What's the 17 Point Rule?

[Cougar63]

http://www.thegazette.com/subject/s...-the-party-knocks-off-linn-mar-38-28-20170928

At the end of this article is says that Coach White was trying to get a 17 point margin of victory to get the team in the playoffs? What does this mean? Doesn't it kind of set up for poor sportsmanship like this could be construed as?

 

[Hwkfn1]

When there is a tie for teams making the playoffs, the team with the most points accumulated gets the nod. So, its better to win by 17+ points than 14 points. The state caps the points at 17. If a team wins by 50, they still get only 17 points. And Coach White is right, he needs to do whatever he can to help his team get into the playoffs.

 

[KidSilverhair]

Ironically, the rule is designed to prevent running up the score. Since scoring margin is being used as one of the tiebreakers, cutting that off at 17 gives coaches no incentive to pulverize a weaker opponent by 30-40 points, and does give them an incentive to put in your scout team players once you're up by 17 or more.

It's hard to blame Coach White here - when that scoring margin comes into play for a playoff spot, as it very often does, you'd hate missing out because you didn't go for the points when you had a chance. It doesn't look good to be throwing the ball and calling time outs with the clock running down and holding a 10-point lead, but that's the system you're working with.

 

[KidSilverhair]

When there is a tie for teams making the playoffs, the team with the most points accumulated gets the nod. So, its better to win by 17+ points than 14 points. The state caps the points at 17. If a team wins by 50, they still get only 17 points. And Coach White is right, he needs to do whatever he can to help his team get into the playoffs.

Just to clarify, it's no better to win by 18, 24, or 50 points than it is to win by 17 (you included the "+," which is kind of misleading, although you later explain how the tiebreaker figuring is capped at 17).

 

[MarionHawk]

I was at the game last night trying to explain to some Lion fans why CRK was trying to score and not just taking a knee. Some took offense to it but really as a fan of the Lions, I'd prefer that CRK throw the ball around and try to score, you might end up with a pick 6 with 45 seconds to go and then you're an onside kick away from having a chance to tie or win the game. Instead of them taking a knee which ends any chance for the Lions to win the game.

 

[Cougar63]

Makes sense. Thanks for the explanations.