TSSAA proposals on classification

[coach1076]

Proposal B is a nice compromise. I still think there would be some teams with losing records in the playoffs however. A 2A school that plays in a region with a bunch of 3A's might finish below 500 and still be in the top 2 2A schools in their region. I think that FB will then be in the same districts that are set for Basketball and Baseball which keeps the rivalries the same.

 

Example for 11AA:

 

Sycamore- AAA

Creekwood- AAA

Montgomery Central- AAA

Cheatham- AAA

Harpeth- AA

Fairview- AA

Waverly- AA

Stewart County- AA

 

There's still 4 teams per region going to the playoffs. The natural rivalry games are being played and mean something. Travel for football is the same as for every other sport. Currently the 3 Cheatham County schools are in 3 separate regions for football while they are in the same district for basketball and baseball which makes zero sense. They are going to schedule each other in football most years anyway. Three class groupings for regular season will save money and THAT'S why TSSAA will do it. They've struggled with the 5 class system since it's inception. Dividing public and private only made more problems.

 

 

I think you have a misconception, or maybe I do. But, from the people that I have spoken with & from what I read on TSSAA, it isnt (to use your example) the top two 3A teams & the top two 2A teams going. It is the top 2 teams period. That will give them 32 teams that will be divided by enrollment into two classes. Then they will pick 32 wild card teams that will be divided by enrollment to fit into the remaining slots.

 

I may be a little off on the bracketing, but I know that it does not say anywhere that they would take the top two 3A schools & then the top two 2A schools. Nor does it say that there has to be 4 teams from each region, only the #1 & #2 teams are guarenteed.

[ksgovols]

What I read was 16 districts x 2 teams for 32 teams each classification. I took that to mean 32 for 2A and 32 for 3A.

 

Ok, I re read the thing on TSSAA's website. It's a little confusing as to how it will work.

 

1. The top 2 teams from 16 districts are automatics. The top 16 of those 32 by enrollment go into the higher class. The remaining go into the lower class.

 

2. The remaining 16 teams in each division are wild cards.

 

Q: Is the enrollment known before the season ends? It seems to me that it's not if they break the automatics evenly into 16 upper and 16 lower. Do the middle two teams set the enrollment figures for that playoff year? What about the teams in between them enrollment wise?

 

Q: What sets the enrollment figures for the wildcards? Do you take the dividing line assigned for the upper/lower and pick the 16 wildcards for each division based on enrollment, region finish and record? It seems you'd have to. If that's the case some teams could be 2A one year and 3A the next depending on how teams fare in comparision to their enrollment.

 

If this is the case, then the lower class gets screwed. Logically there should be more 3A schools that would do well in a 2A/3A region and so more historically 3A schools would get the automatics. The 3A's with the lower enrollment figures would then move to 2A for the playoffs eliminating 2A schools from wildcard consideration. If a team paid attention, they could possibly find themselves in a situation where if they win a regular season game they're in the 3A playoffs and if they lose they'd be in 2A. Meanwhile, the 2A teams have to win every game they can for a prayer at getting in. It would be Monday before the brackets were all figured out.

[Oldschool31]

What a mess, this is confusing. I wonder if plan C with a little tweaking would be better? I like everything except schools with 900 students playing schools with 100, there's nothing fair about that. I kinda see where TSSAA came up with the Rural/Urban thing, all you have to do is look at the list of teams in AAA. There are several (not all) teams in that classification that have either won or played in championship games, or go deep into the playoffs on a regular basis. What if they just bumped them up one classification and kept the 5 classification format. Sounds stupid? maybe, Just throwing it out there for discussion, not to insult anyone.

[ksgovols]

I liked the rural/urban split too except for cases like NCS which I'm familiar with. They would be thrown to the wolves in an urban schedule. If they did rural/urban, you'd have to allow for some exceptions. It wouldn't do much for the travel situation for the rural teams, but they typically have always had to travel more anyway.

 

 

The trouble with proposal B is going to be making it equitable for everyone. There will be regions with more 3A teams than 2A and vice versa. I do like the top 2 teams from each region getting in, I just don't think you can divide those evenly into 3A and 2A classes at playoff time. To me, if the dividing line is figured out by enrollment before the season starts, everybody knows where they stand. If there's 22 3A schools and 10 2A schools in the top 32 spots by region finish, then you have to find 10 3A wildcards and 22 2A wildcards come playoff time according to the published enrollments at classification. How hard is that?

 

I don't think it has to be so complicated.

[Antwan]

What I read was 16 districts x 2 teams for 32 teams each classification. I took that to mean 32 for 2A and 32 for 3A.

 

Ok, I re read the thing on TSSAA's website. It's a little confusing as to how it will work.

 

1. The top 2 teams from 16 districts are automatics. The top 16 of those 32 by enrollment go into the higher class. The remaining go into the lower class.

 

2. The remaining 16 teams in each division are wild cards.

 

Q: Is the enrollment known before the season ends? It seems to me that it's not if they break the automatics evenly into 16 upper and 16 lower. Do the middle two teams set the enrollment figures for that playoff year? What about the teams in between them enrollment wise?

 

Q: What sets the enrollment figures for the wildcards? Do you take the dividing line assigned for the upper/lower and pick the 16 wildcards for each division based on enrollment, region finish and record? It seems you'd have to. If that's the case some teams could be 2A one year and 3A the next depending on how teams fare in comparision to their enrollment.

 

If this is the case, then the lower class gets screwed. Logically there should be more 3A schools that would do well in a 2A/3A region and so more historically 3A schools would get the automatics. The 3A's with the lower enrollment figures would then move to 2A for the playoffs eliminating 2A schools from wildcard consideration. If a team paid attention, they could possibly find themselves in a situation where if they win a regular season game they're in the 3A playoffs and if they lose they'd be in 2A. Meanwhile, the 2A teams have to win every game they can for a prayer at getting in. It would be Monday before the brackets were all figured out.

 

 

I don't think you are on the right track. Enrollment figures will be used as always to place teams in class AA. Class AA will be divided for the playoffs into 2a and 3a. There will be 16 districts with only 2 teams each automatically qualifying for the playoffs. Those 32 teams will be placed 1st by their enrollments. 3a schools will be placed in the 3a playoffs...2a teams will be placed in the 2a playoffs. That could be 24 teams or it could be 12 teams. When you are finished placing those teams...the remaining teams in each class will be placed by wildcard. Teams will not go from one class to another based on wins or losses.

[ksgovols]

That makes more sense Antwan. I hope that's how it works out.

 

The proposal doesn't read that well. Here's the exact verbage:

 

"In football (Class AAA), the top two teams from each district (16 districts) would qualify for the playoffs for a total of 32 teams. The upper half (by enrollment) of the schools in AAA would be 5A and the lower half would be 4A. The 32 teams finishing 1st and 2nd in each of the 16 districts would be placed in 4A and 5A. The remaining spots in each (4A&5A) would be filled with wild cards. There would be 32 teams in 5A and 32 teams in 4A for a total of 64 in Class AAA. The playoff brackets would then be set."

 

Having the upper half/lower half comment after the top 2 in 16 districts will qualify for the playoffs statement makes this confusing. It can be interpreted to mean that the enrollment figures for the 32 that are automatically in the playoffs set the classifications.

 

A more concise way of saying it would be:

 

"In football (Class AAA), the upper half (by enrollment) of the schools in AAA would be in 5A and the lower half would be in 4A. The top 2 teams from each district (16 districts) would qualify for the playoffs for a total of 32 teams. These teams will be placed in the playoff bracket of their respective classes (by enrollment). The remaining spots in each (4A&5A) would be filled with wild cards. There would be 32 teams in 5A and 32 teams in 4A for a total of 64 in Class AAA. The playoff brackets would then be set."

[Antwan]

That makes more sense Antwan. I hope that's how it works out.

 

The proposal doesn't read that well. Here's the exact verbage:

 

"In football (Class AAA), the top two teams from each district (16 districts) would qualify for the playoffs for a total of 32 teams. The upper half (by enrollment) of the schools in AAA would be 5A and the lower half would be 4A. The 32 teams finishing 1st and 2nd in each of the 16 districts would be placed in 4A and 5A. The remaining spots in each (4A&5A) would be filled with wild cards. There would be 32 teams in 5A and 32 teams in 4A for a total of 64 in Class AAA. The playoff brackets would then be set."

 

Having the upper half/lower half comment after the top 2 in 16 districts will qualify for the playoffs statement makes this confusing. It can be interpreted to mean that the enrollment figures for the 32 that are automatically in the playoffs set the classifications.

 

A more concise way of saying it would be:

 

"In football (Class AAA), the upper half (by enrollment) of the schools in AAA would be in 5A and the lower half would be in 4A. The top 2 teams from each district (16 districts) would qualify for the playoffs for a total of 32 teams. These teams will be placed in the playoff bracket of their respective classes (by enrollment). The remaining spots in each (4A&5A) would be filled with wild cards. There would be 32 teams in 5A and 32 teams in 4A for a total of 64 in Class AAA. The playoff brackets would then be set."

 

 

Yes...and I do think that is the way it will be if it indeed does happen.

[silverpie]

Yes...and I do think that is the way it will be if it indeed does happen.

 

 

Agreed--that's also how RC explained it to me back in '07 when I caught him at the wrestling.

[66in74]

Why do we have to have so many teams in the playoffs? Is it just about $$ for the TSSAA and the schools that consistently go deep in the playoffs?

 

Now I know I'm old, but in my day you had to win your district (we didn't call them regions) out right to get in.

If records were tied, then head to head decided who went.

 

My senior year we went 8-2 and didn't make it to the playoffs.

 

I'd like to see Bowl Games come back for those teams with good records who don't make it to the playoffs, but that will never happen.

[coach1076]

It is all about money for the T$$AA. I would be just fine with the top two teams going, I dont know why we need wild card teams. That would still get 16 teams per class in the play-offs. No one with a losing record would make it.

[davidlimbaugh]

Why not just put publics and privates back together?

 

Have 4 classifications.

 

Apply Multipliers for specific conditions:

 

X2 for open enrollment public schools and private schools

 

Another X2 for private schools offering financial aid

 

Do the math on every school and then list them top to bottom and break into 4 classifications and then

into districts

 

Done...

[davidlimbaugh]

I don't like 'wild cards' because they are subjective. An 8-2 record may not be as good as someone else's 6-4. I don't like teams to be 'chosen'. Too Many cans of worms....