Championship games and RPI

[TheDeuce]

What I like about the this system is that in 6A there can be two Louisville teams in Championship. In the old system this could only happen every other year.

 

Which is how it should be. The best teams come from Louisville 95% of the time.

[Mayfieldsportsfan]

There is no getting around the ridiculous travel problems that can be/were created by the RPI in the semifinal round

 

Beechwood had to come to Mayfield and vice versa in the old format. Nothing new.

[DragonFire]

Beechwood had to come to Mayfield and vice versa in the old format. Nothing new.

 

Madisonville to Johnson a Central certainly was. Bowling Green to Covington Catholic was as well. There are extremes that can happen every year.

[Hatz]

Madisonville to Johnson a Central certainly was. Bowling Green to Covington Catholic was as well. There are extremes that can happen every year.

 

A couple of hours closer but Boyle has had to go to Paducah and Hopkinsville in the past. Bell has had to go to Central. It hasn’t been pure East and West since six classes.

[9068]

But now, when it really matters, they are 1 & 2!!

[colonel-fan]

Madisonville to Johnson a Central certainly was. Bowling Green to Covington Catholic was as well. There are extremes that can happen every year.

 

Madisonville to JC is a crazy long trip. But CovCath went to South Warren two years ago under the old system.

[KY Outsider]

If they would eliminate the intro-district play and return to cross bracketing in the first three rounds, then I think a lot of criticisms would evaporate. There is no getting around the ridiculous travel problems that can be/were created by the RPI in the semifinal round, but other than that, I have to agree - we mostly got the best teams in the finals.

 

I believe that games past the 1st 2 rounds should be played on neutral fields to eliminate those travel concerns.

Edited December 1, 2019 by KY Outsider

[Jumper_Dad]

I believe that games past the 1st 2 rounds should be played on neutral fields to eliminate those travel concerns.

 

Logistical nightmare. You couldn't really determine a fair neutral field until the teams are known, then finding schools willing to host and staff the games with 6 days notice wouldn't work.

[rjs4470]

Logistical nightmare. You couldn't really determine a fair neutral field until the teams are known, then finding schools willing to host and staff the games with 6 days notice wouldn't work.

 

I hear what you are saying. I'm not saying there won't be challenges, but I don't know that it would be a nightmare, especially if the host school gets to share in profits.

[Jumper_Dad]

With one game to go, RPI seems to have been a homerun for the finals.

 

1A it was a blowout, but I don't think it would have mattered who Pikeville played, RPI can only do so much. Without RPI this would have been a round 3 game, I think.

 

2A Somerset wins an instant classic 34 to 31 over Mayfield. Without RPI, that would have been a semi final played at Mayfield.

 

3A Belfry and Bell 30 to 20, would have also been a semifinal without RPI.

 

4A Johnson Central 21 Boyle County 20, we definitely had the two best in 4A playing each other.

 

5A CovCath 14 to 7 over Frederick Douglass, another great game that would I believe have been a semifinal game without RPI.

 

Regardless of how 6A goes, I think we all agree Trinity and Male are the two best teams.

 

I think it's safe to say that in year one, RPI crushed it. All of the games (except 1) were extremely competitive with the two best available teams.

[okie1]

If KY would go back to Sister Districts playing first 2 rounds and then allowing RPI to kick in round 3..., the playoffs would be even better in rounds 3 and 4 as well!

[ATLCat]

Here is my final RPI thoughts:

1A- By and large it ended up being “ok” but the fact KCD was the #1 overall seed is an issue. KCD probably was the 5th best team.

 

2A- RPI played out nearly perfectly. The new system of Plato nag within the District meant LCA went home in Round 2 when they were clearly one of the three best teams, but that is not a RPI problem. Beechwood was a little too low.

 

3A- The biggest example that the RPI does have flaws. Belfry was the #7 team I want to say and Ashland was #8. Both were probably Top 5 teams. Paducah Tilghman was severely over valued and truth be told Bell County was probably but overvalued as the #1 seed. This goes to show that out of state competition needs to be revisited as well as the weight of a quality loss compared to a below quality win over a mediocre larger school.

 

4A- by and large played out pretty well. Hated having to see Madisonville cross the state though for a Semi Finals game.

 

5A- No major critiques from me that were apparent. Played out pretty well. The one issue is a cautionary tale. Had CovCath lost to LaSalle the penalty would have been considerable and it should not be that way.

 

6A- Trinity was undervalued severely due to out of state competition and under valuing quality losses. Similar story to 3A.

 

 

I think what this displays is the RPI has Potential to really be a good thing. It definitely shook things up and made for perhaps the most interesting playoffs in recent years. With that said, it is still flawed and needs addressed. The out of state factor and weight of a quality loss (especially out of state) needs to be tweaked. Additionally, for the smallest classes the bonus points for playing up is not a bad thing, but in the case of KCD it can be exploited when good small teams beat up on very mediocre larger schools.

 

The out of state component is what needs addressed the most. To think that win CovCath beat a Top 100 team in America LaSalle it gave them a very minimal boost and had they lost it could have been a massive obstacle is scary. The technology is there to assign something better than a .5000 rating. Let’s use it!

[DanvilleFan]

RPI definitely needs some tweaks and I would wholeheartedly endorse going back to the old format for rounds 1 & 2 to avoid some of the blowouts we saw in round 3 this year. However, I like that the system set up some great matchups and games for the state finals.

[EastSideJunkie]

Lots of good things but for sure RPI needs some tweaks.

 

The sheer fact that KCD was No. 1 in Class A and No. 1 overall for most of the time (maybe even all?) proves they need a few changes. KCD had a great year but not sure they were a top-five team in Class A.

 

Again, still a lot of good things to come from it.