I think the talk regarding playoff revision is ridiculous. This is simply a case of the rich wanting to get richer. What is wrong with teams padding their schedules to get six wins? Some teams rarely have a chance to win a league title and a playoff birth is something a school can rally around. This stinks of the schools in the Catholic League and their influence upon the MHSAA.
If you want the fairest playoff system then let everyone play or do what the biggest football state of them all (Texas) does. Texas has the state divided into equal districts of approximately 8 teams of equal size. Each team plays a ten game schedule but the only games that count towards the playoffs are the district games. The top 3 teams from each district qualify. The THSAA then takes the top 3 teams from each district then separates them into 10 divisions based on size (much like the MHSAA current system).
The thing that is neat about this system is that leaves 3 early season games where you see the best teams in the state play each other with there being no worry about a loss leaving you out of the playoffs. Each year in Texas my older brother is able to see most of the top teams in the state play at the Alamo Dome over the course of the first weekend of the season; #1 will play #2, # 3 against #4, #5 against #6 and so on. Imagine 50 or 60 division I players playing under the same roof in one weekend.
Now picture match-ups like this here in Michigan during week one at the Big House or Spartan Stadium: Cass Tech/Brother Rice, Novi CC/Muskegon, GR Christian/Country Day, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s/GR South Christian, Portland/Ithaca, GR West Catholic/Constantine and so on with the winners playing each other the following week. Teams would have no problems finding non-league/district games and every league or district game would mean something.
Just my two cents on my football blog.
Riverview Pirates are going to be dominating. The speed is out standing and 25+ returning seniors.First The pirates defense need to step it up if they want to go anywhere this coming year
Why not let everyone in then? Are the playoffs just about winning it all?
What school do you support for high school football?
The rich don't get richer. I don't know how you figure that is true. The rich/bigger schools are having a hard time finding people to play. This system will eliminate that and challenge smaller schools to play up. Take GI/FR for example. They will schedule bigger schools and after playing bigger schools all year. Now they play them and wont get penalized as much for losing, if they win it's huge for them. They could go 5-4 4-5 and get in. I see your point and I love the Texas HS system, but it does allow other schools to make the playoffs that get brutalized in league play all year, along with creating more matchups for bigger schools (Monroe, Bedford).
Airport and Riverview make the D3 playoffs and get destroyed or barely win in the 1st round because they play down. Make those teams win 7-8 to get in. They pick from double the amount of boys then half the teams they play anyways.
What I ment was that they are the 367th school in terms of enrollment size
SMCC enrollment is 445 based on the February count day.
Under the New Format they would be either a small 5 or large 6. They are 367 in enrollment… Just depends how many schools they put in each division. Remember in the new format divisions are decided before the season.
SMCC has a very good shot at being D5 this year.
Not a fan of the proposed new system. Way to much awarded for losing games. Also there is a new point system. For example a team will get awarded 97 points for beating a 7 win SMCC (D6) team. You would get 102 points for beating a 2 win Crestwood (D2) team. SMCC is the perfect example of who it does not benefit anyone to play because they have a small enrollment and are very good.
Its so you can get the tougher games like you wanted in your first post. Therefore maybe teams don't have to feel like they need to schedule patsies to make it to 6 and auto qual, only to get thumped week 10.
Playing the tougher teams does make you better to a point as long as you arent waaaay out of your league.
I would at least double the points as far as SOS. Right now you don't even get a full point for playing and losing to a team that ends up 9-0. Yet you get 9 points for beating a hapless 0-9 class A team. Seems to me that is too far a difference.
The team that beat the 0-9 team has no way proven it is better than the team that lost to the 9-0 team. So why the huge difference in Playoff Points given? Shorten that gap up a bit and we may have a fairer system.
just my 2 cents…. again
Actually strength of schedule does matter to all the 5-4 teams that currently get in. I don't see the point of getting points for losing to a team. That is like getting a participation medal or something.
I'm not sure I'd like to play games that dont fully count. GRWC and Constantine will both be D6 this year so that example falls to the side but I see your point. In the end nothing will be perfect. However I would like to see SOS matter a bit more.