[NEWARKCATHOLICFAN]

I just looked at the KHSAA page and the scores are sad for playoff games.

Please tell me the fans are tired of how the playoff teams are composed.

Is there anything gained losing by 60 or 70 points?

Should a team with zero, one or two wins really be in the playoffs?

[nky]

Should a team with zero, one or two wins really be in the playoffs?

no

[mrb5150]

No No No go back to just the top 2

[former]

There were some good games with the 3 Seed teams. some won. So like Knox with a 3 seed who lost 28-14 to Boyle should be left out of playoffs. i like it like it is, it gives some legit teams who are in tough districts a chance to redeem themselves. So quit crying about it. Some like it like it is. Everyone gets in the baseball, basketball, soccer playoffs, why not football.

[former]

Mercer (3 seed) beat a 2 seed in Russell Co. Wow, and you dont think Mercer deserves to be in it.

[Wise one]

No No No go back to just the top 2

So in class 6A, the following of tonight's winning teams should have been left out of the playoffs: Male, Seneca, Ballard and Boone County.

Maybe we should do away with the home field advantage instead. The home team in Class 6a went 12-4.

[RunItUpTheGut]

Why do we have to bring this up and bitch about it every week.
Nobody on this site has any say so on what goes on in the playoffs.
Its always going to be the way it is.
Who cares if a team blows another team out by 70 in the playoffs?
It just gives us an extra week of football every year.

[vundy33]

I think it's ridiculous. I'd be embarrassed in the playoffs if we were a 2 or 3 win team. It'd be nice if we had some kind of set-up that would allow most of the good 3 seeds to get in, but not flat out horrible teams that just haven't earned it. But, it's probably not going to change anytime soon. I hate that we have 6 classes, but I'm pretty sure that's not going to change either.

And it's not really comparable to other sports. It's an entirely different sport. I think the playoffs are a privilege and something you earn, not a given. Obviously not everyone thinks that way and that's cool...I just disagree with it.

At least we have a playoff, lol.

[NEWARKCATHOLICFAN]

After determing the total teams that are going to be in, in each class.

The top two get automatic slots
Then the remaing teams will be picked from the #3's who have the best records.
Tie breaker #1 would be strength of schedule.

[zaga_fan]

The only way to fix this is to make the Districts bigger.

[OffTheHook]

There was a 4/1 upset tonight in 5A. Montgomery Co. beat Cooper.

[zaga_fan]

Just switch it up so that you have 4 Districts and the top 4 teams in the District go to the playoffs.
Everyone that has a shot should still be in the mix and the scrandies will be gone.
However, it'll never happen and what we're working with isn't horrible.

[EKUAlum05]

FWIW,

I know of at least three 4 seeds who defeated one seeds.

[enknight84]

One in 3A Powell (a 4 seed)wins 45-0 over a one seed.

[Iam4thecats]

Boone County won tonight as a #4.

[EKUAlum05]

Just switch it up so that you have 4 Districts and the top 4 teams in the District go to the playoffs.
Everyone that has a shot should still be in the mix and the scrandies will be gone.
However, it'll never happen and what we're working with isn't horrible.

Sooooooooooooooooooo.................... you would essentially make 8 team districts? Based on the current system Bell County's district would consist of Central, Etown, Larue County, etc..... that's a lot of regular season travel.

If you are cutting it to 4 total Districts something has to give. Either the size of the District grows.... or you have to add more classes which waters it down more.

[The_OC]

The present system makes the regular season pretty much meaningless.

[pappy]

Let the BCS come in and manage it!

[zaga_fan]

Sooooooooooooooooooo.................... you would essentially make 8 team districts? Based on the current system Bell County's district would consist of Central, Etown, Larue County, etc..... that's a lot of regular season travel.

If you are cutting it to 4 total Districts something has to give. Either the size of the District grows.... or you have to add more classes which waters it down more.

Good point.
But something would have to give either way.
With the 6 class system you have enough teams to compete with IMO...
However, spreading the teams out based on how many schools are close to them and have similar numbers of male enrollment just makes it a cluster in general.

Let's just go Sweet 16 style have 16 Regions and one state champion

[RunItUpTheGut]

It isnt ever going to change from this system IMO.
How many states have you heard of that had dropped back down in class size.
Theres always going to be 6 classes, 4 regions, and 8 district, thus giving us our playoffs.
There not going to eliminate a week of the season by getting rid of the 4 seeds that suck.

You might as well get use to it being the way it is. It's here to say whether we agree with it or not.

[Fly Like a Duck]

There were some dandy 2-3 games tonight, I mean, some great ones. Thing is, there is every year and that is why you won't see playoffs go to just the 1 and 2 seeds in each district.

[Hoot Gibson]

The "sad" playoff systems in Kentucky and Indiana don't seem to hurt teams from those states when they are matched up against similar sized schools from Ohio. Cathedral is very competitive with teams from much larger schools in the GCL almost every season. If Cathedral had to worry about "earning" their way into the playoffs, then they probably would not schedule schools several times their size and they would be a worse team at the end of the season because of the weaker competition.

Ohio has a horrible playoff system. Giving every team an equal opportunity to extend their seasons and compete in the playoffs keeps the focus where it should be for high school football coaches...constant improvement of their players and teams from week to week. The best teams still win the championships but the worst teams don't need to start practicing jump shots after a few regular season losses eliminate them from the playoff picture early.

[airball3]

Then you get to hear about some of the 1-9 teams bitching about getting beat by 70 points the first round of the playoffs. Its a lose-lose situation.

[airball3]

Example:

How does a team like Paris (1-9), with their only win coming against Jackson County by 7 points, deserve to be in the playoffs? This team was averaging 14.3 points per game before the first round of the playoffs.

Personally I dont think they deserve it. Thats why they were beat 60-7. :Clap:

:hilarious:

[airball3]

BTW

Beechwood averaged 48.9 ppg during the regular season.
Paris averaged a 27.3 ppg loss during the regular season.

[Hoot Gibson]

Then you get to hear about some of the 1-9 teams bitching about getting beat by 70 points the first round of the playoffs. Its a lose-lose situation.

So what?Blowouts happen throughout the season but nobody proposes removing games from schedules because a team might lose big. In Indiana, I have seen teams start the season 0-4 and go on to win the state championship. The quality of football played in Indianapolis is better than any area of Kentucky and the states allow all teams to participate in the playoffs.

Even players participating in blowout football games benefit from playing the game. I have never heard a single argument against allowing all teams in the playoffs that has made any sense to me. Another argument that always gets thrown out in these debates is the chance of injuries to kids playing for playoff contenders. The answer to that red herring is that players can and do get injured in the last regular season game of the season, often in blowout wins. Should we cancel the last few games of the regular season to give the "good" teams time to nurse any injuries?

Making teams "earn" playoff spots does not make players or teams any better at the end of the season and that is the bottom line.

[airball3]

So what?Blowouts happen throughout the season but nobody proposes removing games from schedules because a team might lose big. In Indiana, I have seen teams start the season 0-4 and go on to win the state championship. The quality of football played in Indianapolis is better than any area of Kentucky and the states allow all teams to participate in the playoffs.

Even players participating in blowout football games benefit from playing the game. I have never heard a single argument against allowing all teams in the playoffs that has made any sense to me. Another argument that always gets thrown out in these debates is the chance of injuries to kids playing for playoff contenders. The answer to that red herring is that players can and do get injured in the last regular season game of the season, often in blowout wins. Should we cancel the last few games of the regular season to give the "good" teams time to nurse any injuries?

Making teams "earn" playoff spots does not make players or teams any better at the end of the season and that is the bottom line.

How does a team thats 1-9 earn playoff spots? Also how does a 70 pt loss make teams better at the end of the season?

[Hoot Gibson]

How does a team thats 1-9 earn playoff spots? Also how does a 70 pt loss make teams better at the end of the season?

You are asking the wrong question. The question is why should teams be required to earn playoff spots? Other Kentucky high school teams are not banned from the playoffs, so why should Kentucky's football playoffs be any different? Reserves play most of those 70 point games, so it is an extra week of practice and an extra game of experience that the losing team would not otherwise have.

The extra practice and games of teams that advance deep into the playoffs get each season is an advantage that would be even bigger if you rob half of the current playoff teams of those extra weeks of practice.

I have already explained a few other reasons why making teams qualify for playoffs is a bad idea but I will repeat them again. Even young, inexperienced teams who are well coach often struggle early in the season. If you eliminate those teams from the playoff picture after am 0-4 or 0-5 start, then the ability of coaches to motivate players to continue to practice hard and improve becomes much more challenging. Goals are important and taking them away before the season ends makes no sense.

Another reason that making teams "earn" their way into playoffs, such as Ohio does, is that it discourages teams from scheduling tough opponents because losses can keep them out of the playoffs. Consequently, a team like Indy Cathedral can afford to load its schedule with large out of state schools like Trinity, Elder, and Moeller, and larger in state powerhouses like Warren Central, without worrying about what losses might do to their playoff chances. States that have systems that ensure teams playoff spots "earn" their, such as Ohio, effectively discourage teams from playing schedules like Cathedral does because losing to larger schools with better teams might knock them out of playoff contention.

There is no evidence that screening teams out of the playoffs improves the quality of football players or teams in any state. If restricting playoffs doesn't make players and teams better, then what is the point?

[mandan]

Most people on here have their minds made up on this topic, no matter what is presented. I happen to like the way Ohio's system works. It does NOT encourage teams to schedule weak opponents. Harbin/playoff points are earned by beating teams. You gain additional points by beating teams that are larger than you (Division-wise). If your opponent has a lot of wins, that gains you points as well. In Ohio's first round games, there have been some blowouts also. But if you look at the playoff teams' records coming in, you won't find any 1-9, 0-10 teams. In fact, I think all of them had winning records. They earned their way into the playoffs.
For me, the extra practices or additional game a poor team gets, is not worth the embarrassment and humiliation that a beatdown provides. Sure there have been a few exceptions with close games. But the vast majority of first round games have been blowouts.
But as someone said earlier: It's what we got and at least we have playoffs. None of the playoff systems are perfect.

[Hoot Gibson]

Most people on here have their minds made up on this topic, no matter what is presented. I happen to like the way Ohio's system works. It does NOT encourage teams to schedule weak opponents. Harbin/playoff points are earned by beating teams. You gain additional points by beating teams that are larger than you (Division-wise). If your opponent has a lot of wins, that gains you points as well. In Ohio's first round games, there have been some blowouts also. But if you look at the playoff teams' records coming in, you won't find any 1-9, 0-10 teams. In fact, I think all of them had winning records. They earned their way into the playoffs.
For me, the extra practices or additional game a poor team gets, is not worth the embarrassment and humiliation that a beatdown provides. Sure there have been a few exceptions with close games. But the vast majority of first round games have been blowouts.
But as someone said earlier: It's what we got and at least we have playoffs. None of the playoff systems are perfect.

The Harbin system encourages teams to schedule teams that they can beat but who they expect will win a lot of games. Teams like Elder schedule Kentucky teams like Highlands and Covington Catholic because the expect to win those games and they usually are right. Teams do not intentionally schedule likely losses who are planning to make playoff runs.

As for beatdowns and humiliation, adversity is a part of life. It is fans who are most concerned about first round blowouts but high school football games are played for the benefit of the players on the field not for the people in the stands.