You don't have to do it in round one. DUH. Only seed the top 8 teams, and fill that portion of the bracket with 3 other local teams. Travel would not start until the quarterfinals.

 

Huh????? Not following you...draw it out please?

Again, at the point of quarterfinals, I don't see the problem with neutral sites for games with huge travel times. And there is still Saturday.

The other issue you aren't comprehending is you have to keep the value of the District system in place. Othwerise, you will have to go to Open Scheduling and your playoff teams will solely be decided based on Human Polling or a Computer.

 

Kentucky isn't exactly excelling in scheduling in the first place.

 

Imagine Caldwell could only play 9 games because they could not work their schedule out and as a result the computer punishes them for playing one less game?

 

There has to be some sort of backbone in place to measure from using results on the field and wins and losses against common competition.

 

The ohio harbin system would encourage people to play all 10 games and to beat good teams. problem solved. its not a computer per se its just a system where they add up numbers.

Again, at the point of quarterfinals, I don't see the problem with neutral sites for games with huge travel times. And there is still Saturday.

 

So you want to seed sperately East and Wets for Rounds 1 and 2....and then re-seed at the Quarterfinals for the entire state?

 

 

And once again a Neutral Site is fine... but you are short changing the logistics of it.

 

All College used venues are going to be up in the air for Saturday use... the KHSAA would have to coordinate neutral site venues well in advance of the season for a Saturday game because otherwise those facilities will be in use. You cant say "Well its Caldwell vs. Russell so lets play in Richmond"... it's not going to work that way.

 

The only way Most of these larger Saturday venues will be open are if the KHSAA pre-determines the venues before the season.

 

For example:

In Round 3 Campbellsville, EKU, and WKU all play on the road. Morehead plays at home but will agree to Friday night.

 

Then when the games are set the KHSAA can send respective teams to those venues as necessary to help limit travel....

 

 

The hold-up though is the amount of acceptable venues are finite. There are only a certain number of venues that you can play at with appropriate seating and facilities for two schools. So in the Quarterfinals you have 24 games between the 6 classes you have to divide up between either a Friday night or a Saturday morning.

 

If the game is going to be hosted at a HS venue it has to be up to specific standards.

 

This isn't even accounting for the financial logistics of who pays what, who gets what, etc

I would love the system of seeding everyone... it would make the playoffs more competitive and allow matchups we may normally ever see. I think Georgia does some form of statewide seeding and play some games at neutral sites and on Saturday's...but Georgia also has a lot more neutral venues to choose from.

 

If the KHSAA could put together and approved list of neutral site games and establish a standard which would be met it would certainly take a step in the right direction.

 

What you can't have though is a game on a Mud Pit field or a stadium that seats 2500 when 4000 attend and the visitor seating only holds 750 of those 2500.

If neutral sites and re-seeding waited until the Semi Finals it becomes twice as easy. Now you only have 12 games to account for... but if you have to wait that long to re-seed to avoid a possible 6 hour trip you basically just mimiced the same system already in place.

 

Essentially all you achieve is eliminating home field advantage for the Semi's and try to make sure the two best teams play for the Title.

The ohio harbin system would encourage people to play all 10 games and to beat good teams. problem solved. its not a computer per se its just a system where they add up numbers.

 

I would be a fan of the Harbin type system... but my fear is Kentucky simply doesn't fit the model like an Ohio

 

What separates Ohio football from Kentucky is the disparity between the haves and the have nots. The talent gap differences between the different levels of the class are not nearly as drastic in Kentucky. Many more quality teams or at the very least competitive teams that make scheduling easier.

 

In Kentucky though, as you are well aware, once you get through about the top 13-15 teams in most classes the drop off is substantial.

 

In Ohio if the #10 team in Division 2 played the #18 team in Division 4 it would still be a competitive game.

 

In Kentucky if the #10 team in 4A played the #18 team in 2A it is a running clock for example.

 

As such it is much easier for Ohio teams to fill a 10 game schedule than it would be for Kentucky teams. Heck, Kentucky teams struggle to fill 10 game schedules as it is. The best teams in some of the smaller classes have to travel 3-4 hours out of state for competition... imagine how much more difficult it will be when teams know they HAVE to fill 10 games and play tougher schedules?

I would be a fan of the Harbin type system... but my fear is Kentucky simply doesn't fit the model like an Ohio

 

What separates Ohio football from Kentucky is the disparity between the haves and the have nots. The talent gap differences between the different levels of the class are not nearly as drastic in Kentucky. Many more quality teams or at the very least competitive teams that make scheduling easier.

 

In Kentucky though, as you are well aware, once you get through about the top 13-15 teams in most classes the drop off is substantial.

 

In Ohio if the #10 team in Division 2 played the #18 team in Division 4 it would still be a competitive game.

 

In Kentucky if the #10 team in 4A played the #18 team in 2A it is a running clock for example.

 

As such it is much easier for Ohio teams to fill a 10 game schedule than it would be for Kentucky teams. Heck, Kentucky teams struggle to fill 10 game schedules as it is. The best teams in some of the smaller classes have to travel 3-4 hours out of state for competition... imagine how much more difficult it will be when teams know they HAVE to fill 10 games and play tougher schedules?

 

The ranking is irrelevant. The harbin system adds up the wins of your beaten opponents with slight variations for the size of the school. Its a straightforward formula involving a bunch of addition.

The ranking is irrelevant. The harbin system adds up the wins of your beaten opponents with slight variations for the size of the school. Its a straightforward formula involving a bunch of addition.

 

I get that... what I am saying is Kentucky doesn't fit the Harbin mold as well as Ohio because scheduling is going to be much more difficult for a state that already struggles to fill 10 game schedules.

 

I may be off though and will defer to your respected judgement as I am not as familiar with Ohio's system.

It's pretty obvious what we have to do to resolve this issue.

 

West

1. Caldwell Co. receives 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th round byes

 

East

1. Boyle Co. vs 16. Union Co.

2. Belfry vs 15. Edmonson Co.

3. Central vs 14. West Carter

4. LexCath vs 13. Henry Co.

5. Paducah Tilghman vs 12. Lawrence Co.

6. E-Town vs 11. Adair Co.

7. Russell vs 10. Garrard Co.

8. Corbin vs 9. Bell Co.

 

The East representative is so physically depleted after four rounds that they cannot field a team for the finals, therefore..... Congrats to Caldwell Co. on winning the 2015 Kentucky Class 3A State Championship!!!

 

:dancingpa

HMM. To respond nicely, I don't think Caldwell will be there anyway. Just making a point that one side, no matter the class, seems to have MUCH tougher paths to a state title. Sometimes its the east, sometimes the west. Just trying to invoke a more level playing field for everyone.

 

But your comment does accomplish one thing. You prove the point of how depleted those teams that are in the more difficult bracket, and that gives the other team an advantage in Bowling Green. Thanks for the input.

HMM. To respond nicely, I don't think Caldwell will be there anyway. Just making a point that one side, no matter the class, seems to have MUCH tougher paths to a state title. Sometimes its the east, sometimes the west. Just trying to invoke a more level playing field for everyone.

 

But your comment does accomplish one thing. You prove the point of how depleted those teams that are in the more difficult bracket, and that gives the other team an advantage in Bowling Green. Thanks for the input.

 

You're certainly not wrong. I just don't understand why this is an issue. The cyclical nature of the playoffs being more challenging on one half has always existed. It's never not been this way for as long as we've had playoffs.

 

Would you care as much if Caldwell wasn't in the situation their in this year?

 

To be honest, I wouldn't mind seeing the playoffs change to the format you've suggested, at least for a trial run. You'd almost certainly have to get small colleges or third party high school venues involved to cut back on travel. I just don't see that happening any time soon.

This discussion has reminded me of 1991 when Lawrence Co. unexpectedly made a run to the semis and had to make a 6+ hour bus trip to Mayfield. There has been some talk over the last few years about Beechwood and Mayfield making long trips to play one another in the semis, but Louisa to Mayfield is the most extreme trip I've ever heard of involving Kentucky schools.