The Poster Child of How the New Playoff System is Broke....

[randymc]

Randy - we have both discussed this 'system' over the years

 

How is it fair that Riverdale, Cookeville and etc... get put into a quadrant with no wildcards? Quad 3 gets Oakland, Siegel and Smyrna, wildcards all. How does 7AAA get the top 2 teams in the same quadrant and the third, fourth and fifth place teams get put into a different quadrant???

 

How is it fair to Coffee Co to be an 8 out of 8 seed when they finished second in their district? If there were some wildcards in Quad 2 then Coffee (at 3-7 mind you) could be seeded higher as a reward for finishing second in their district....

 

Blackman should have went west and Oakland should have been sent east. It makes no sense for the top two teams of 7AAA meet in the second round but possibly one of the top 2 and one of the third-thru-fifth could meet in the championship game (no offense to Maryville, Mt. Juliet, Whitehaven or others, just using these example to shed light on the problem)

Agree with all your points, glad we got bumped into quad 3 lol Under this model, if RHS had lost to the KY team, and coffee co had gone 10-0, they would be seeded ahead,eventhough I think their is little doubt RHS is the best team in their quad, if not the state. Agree with your point about BHS, OHS is farther east than both RHS and BHS and closer to Chattanooga than BHS. Antioch and Glencliff are both farther eat and closter to chattanooga than Centennial and Columbia, yet they are in quad 3 too. Yes, which is why i didn't want OHS in quad 2, because people somewhere think Coffee Co is better than OHS because Coffee Co finished 2nd i a bad district. If OHS doesn't make it, I hope its Smyrna, since they have been in the playoffs for the past 5 weeks....just show again how the system is flawed, a team that was 1 loss away from being eliminated in September from the playoffs plays for the Gold Ball!

 

good luck to RHS.

[hsfootballfantn]

Why is it that Coffee County did not get a home playoff game? I thought that 1 & 2 in the districts would get home game? Are there other teams that have come out like this? Or is it just the catch 22 of the system as Coffee County was the 32nd team in?

 

.

Agree with all your points, glad we got bumped into quad 3 lol Under this model, if RHS had lost to the KY team, and coffee co had gone 10-0, they would be seeded ahead,eventhough I think their is little doubt RHS is the best team in their quad, if not the state. Agree with your point about BHS, OHS is farther east than both RHS and BHS and closer to Chattanooga than BHS. Antioch and Glencliff are both farther eat and closter to chattanooga than Centennial and Columbia, yet they are in quad 3 too. Yes, which is why i didn't want OHS in quad 2, because people somewhere think Coffee Co is better than OHS because Coffee Co finished 2nd i a bad district. If OHS doesn't make it, I hope its Smyrna, since they have been in the playoffs for the past 5 weeks....just show again how the system is flawed, a team that was 1 loss away from being eliminated in September from the playoffs plays for the Gold Ball!

 

good luck to RHS.

[QBClubPrez]

Why is it that Coffee County did not get a home playoff game? I thought that 1 & 2 in the districts would get home game? Are there other teams that have come out like this? Or is it just the catch 22 of the system as Coffee County was the 32nd team in?

 

.

 

Where did you read/dream that? Below is what the TSSAA handbook says;

 

Priority for seeding once the teams have been placed in their geographic quadrants shall be as follows:

1. Teams finishing 1st in their district will receive first priority.

2. Teams finishing 2nd in their district will receive second priority.

3. Teams who do not finish 1st or 2nd in their district and qualify based on their position in the football play-off standings shall receive last priority.

 

No where does it say that 1 & 2 place finishers in a district get home games. It says that the 1st place district teams get "1st Priority". 2nd place District finishers receive 2nd priority.

 

Everyone in that Quad is either a district champion or a runner-up. Coffee County is the last of the runner-ups based on the tie breaker scenerio....lucky to be in to begin with.

Edited October 31, 2011 by QBClubPrez

[hsfootballfantn]

Where did you read/dream that? Below is what the TSSAA handbook says;

 

Priority for seeding once the teams have been placed in their geographic quadrants shall be as follows:

1. Teams finishing 1st in their district will receive first priority.

2. Teams finishing 2nd in their district will receive second priority.

3. Teams who do not finish 1st or 2nd in their district and qualify based on their position in the football play-off standings shall receive last priority.

 

No where does it say that 1 & 2 place finishers in a district get home games. It says that the 1st place district teams get "1st Priority". 2nd place District finishers receive 2nd priority.

 

Everyone in that Quad is either a district champion or a runner-up. Coffee County is the last of the runner-ups based on the tie breaker scenerio....luck to be in to begin with.

 

Ohhhhhhh, I see now. The Z plan is a mess regardless.

[davidlimbaugh]

Why is it that Coffee County did not get a home playoff game? I thought that 1 & 2 in the districts would get home game? Are there other teams that have come out like this? Or is it just the catch 22 of the system as Coffee County was the 32nd team in?

 

Lets look at Quad 2 in 6A:

 

#8 Coffee Co at #1 Riverdale

Coffee Co finished second in District 6 - Riverdale finished first in District 7

 

#5 Farragut at #4 Blackman

Farragut finished second in District 4 - Blackman finished second in District 7

 

#6 Bradley Central at #3 Cookeville

Bradley Central finished second in District 5 - Cookeville finished first in District 6

 

#7 Oak Ridge at #2 McMinn Co

Oak Ridge finished second in District 3 - McMinn Co finished first in District 5

 

So three first place teams - first three home games. Five second place teams - only one of those can host.

 

Lets look at Quad 3:

 

#8 Oakland at #1 Mt Juliet

Here is where it gets messy - Oakland and Siegel both went 2-3 in District 7AAA but Oakland beat Siegel yet finished 6-4 to Siegel's 7-3 - technically, Oakland finished 4th in 7AAA and Siegel fifth but Siegel gets a higher seed. Mt. Juliet finished first in District 9.

 

#5 Siegel (even though they lost to Oakland in district play) at #4 Overton

For Siegel, see above. Overton finished second in District 12.

 

#6 Smyrna at #3 Franklin

Here it gets even stranger - Smyrna beat Siegel and finished 3-2 and third in District 7AAA compared to Siegel's 2-3 and fifth but is seeded lower than Siegel because of 6-4 record to Siegel's 7-3. Franklin finished second in District 11.

 

#7 Brentwood at #2 Independence

Brentwood finished 3rd in District 11. Independence finished first in District 11.

 

So quad 2 has 3 first place teams and 5 second place teams.

Quad 3 has 2 first place teams and 2 second place teams. Every first and second place team in Quad 3 was assured a home game. Sadly, for Coffee Co and 3 other second place teams, that is not the case in Quad 2.

[Hoganknows]

Randy - we have both discussed this 'system' over the years

 

How is it fair that Riverdale, Cookeville and etc... get put into a quadrant with no wildcards? Quad 3 gets Oakland, Siegel and Smyrna, wildcards all. How does 7AAA get the top 2 teams in the same quadrant and the third, fourth and fifth place teams get put into a different quadrant???

 

How is it fair to Coffee Co to be an 8 out of 8 seed when they finished second in their district? If there were some wildcards in Quad 2 then Coffee (at 3-7 mind you) could be seeded higher as a reward for finishing second in their district....

 

Blackman should have went west and Oakland should have been sent east. It makes no sense for the top two teams of 7AAA meet in the second round but possibly one of the top 2 and one of the third-thru-fifth could meet in the championship game (no offense to Maryville, Mt. Juliet, Whitehaven or others, just using these example to shed light on the problem)

 

 

All good points

[joenmsusa]

Lets look at Quad 2 in 6A:

 

#8 Coffee Co at #1 Riverdale

Coffee Co finished second in District 6 - Riverdale finished first in District 7

 

#5 Farragut at #4 Blackman

Farragut finished second in District 4 - Blackman finished second in District 7

 

#6 Bradley Central at #3 Cookeville

Bradley Central finished second in District 5 - Cookeville finished first in District 6

 

#7 Oak Ridge at #2 McMinn Co

Oak Ridge finished second in District 3 - McMinn Co finished first in District 5

 

So three first place teams - first three home games. Five second place teams - only one of those can host.

 

Lets look at Quad 3:

 

#8 Oakland at #1 Mt Juliet

Here is where it gets messy - Oakland and Siegel both went 2-3 in District 7AAA but Oakland beat Siegel yet finished 6-4 to Siegel's 7-3 - technically, Oakland finished 4th in 7AAA and Siegel fifth but Siegel gets a higher seed. Mt. Juliet finished first in District 9.

 

#5 Siegel (even though they lost to Oakland in district play) at #4 Overton

For Siegel, see above. Overton finished second in District 12.

 

#6 Smyrna at #3 Franklin

Here it gets even stranger - Smyrna beat Siegel and finished 3-2 and third in District 7AAA compared to Siegel's 2-3 and fifth but is seeded lower than Siegel because of 6-4 record to Siegel's 7-3. Franklin finished second in District 11.

 

#7 Brentwood at #2 Independence

Brentwood finished 3rd in District 11. Independence finished first in District 11.

 

So quad 2 has 3 first place teams and 5 second place teams.

Quad 3 has 2 first place teams and 2 second place teams. Every first and second place team in Quad 3 was assured a home game. Sadly, for Coffee Co and 3 other second place teams, that is not the case in Quad 2.

 

Great points. And given the "wiggle room" being displayed, I've been amazed at the Franklin-Smyrna and Brentwood-Indy first round match-ups. Franklin-Smyrna played in the last half of the season (IIRC) and Bwood-Indy are in the same district. Huh?

 

Being familiar with Districts 9, 11 and 12 this just strikes me as poor bracketing. There may be issues in other parts of the state that are similar, but sure seems as if the system is, as stated ad naseum, broken.

[Solomon]

What has been my stance for years -

 

Go to 4 classes, allow a pre-season game similar to the Hall of Fame game that T$$AA gets a amount of receipts from, 32 teams make playoffs in each class (possible 24 in the smallest class).

 

Should cut down on travel, allows district records to determine everything, and the T$$AA can find King Ronnie's pension.

 

The only downside to this is a 3-7 team will have a much tougher time making the postseason.

[QBClubPrez]

What has been my stance for years -

 

Go to 4 classes, allow a pre-season game similar to the Hall of Fame game that T$$AA gets a amount of receipts from, 32 teams make playoffs in each class (possible 24 in the smallest class).

 

Should cut down on travel, allows district records to determine everything, and the T$$AA can find King Ronnie's pension.

 

The only downside to this is a 3-7 team will have a much tougher time making the postseason.

 

I don't understand this arguement/concept of travel. It's simply not an issue. I've NEVER heard a single school complain about where they must go EXCEPT the Williamson County public schools (Brentwood High, Franklin, etc.) when they moan about having to travel "all the way over to Rutherford County" when Manassas and Lewis County are playing this week as are Grundy County and Goodpasture, Liberty Tech and Macon County, Lenoir City and Columbia, and Arlington travels to Dickson County....yet none of these seem to have an issue with their travel plans. As a matter of fact...talking with the Arlington coach...he knew he needed to win last Friday night yet came up 1 point short...thus his Tigers are on the road this week at Dickson County. Who are these that wish to remain 30 minutes from home??

[davidlimbaugh]

I don't understand this arguement/concept of travel. It's simply not an issue. I've NEVER heard a single school complain about where they must go EXCEPT the Williamson County public schools (Brentwood High, Franklin, etc.) when they moan about having to travel "all the way over to Rutherford County"

 

Travel is the sole reason we have this 'Z' plan. And it wasn't any complaining about travel by coaches or fans. It was administrators because the price of gas was soaring. Our principals caused this mess, not our football coaches. And it wasn't about the post-season. It was for the regular season. They wanted to be able to have district schools closer to them, thus the A AA AAA so schools could be bunched 'closer together' to cut down travel during the regular season.

[Tiptonsteve]

Traditionally you can look at a teams schedule & immediately know why they scheduled certain teams(typically from Memphis). Munford, Brighton, Covington & Ripley notorious for it. Look at Munford's schedule this year. Who'd they beat. Covington & Brighton, they all pay em as well & get extra home games in adition to the guaranteed win

3 of Munford's 5 wins this year were hand picked: Memphis Northside(probably 5-95 their last 100 games),Frayser(pitiful) and Westwood. And where did they play em at? You're right @ Munford. Brighton played two Raliegh Egypt and some other weakling @ home for an extra home game for the wins. 2 of Ripley's 3 wins were to inferior teams bought out of Memphis as usual @ home.

This makes for terrible football and instills the wrong philosophy of what football is really about.

It's not about who you play; it's what it will cost to do it. Funds to send these kids all over Tennessee are just not there. Would it make it fair and make for a stronger play off, Yes. Will it ever happen, no. So instead of complaining just don't let that 5/5 team beat you. If your team loses well maybe they weren’t that good. I don’t see you complaining about Coffee County, Jefferson or Bearden. Brighton is a good team and like most of them, they played some that just weren’t as good.

[IronGut]

I don't understand this arguement/concept of travel. It's simply not an issue. I've NEVER heard a single school complain about where they must go EXCEPT the Williamson County public schools (Brentwood High, Franklin, etc.) when they moan about having to travel "all the way over to Rutherford County" when Manassas and Lewis County are playing this week as are Grundy County and Goodpasture, Liberty Tech and Macon County, Lenoir City and Columbia, and Arlington travels to Dickson County....yet none of these seem to have an issue with their travel plans. As a matter of fact...talking with the Arlington coach...he knew he needed to win last Friday night yet came up 1 point short...thus his Tigers are on the road this week at Dickson County. Who are these that wish to remain 30 minutes from home??

 

Williamson doesnt moan about the distance to Rutherford, they moan about having to play someone from Rutherford. Well they should be happy this year, Franklin is hosting Smyrna at home and the other game is Brentwood vs Indy so that definitely means at least one Williamson County school will make it to round 2.