3 hours ago, Ram said:

That would be great if it was that simple.  Football players are taught many things to make them better people after football is over, and one of those things is to never quit.  If a team is asked if they want to play, the players feel obligated to say, "yes", to do otherwise would be quitting on their team, their coaches, their school, and their friends.  Like I said, if we were able to ask them in a vacuum, many would say they didn't want to play a first round playoff game after suffering a terrible season.  

This is where the adults should make a better option for those young players.  Don't make them make a tough decision of feeling like they are letting everyone down.  Give them something better.  Let the season end, or let those that don't make the playoffs play a non-playoff game against a like opponent.  Something. 

I guess this "no quit " mentality goes out the window in the NCAA at the end of the year. " Opt outs " are killing bowl season. I get it with the $$$ factor that the college kids are looking at but as a huge college football fan bowl season has pretty much been ruined. I wish all college institutions would put insurance policies on their draft eligible players like Deion did at Colorado last year to give the kids some security for playing.

I do like the idea of shortening the amount of playoff teams or giving teams that opt out one last game in a bowl type game. I think there would be a bunch of evenly matched games instead of a bunch of blowout first round games. In return those evenly matched games would draw interest from involved parties and communities and could be a good way to produce revenue for some type of good cause.

 

7 minutes ago, Honey Badger said:

 

I do like the idea of shortening the amount of playoff teams or giving teams that opt out one last game in a bowl type game. I think there would be a bunch of evenly matched games instead of a bunch of blowout first round games. In return those evenly matched games would draw interest from involved parties and communities and could be a good way to produce revenue for some type of good cause.

 

I think it could be a great thing for football and for the schools that are struggling.  Think about it, you go 0-10 and get one more game and end the season with a win.   That could be the spark a program needs to win 3 games the next season, and 5 the season after that........

And, what if we held multiple games at one venue over a weekend, maybe four, or six games and you drew the crowd of eight schools, or 10 schools.  It would feel like the State Championship games for the teams that struggles.  Those programs could play in front of a huge crowd.  

3 minutes ago, Ram said:

And, what if we held multiple games at one venue over a weekend, maybe four, or six games and you drew the crowd of eight schools, or 10 schools.  It would feel like the State Championship games for the teams that struggles.  Those programs could play in front of a huge crowd.  

I really like that idea. Again it could go to a great cause also.

@theguru might call it the Cupcake Bowl lol 

But yeah that would be " sweet ".

Teams might get a feel for a way to fill out their schedule for the next year too.

On 10/29/2022 at 10:40 PM, theguru said:

 

On 10/29/2022 at 11:28 PM, Voice of Reason said:

Not going to try and change anyone's mind. What I will ask for is a thread like this the first week of basketball district tournaments and another thread like this the first round of district baseball. Ugly games abound in the other sports as well. Basketball games 100-20. Baseball games 25-0 in 3 innings. I don't get why it bothers people for football and not for the other sports. 

But here is a solution. Allow any team that doesn't want to play a first round game to choose not to play. I say there will be very, very few teams that choose not to play a first round playoff game in any sport.

 

On 10/29/2022 at 11:32 PM, TheDeuce said:

I think you may be surprised actually. I would not be surprised at all to see some or three teams driving 4+ hours for a running clock to opt out.

Interesting reading these posts above three years later. This post may not change your mind about the first round of the playoffs being the worst week of football of the year. But I think you might change your mind about there being a better way to do football postseason.

Any other system that we may come up with to selectively choose who gets into the playoffs will have inequity. There will be teams that we will all agree are unfairly denied a post season game with a selective system.

For example, if we limit the playoffs to the top 2 teams in each district, this year 6A Meade County 2-8 would be in the playoffs and season long top 10 Bryan Station would be out. Not fair. Sorry Bryan Station, but we don't want to watch running clock games so forget those hopes of playoff wins or playing in the state championship. That is one example. There are many others.

You can come up with any selective choice system you want, and there will always be teams left out unfairly. The current system gives everyone a chance. Yes, the majority of first round games will be lopsided but everyone who wanted an opportunity to play another game of football got it and no one can say the selective rules of the adults denied them the opportunity.

Yes, the first round of the playoffs may be the worst week of the season, but it is the price we pay for fairness and opportunity.

 

Edited November 3, 2025Nov 3 by Voice of Reason

1 hour ago, Voice of Reason said:

 

 

Interesting reading these posts above three years later. This post may not change your mind about the first round of the playoffs being the worst week of football of the year. But I think you might change your mind about there being a better way to do football postseason.

Any other system that we may come up with to selectively choose who gets into the playoffs will have inequity. There will be teams that we will all agree are unfairly denied a post season game with a selective system.

For example, if we limit the playoffs to the top 2 teams in each district, this year 6A Meade County 2-8 would be in the playoffs and season long top 10 Bryan Station would be out. Not fair. Sorry Bryan Station, but we don't want to watch running clock games so forget those hopes of playoff wins or playing in the state championship. That is one example. There are many others.

You can come up with any selective choice system you want, and there will always be teams left out unfairly. The current system gives everyone a chance. Yes, the majority of first round games will be lopsided but everyone who wanted an opportunity to play another game of football got it and no one can say the selective rules of the adults denied them the opportunity.

Yes, the first round of the playoffs may be the worst week of the season, but it is the price we pay for fairness and opportunity.

 

I agree that no system will be perfect. But again, for me, the issue isn't blowouts in the first round. It's teams being in the playoffs that haven't earned that opportunity. 

I'm not sure where, but you mentioned in a different post something about the lessons learned by playing in the playoffs and losing, and how valuable that is. I agree, there are lessons to be taught from the game of football that carry well beyond the gridiron. But those lessons can be taught by not playing in the playoffs. 

What kind of message does it send when you give a team that has won less than half their games an opportunity to play for the highest prize? That's not realistic and doesn't translate to the real world. If I'm not doing my job and not hitting my numbers, my boss doesn't give me a bonus. They tell me to work harder and try again next quarter. 

I understand your position on wanting everyone to play as much football as possible. High school kids get a minimum of 40 high school varsity football games. If we're trying to teach them life lessons, sometimes tough lough is necessary. 

Last night, 11-6-25, did nothing to change my mind.  There were 37 games played on a Thursday night due to weather concerns.  It was a rough night for us serious fans.  Danville and Green County was interesting. Monroe County and W.E.B. DuBois went at it. Knott County Central got their first playoff win.  Bullitt East and North Hardin played a close game, and Central over Bardstown wasn't too bad but other than that, total snooze fest and again did nothing to change my mind. 

2 hours ago, theguru said:

Last night, 11-6-25, did nothing to change my mind.  There were 37 games played on a Thursday night due to weather concerns.  It was a rough night for us serious fans.  Danville and Green County was interesting. Monroe County and W.E.B. DuBois went at it. Knott County Central got their first playoff win.  Bullitt East and North Hardin played a close game, and Central over Bardstown wasn't too bad but other than that, total snooze fest and again did nothing to change my mind. 

 

5 hours ago, theguru said:

Last night, 11-6-25, did nothing to change my mind.  There were 37 games played on a Thursday night due to weather concerns.  It was a rough night for us serious fans.  Danville and Green County was interesting. Monroe County and W.E.B. DuBois went at it. Knott County Central got their first playoff win.  Bullitt East and North Hardin played a close game, and Central over Bardstown wasn't too bad but other than that, total snooze fest and again did nothing to change my mind. 

 

3 hours ago, Tigerpride94 said:

 

Last year in ROUND 2, not round 1, in round 2 there were 9 games decided by a TD or less. Round 2 is what we get if we only take the top 2 teams in each district and eliminate half the teams from postseason. If close competitive games are why we become selective, it doesn't work. Find another reason to exclude teams.

I'll repeat, in 2024 post season, only 9 games in round 2 were within a TD.

Conclude what you will.

Unless I’ve missed one, only two #4 seeds advanced. Louisville Holy Cross in 1A (over Russellville), and George Rogers Clark in 6A (over Tates Creek). Both were part of full district sweeps. Holy Cross lost in the regular season by 27 to their next opponent, Kentucky Country Day. George Rogers Clark was shut out 49-0 by their next opponent, Madison Central. The districts that got swept were simply that bad. 
 

At very least, I believe you could remove 4 seeds from the postseason and lose basically nothing.  

Expanding upon that, 90 of the 91 first round games have been played. Only 15 (16.7%) have been won by the lower seed. In every single case, their next opponent will be someone from their own district that they previously played. The average margin of victory in the previous meeting between those teams was 35.33 points.  We’ll see if any of those teams overcome and make it through to the region final round. As it stands right now, a region final round comprised exclusively of 1 and 2 seeds seems very realistic. 

On 10/30/2022 at 9:44 AM, Hardin County Preps said:

Matchups like Barren County at Henderson County for a playoff game should never happen, This is a predictable train wreck. Henderson County scores 60-70 points in this game. Barren County is one of the worst 6A teams in the state. 

How about decrease the number of districts and have districts with 6-8 teams. Then take only the top 2 teams in each district for the playoffs. 

0-10 Teams like Oldham County and Lafayette make the playoffs? Really! 

And how about we insert a human element into the rating process for playoff seedings like the AP poll?

Oldham County was 6-5 I believe. 

Top 3 teams in each district would mean 24 teams making playoffs. That seems like a good number to me. Equitable and would actually mean something to make the playoffs. The #1 team in each district would get a 1st round bye using that format.

11 hours ago, DragonFire said:

Unless I’ve missed one, only two #4 seeds advanced. Louisville Holy Cross in 1A (over Russellville), and George Rogers Clark in 6A (over Tates Creek). Both were part of full district sweeps. Holy Cross lost in the regular season by 27 to their next opponent, Kentucky Country Day. George Rogers Clark was shut out 49-0 by their next opponent, Madison Central. The districts that got swept were simply that bad. 
 

At very least, I believe you could remove 4 seeds from the postseason and lose basically nothing.  

Louisville Holy Cross and GRC disagree strongly. 

31 minutes ago, Tigerpride94 said:

Top 3 teams in each district would mean 24 teams making playoffs. That seems like a good number to me. Equitable and would actually mean something to make the playoffs. The #1 team in each district would get a 1st round bye using that format.

Of all the exclusion plans presented, this one gets closer to being fair to all teams in the state. I still favor my proposal to appease the exclusion people -  0 and 1 win teams are the only teams left out of playing another game.

Edited November 8, 2025Nov 8 by Voice of Reason

44 minutes ago, Tigerpride94 said:

Top 3 teams in each district would mean 24 teams making playoffs. That seems like a good number to me. Equitable and would actually mean something to make the playoffs. The #1 team in each district would get a 1st round bye using that format.

 

12 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

Of all the exclusion plans presented, this one gets closer to being fair to all teams in the state. I still favor my proposal to appease the exclusion people -  0 and 1 win teams are the only teams left out of playing another game.

3 teams per district making it would make sense if the amount of teams making it were lowered. Or if we don’t want to lower the amount of teams that make it. Then get rid of district play, and allow teams to  schedule whatever 10 games they want. Then have a computer system like Calpreps rank the top 32 teams that make it. 
 

To me having districts is the biggest issue.