Not saying that I disagree but, no one has a problem with every other HS Sport allowing everyone in the playoffs regardless of their record. Regular season means zilch in Basketball, Baseball, Softball, Soccer, Volleyball, Track, Golf, Tennis and Wrestling, so why is it such an issue with so many in football?

Are any of these other sports classed like football? I think the structure of District/Regional tournaments and the nature of the sports it is hard to draw an apples to apples parallel between them.

Are any of these other sports classed like football? I think the structure of District/Regional tournaments and the nature of the sports it is hard to draw an apples to apples parallel between them.

 

No there aren't, but still gives even more of a reason to have a district playoffs in football taking the top 4 teams in each district and the district champion then going on to regionals like the other sports but keep in your class.

A couple of things to consider on the suggestion of 16 teams in the highest class in particular:

 

-16 teams shortens the playoffs by 1 week no matter what unless you adopt some crazy two-bye system. Which for scheduling purposes means one of these options: 1) All teams in the class have an open week while the rest of the state plays their first round, 2) The teams in the class have to play another team in the class of even a district game, 3) Teams have to find a game against an out of state opponent that likewise doesn't have their playoffs going yet, 4) Some mix of 2 & 3. Which means the most likely setup is that every team in the class has a bye week and they only play 14 games on the year.

 

-Districting would become more problematic. You can have eight districts of 2 teams or four districts of 4 teams. When you look at the makeup of the top 16 teams by enrollment, you're going to have a problem. Currently those teams are (by two year enrollment):

 

St. X

Trinity

Scott County

Henry Clay

Eastern

Dunbar

Henderson County

Lafayette

Bryan Station

McCracken County (using approximate enrollment for next year)

PRP

Ballard

Central Hardin

Tates Creek

Madison Central

Simon Kenton

 

That's 5 teams in Louisville, 6 teams in Lexington + Scott & Madison County. McCracken County is on an island. Henderson County is not much better. And Simon Kenton is also alone. A four team district would see someone like McCracken County having to travel to PRP for a district game or vice versa. That'll never work. So you'd almost certainly have a 2 team district. It'd probably look like this:

 

District 1 - Henderson County, McCracken County

District 2 - Central Hardin, PRP

District 3 - St. X, Trinity

District 4 - Ballard, Eastern

District 5 - Scott County, Simon Kenton

District 6 - Bryan Station, Henry Clay

District 7 - Lafayette, Paul Laurence Dunbar

District 8 - Madison Central, Tates Creek

 

And then you basically pray from cycle to cycle that some of these schools stay big.

While true I do think there are moer 4 team districts than 5 team districts so it does appear that everyone makes the playoffs when the reality is everybody doesn't make the playoffs.

 

I do feel like that first week of playoffs is a wasted week.

That is a problem with how the districts are set up. Cooper for instance is in a 6 team district, while others only have 4 teams.

 

I still lean toward a district tournament and then the winner of that goes on. It's only 2 games to decide a champion in every district across the state when you take just the top 4 in each district. Let the district champs then be the ones to represent your district in your region.

If the KHSAA stays with six classes, I like the idea of 3 teams per district making the playoffs. I would also eliminate the bye week during the regular season, which means the regular season would start a week later than now, which would help with warm weather issues. The district winners would get a bye (something of a reward) in the first round, not unlike the top 2 seeds in the NFL. State championships would still be played the first week in December.

 

Obviously there are problems with my plan. The 1-seed may be catching a good club (opposite district 2-seed) in the second round without having played the previous week. But by only allowing 3 teams per district to qualify, you are requiring every school to at least win 1 district game to make the playoffs. I think the good outweighs the bad in 3-team districts.

Not saying that I disagree but, no one has a problem with every other HS Sport allowing everyone in the playoffs regardless of their record. Regular season means zilch in Basketball, Baseball, Softball, Soccer, Volleyball, Track, Golf, Tennis and Wrestling, so why is it such an issue with so many in football?

 

Are any of these other sports classed like football? I think the structure of District/Regional tournaments and the nature of the sports it is hard to draw an apples to apples parallel between them.

 

Yes, some of those sports are classed. The classifications are different than football but they do have classes. I do agree, that football is different. You have to look at each sport on its own. However, I agree with Jumper. If everyone is in the playoffs in the other sports, why not football? Why do we want to eliminate football teams and players from the playoffs? There are a lot of bad teams in other sports that make the playoffs.

That is a problem with how the districts are set up. Cooper for instance is in a 6 team district, while others only have 4 teams.

 

I still lean toward a district tournament and then the winner of that goes on. It's only 2 games to decide a champion in every district across the state when you take just the top 4 in each district. Let the district champs then be the ones to represent your district in your region.

Attendance normally decreases significantly in football when playing an opponent a second time, even if it is your biggest rival.

I like it the way it is. I coach in Indiana now and I'm not a fan of our playoff system. Everybody gets in and its a blind draw. I also dislike the whole conference schedule that we have

 

Interesting insight.

 

As an outsider looking in I like what I see in the Indiana system. But I can see why coaches would dislike a completely blind draw system.

 

The positives SEEM to be:

 

1. All teams do make playoffs. Some dislike this but I think it is good to have 100% participation.

2. The blind draw means things change each year and 'the path' is not pre-determined. Adds freshness and makes each season unique.

3. 2 distinct levels of playoffs or tournaments - The Sectional and The State.

4. More of regular season schedule set with larger 'Sections' (7 or 8 teams) vs. Kentucky's smaller districts.

 

The negatives SEEM to be:

 

1. The blind draw. Yes its also a negative. Makes the 'season' null and void for post season play.

2. The larger sectional fixes more regular season games. With #3 below this limits 'at-large' games.

3. 6 weeks of playoffs. 1 week longer than Kentucky. Thus only 9 season games.

 

If you applied Indiana system to Kentucky you would need to do the following:

 

1. Go to 4 Classes. Almost a non-starter from what I hear.

2. Go to 7 team Sections. With the number of schools in Kentucky 'Sections' could be universally 7 teams I believe. Maybe a small handful (10 or so) 8 team 'Sections'. 4 x 8 x 7 = 224. 4 x 8 x 8 = 256.

3. Go to the '2 Tier' post season.

 

I have talked to coaches and it seems the 'pure' blind draw is heartburn. It means the regular season is 'played for nothing'. Understand that. To address I would recommend that the top Sectional team get a bye in the 7 team Sections. And for consistency, maybe the bottom team in the 8 team Sections does not make the playoff. Then the remaining teams could be put into a 'blind draw' with the a 2nd round seeding process to they put the lowest seed against the Sectional 'regular season champion'. At least this would add variety to the first week of playoffs.

 

Or you could seed the the full bracket with #1 (Regular Season Champion) getting bye. Then seed 6 vs 7, 2 vs 5 and 3 vs 4. Seed 6 vs 7 then is bracketed with 1. Winner of 2 vs 5 and 3 vs 4 is on the other side. My wife says this is too complex and it should just be a pure blind draw. But I see the point that the regular season should have some meaning and at least having the 'Champion' get something and if using the full seeding the full season (and every Sectional game) would have meaning.

 

But since our choice is limited to the 3 listed....

 

#2 would be my vote.

Yes, some of those sports are classed. The classifications are different than football but they do have classes. I do agree, that football is different. You have to look at each sport on its own. However, I agree with Jumper. If everyone is in the playoffs in the other sports, why not football? Why do we want to eliminate football teams and players from the playoffs? There are a lot of bad teams in other sports that make the playoffs.

 

 

If there was only one champion in football like there is in basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, etc then I would agree to do it like the others.

If there was only one champion in football like there is in basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, etc then I would agree to do it like the others.

What difference would one class or six make with allowing everyone in the playoffs.

What difference would one class or six make with allowing everyone in the playoffs.

 

 

The weak teams get filtered out quick. If football was done like basketball with 16 region winners in a winner take all tournament then I would enjoy it much much more. The possible Sweet 16 matchups would be a lot of fun. One state champion in football? Awesomeness!!!!

In Indiana, the schools themselves decide who to play, and whether or not to join a conference for regular season. There are conference championships in all sports and some conferences have several powerhouse teams to play and that means lots to the teams who decide to go that route.

The IHSAA runs the tournaments and decides the route to the state championships through a blind draw. That does mean some powerhouse teams , because of geography, play each other early in the tournament. Good or bad, you can only lose once and you can only win once. You have to play each other at some point.

The weak teams get filtered out quick. If football was done like basketball with 16 region winners in a winner take all tournament then I would enjoy it much much more. The possible Sweet 16 matchups would be a lot of fun. One state champion in football? Awesomeness!!!!

Yeah some regions would be wide open and awesome to watch. But T or X would win 95% off all state titles in a one winner system. But some regions would be a lot of fun!!!

I would much rather see the KHSAA address the number of classifications instead of the number of teams from each district that make the playoffs.

 

I would like to see the 16 largest teams in 4A, the 16 smallest in 1A, and the rest in 2A and 3A.

 

 

Same here. Or for travels sake in those two classes, up it to 32 like now and split the rest up in 2A and 3A. Nonetheless, good stuff.

I would reduce the number of classes.

 

FB is the only hs sport in Ky that excludes any team from a playoff situation. Every team in every other sport starts anew at playoff time and gets a second chance.