[EKUAlum05]

Personally I think 5 classes is the way to go and I am in favor of adopting that Georgia rule where you have to play up a class if over 3% of your student body is from out of your geographical district.

I have a fix as well if the KHSAA wanted to stick with 6-classes.

The biggest issue I see with the current set-up is:
1. The First Round Playoff Games suck...especially the 1 vs. 4
2. Bad teams get in the playoffs undeservingly, specifically 4 seed in 4 team Districts.
3. The fact a team can host four rounds at home due simply to the District and Region they are in, or that the best team may have to go on the road for the Regional Finals or Semi's for the same reason is absurd.
4. District and Regions are not balanced. Some Regions are bears, some are cakewalks... throw in the homefield advantage aspect and a team may completely have the deck stacked against them

[EKUAlum05]

So for a 6-Class System I would propose the following to fix the playoffs.

1. Only three teams per District Qualify. This gets rid of the 4 seed and since a 4 seed has never won a Title or reached the Semi's as far as I know, this automatically gets rid of dead weight and helps balance the field. This also still makes the regular season very important.

2. Each Semi-State gets seeded 1-12. The 4 District winners are guaranteed the Top 4 spots and a First Round Bye (reward for winning their District). All teams are evaluated by a computer system which factors in SOS, wins against higher classes, etc... If you are the winner of a weak District though you get the 4 seed and the toughest Second Round Game.If you are the #1 overall seed you get a more favorable 2nd Round draw. So if you are the second best team in your Semi-State but lose your District Title you do not get a Top 4 seed, but you get the 5 seed and draw the weakest District Champion in the 2nd Round.

3. Rounds 1 and 2 are hosted by the Higher Seeded Team. The home team, much like the current system, gets the concession sales. Before a team can host they must meet KHSAA requirements for seating and locker rooms. Otherwise it will be held at a Neutral Site that does.

4. Round 3 and 4 (Semi's) are hosted at a Neutral Site. Starting with Round 3 the KHSAA takes over the logistics of the financials. They assure that the neutral site meets the standards for the game to be held, they coordinate so that distance will be minimized.

5. The cost of attendance goes up for each Round. The KHSAA makes sure that no team loses money on travel, then properly disperses the money back tot he schools in accordance to the level to which the teams competed. For example if you lose in Round 1 you do not get as much as the team who played three games. All surplus of money goes toward offsetting travel expenses for the teams competing in the State Finals.

You now put value on the regular season, make sure that if the 2nd best team is stuck in a tough District they have their fair shot at reaching the Finals on a neutral field, take home field advantage out of the equation for the two most important rounds, and you make sure schools do not financially lose money for reaching the playoffs.

[SWpride]

That's just more punishment for very small schools such as Jenkins, Caverna, Phelps, Pineville, Lynn Camp or teams at 250 enrollment or less can't cant field teams of more then 28 players etc. To strengthen the districts some states but in a " Class B. or Class A II " for teams that would fall between a class A and in some states 9-man. These teams will never compete. That would put them at they're level and strengthen other class A divisons. Sure you wouldn't have as many teams in that class, but would force a merge of good teams in districts, and take cake walks out, and would take some stronger class A teams could move 2A or move weaker 2A down to balance and on up the classes.. Just a opinion.

[bo67]

It's all about revenue