I presented my way of updating the playoffs earlier this year while keeping the 6 Class System.

 

Essentially only three teams per District would get in. Each Semi-State would be seeded 1-12, the top 4 seeds being reserved for the 4 District Winners who would each get a BYE. After the Top 4 seeds the remaining 8 teams would be seeded accordingly using a CPU system (we will use Calpreps for fun). For the First Two Rounds the top seed would host. The Third Round and Semi-Finals would be played on neutral fields.

 

I can go in more detail as to some of the nuances (travel/revenue reimbursements for teams losing money, Neutral Site specifications, Admission Pricing), but the general gist is to eliminate the larger amount of Round 1 and 2 blowouts, to preserve the significance of District Schedules and winning District Championships, and to allow seeding so "stacked" regions or "weak" regions no longer exist. It also allows that if the two best teams are in the same District that they can re-match in the playoffs on a Neutral Field.

Class 1A

Class 2A

Class 3A

Class 4A

Class 5A

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Class 6A

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It won't let me open 5A or 6A for some reason? Interesting idea though

Class 5A

Class 6A

Just looking at how they worked out..Class 1A is the biggest issue with this theory, as expected.

 

Lots of travel for teams that will either be non-competitive or not have the budget to make the distance make sense. Ludlow going to Crittenden Co, Fulton City to Lou. Holy Cross, that should actually be Jenkins to Raceland. It isn't bad distance wise, but that game would be non-competitive. A potential Crittenden County to Beechwood 2nd Round trip isn't ideal as well.

 

For the Ludlow and Fulton City games the revenue reimbursement of the neutral field 3rd and Semi's would come in handy to make sure neither "lost" money by qualifying for the playoffs.

Class 6A

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I could see a couple REALLY NICE second round games.

 

Manuel/McCracken

Conner/Scott County

Male/Central Hardin

Cooper/Lafayette

 

Those could all be very nice second round matchups. I kind of like this format. Nice work!

Interesting, however I'm not a fan of the neutral field idea.

^^^

I think it would serve it's purpose. People will gripe about the 1 seed's getting the First Round Bye, but I would argue most One Seeds aren't getting challenged in Round 1 anyway and the current 1/4 matchups are the main reason why we have so many blowouts.

 

This system, by adding in the Computer seeding element, now also encourages more teams to step their game up in the regular season to challenge themselves and these "resting starter" Week 10 games become a thing of the past.

 

What some people will also not like are those neutral site 3rd and 4th round games. To that I say let's imagine that Mayfield is 10-0 and spent their regular season beating up on tough teams. Why should Mayfield, in District 1 Region 1, always spend every other year potentially having to go on the road in Rounds 3 and 4 simply because of it being an odd or even number?

 

Homefield advantage is a real thing in November, with our current system it can potentially be the tipping point that allows a weaker team to beat the strongest teams. A neutral site takes these doubts and concerns out of the picture and levels the playing field. It also assures equal footing for facilities, seating, and opens the door to generate revenue that can be used to reimburse programs that lose money because they happen to reach the playoffs.

Great work...interesting idea. I could live with 3 teams per district, but I don't want to go any lower than that.