That HELPS a team when the playoffs roll around. See Livingston Academy last year, only they played an entire schedule full of tough teams, not just 2 or 3.
Livingston Academy's 5-5 record last year could hardly be attributed to the fact that their region "stunk". There were teams left OUT of the playoffs from Region 2-3A that would've went to the 2nd or 3rd round, if not farther, in the playoffs last season.
The East, Region 2 specifically, is just where the best football is played currently in 3A.