeled by a 1 seed. My 93% i stated earlier was based on memory until I went back and found the newsletter where it is between 85 and 91% for 32 teams. But most impressive was the 98% of all the schools responded.
I hope the state never considers the condensed weeks again.
To steal from a post I made earlier today - I'm absolutely a supporter of 32 playoff teams. I think there are enough variables in high school football that make it very valuable. If you truly have a "strong" district, it gives the 3 & 4 seeds an opportunity to prove it on the field. If you're a *great* 1 seed, you should be able to handle any 4 seed that can be thrown at you, so it gives you a quasi-bye week to "reward" you for a great regular season. If you had injuries that cost you a couple of close games or you are the type of team that improves through the year, you have a chance to prove on the field by upsetting a higher seeded team.
I haven't given it much critical thought, but what if we accommodated the 32 team field by making 16 districts of 4 teams each, then taking the top 2 from each district, and scheduling 4-5 non district games?
I think it would allow for a lot more of those lost conference/regional rivalries that get lost due to constantly changing districts & classifications. I would imagine it would allow for more logical regional districts, and if for some reason you have a rival (regional or not) that's not in your district, you can schedule them with one of your 5 non-district games.
It would provide more flexibility in non district scheduling for these smaller schools where you see more forfeits, especially if you only scheduled 4 non-district games. If school XYZ decides to forfeit due to low numbers or cancel their season in year 2, you have a better chance of finding another team with a bye that week to schedule them.
I strongly dislike the RPI system. I think allowing more non district games & not including them in the playoff calculations would help bring back some of the rivalry spirit that we've lost with district football.
If a Class A team wants to play 4 other Class A teams because that's what makes sense geographically, or that's their historic rivals, more power to them. If a historically 1A school drops to A, then they could continue playing those old rivals. If you want a challenging schedule, play up a couple of classes.
Giving the teams the opportunity to customize their schedule more (whether your want tune-ups/cupcakes or challenges or a combination) would allow programs to get a schedule that fits their team.
Want to rebuild? Maybe schedule easier schools. Want to ramp up? Maybe schedule progressively more difficult schools. Want to hit the ground running? Go try to schedule 4 3A teams or something. Whatever you want to accomplish with your program, for your kids & your community. If that means historically bad teams schedule games each other to be mode competitive & to give them a taste of winning, great. If that means put them through the grinder because you want to be battle tested for the playoffs, also great.
The more i think about it, the more I think it makes way more sense than the current structure.