I'm going to have to add another sport to this discussion just to show how much the kids actually WANT to play these playoff games even if they are on the losing end.

 

College Basketball. The NCAA Tourney is one of the best tournaments in all of sports. So much so that every year there is a debate wether more teams should be included or not. How many of those 1 vs 16 seed games haven't been blow outs? How many 16 seeds have actually won a game in the tournament, none as best as I can recall. Yet there is always the argument to letting more teams in the tournament. On top of that, on selection Sunday there are always those camera shots of those bubble teams who just find out they got in and how excited they are to be a part of the tournament. As long as you are in there is always a shot at doing something no one expects. So why are people worried about blowouts in the first week of the KY State Football tournaments? I bet if you went to each and every team and asked them if they would rather not be in the tournament you wouldn't have a single team bowing out.

 

So let the kids play, especially those seniors because this will most probably be the very last time they ever suit up and play the game the rest of their lives. That is the least they deserve, to suit up one last time and have their day in the sun.

 

Play on boys!!! And enjoy your time on the Gridiron!

I'm going to have to add another sport to this discussion just to show how much the kids actually WANT to play these playoff games even if they are on the losing end.

 

College Basketball. The NCAA Tourney is one of the best tournaments in all of sports. So much so that every year there is a debate wether more teams should be included or not. How many of those 1 vs 16 seed games haven't been blow outs? How many 16 seeds have actually won a game in the tournament, none as best as I can recall. Yet there is always the argument to letting more teams in the tournament. On top of that, on selection Sunday there are always those camera shots of those bubble teams who just find out they got in and how excited they are to be a part of the tournament. As long as you are in there is always a shot at doing something no one expects. So why are people worried about blowouts in the first week of the KY State Football tournaments? I bet if you went to each and every team and asked them if they would rather not be in the tournament you wouldn't have a single team bowing out.

 

So let the kids play, especially those seniors because this will most probably be the very last time they ever suit up and play the game the rest of their lives. That is the least they deserve, to suit up one last time and have their day in the sun.

 

Play on boys!!! And enjoy your time on the Gridiron!

 

Here is the primary difference as I see it:

 

-The #16 NCAA seed "earned" the right to be in the tourney as a #16 seed. Other college teams were told to "stay hme" at tourney time. In our world of kentucky high school football, every team is allowed in to the playoffs. No one is told "stay home" (Like they do in Ohio and many other states)

I see both sides of the arguement, but I think you play these games with the possiblity of getting hurt. What if Trinity loses their best player (I know at Trinity you just replace them) but most teams do not have this luxury. But at most schools losing a good player when you are up 50 points is a bad idea. This needs to be looked at further.

Here is the primary difference as I see it:

 

-The #16 NCAA seed "earned" the right to be in the tourney as a #16 seed. Other college teams were told to "stay hme" at tourney time. In our world of kentucky high school football, every team is allowed in to the playoffs. No one is told "stay home" (Like they do in Ohio and many other states)

That is not true. All the teams do not make the playoffs in KY Football.

Trinity lost to an average Moeller team. Anything can happen. Let them all play.

"Strength does not come from winning your struggles, it comes when you decide not to surrender." - Bobby Bowden, Florida State

How many of us would like to play just one more game? When you were 17 wouldn't you have wanted to play one more game even if you knew you would lose? Yes, the goal is to win the game. But in every game on every play there is a competition. You want to block your man. You want to gain one more yard. Catch that pass. Make that tackle. One more time to make a hit and make that tackle. That is really what it is all about. This time in football is short. Let the kids compete one more time and do their best to make that play. And when the game is over and you are looking at a 50-0 loss and you know will never play football again, you will be wishing you could have one more game.

At the beginning of the season we are innundated with threads about how bad teams can become good teams like Highlands, Trinity, etc. Usually the recommendations are work harder, practice more, and spend more on your program. Those can be considered vague but they typically are the suggestions from the power schools. Now that the postseason comes around we are told that an extra week of football is a bad thing. That schools like Boyd County, George Rogers Clark, etc. shouldn't be allowed to play this week. But wouldn't an extra week of practice give those "lesser" teams an opportunity to work hard, practice more, and make more money to spend on their program?

If you believe too many teams make the playoffs and seriously wanted to correct it, then I would recommend eliminating the in-season bye week and allow the top 3 teams into the playoffs from each district. That would give the district champion a bye week the first round of the playoffs, giving them an opportunity to scout the next week's opponent while also allowing their players to heal up. By allowing the top 3 teams, you implement a system where a team must qualify for the playoffs by winning at least one district game. As it currently stands with unbalanced districts, a member of a four team district qualifies for the playoffs by fielding a team while a member of a six team district must win a couple of games to get in. The problem I have there is the lack of consistency in playoff requirements.

A final post on the lack of consistency within the playoff system. The system allows all 1A and 6A schools to make the playoffs no matter what. The middle classes have districts with more than four teams which requires those schools to qualify for the playoffs. The current plan allows around 86% of Kentucky teams to make the playoffs. If you aren't worried about qualification procedures, why not just go ahead a divide the classes into a format where everyone makes the playoffs and end the inconsistency of some teams being guaranteed a spot and other not.

 

After the McCracken County consolidation next year there will be 221 football playing schools. Why not a system where Classes 1A-5A each have 40 teams. Each of the eight districts have five teams, no matter the geography. Eliminate the in-season bye week and play the 4th place/5th place teams in the first round of the playoffs. The top three finishers in each district would get a bye in the first round. Week two would then have 1 seeds play the 4/5 winner and 2's play 3's. Everything afterwards would play out as normal. In 6A you could take all the extra teams, which in this case would be 21 schools. Devise a plan similar to the above plan.

 

Now I'm not necessarily saying that all teams should make the playoffs. But as it is now, why not make a couple minor tweaks and go with a plan like I have posted. It certainly beats the current situation, where in a sense you qualify based as much on geography as anything else.

I think they should sell beer at first round playoff games.

If you are playing starters and up 50, shame on you! There is nothing that says if you are in complete control over a poor opponent that you can't pull your starters anytime you choose. Injuries happen, it's a violent sport. If the 1st round had a 1 seed vs 2 and the 1 seed wins but loses a stud...we would have the same argument.