If the playoffs started today...

[Baylor12]

Until TSSAA separates the Division 2 finals from D1, I don't see much change in the playoff format. Even with all 11 teams in the playoffs the top 5 teams (3 East-Middle and 2 West) have a bye week 11 (first round) and then 13 days from semi-finals to finals. While a 6 team playoff might be more interesting, the additional byes would be brutal. At the end of the day, playoffs and brackets should identify the best teams and I would say for the most part that has been done in Division II-AA

[williamsoncounty]

If Ryan wins out, they would finish third, BA fourth, Baylor fifth. The outcome of the BA-Ensworth wouldn't effect the standings if Ryan wins out.

[owlbooster]

If Ryan wins out, they would finish third, BA fourth, Baylor fifth. The outcome of the BA-Ensworth wouldn't effect the standings if Ryan wins out.

Correct.  And if EHS beats BA, Ryan only has to beat Baylor to finish 3rd.

[shakinthefat]

Do you mean 6 E/M teams OR 2 W teams with 4 E/M teams in the playoffs?

It's never been quite fair with the system now. 2 teams from west with playoff buys and 2 teams from E/M. So it would probably be 3 from each region.

[WesVLT]

It's never been quite fair with the system now. 2 teams from west with playoff buys and 2 teams from E/M. So it would probably be 3 from each region.

Here's how I would design it:

 

-8 playoff entries

-Automatic berths go to the top 4 teams in East/Middle and the top 2 teams in the West

-Wild-card berths go to the 2 teams with the next-best league records

-To allow each team to play at least five league games, I would put some interdivision games on the schedule. That facilitates a fairer comparison between the league records of the East/Middle and West teams for wild-card purposes. It also helps solve scheduling issues, as each team would have to find fewer non-league opponents. 

 

Here's roughly how the first round would look this year:

 

(E1) Ensworth

(WC 2) McCallie

 

(W2) Briarcrest

(E4) Baylor

 

(W1) MUS

(WC 1) Father Ryan

 

(E2) MBA

(E3) Brentwood Academy

 

We could skip the meaningless first-round games involving teams 9-11 and get straight to meaningful quarterfinal games. The TSSAA could also alternate which two-seed is forced to play the third seed from East/Middle. You might have issues with the specifics of how I laid out the bracket, but generally speaking this system looks better than what we have now. 

Edited October 25, 2013 by WesVLT

[owlbooster]

Given the 2 to 1 ratio of teams E/M to W, this is both fair and reasonable.....

Edited October 25, 2013 by owlbooster

[owlbooster]

The inter division play probably is not workable today  When they did this years ago, you only had 7 total teams - PJP, Briarcrest, St Benedict and Ensworth weren't in the mix.  As I remember, five league games were played.  I think the Nashville teams played everybody but had one game designated as non-league. The Memphis teams, CBHS & MUS,  played either Baylor or McCallie. It's a long way between Memphis and Chattanooga.  The travel was a pain, but the competition was stimulating.

Edited October 28, 2013 by owlbooster

[WesVLT]

The inter division play probably is not workable today When they did this years ago, you only had 7 total teams - PJP, Briarcrest, St Benedict and Ensworth weren't in the mix. As I remember, five league games were played. I think the Nashville teams played everybody but had one game designated as non-league. The Memphis teams, CBHS & MUS, played either Baylor or McCallie. It's a long way between Memphis and Chattanooga. The travel was a pain, but the competition was stimulating.

That's definitely a flaw of the plan. Ideally each team would only have to make one long trip, but I'm not sure how that'd work mathematically. It's a fun plan in theory but may be tough to execute.

[shakinthefat]

The inter division play probably is not workable today  When they did this years ago, you only had 7 total teams - PJP, Briarcrest, St Benedict and Ensworth weren't in the mix.  As I remember, five league games were played.  I think the Nashville teams played everybody but had one game designated as non-league. The Memphis teams, CBHS & MUS,  played either Baylor or McCallie. It's a long way between Memphis and Chattanooga.  The travel was a pain, but the competition was stimulating.

I think this plan could work, better than what is place now.

The TSSAA would like this plan too. They like the travel pain that DII schools feel.

"This will teach those DII schools we mean business when it comes to taking away public school players enrolling them and then allowing them to play football."

I doubt that there is a DII TSSAA representative that is sitting in their cubicle trying to come up with a different plan. Why would they?

[WesVLT]

I think this plan could work, better than what is place now.

The TSSAA would like this plan too. They like the travel pain that DII schools feel.

"This will teach those DII schools we mean business when it comes to taking away public school players enrolling them and then allowing them to play football."

I doubt that there is a DII TSSAA representative that is sitting in their cubicle trying to come up with a different plan. Why would they?

I agree that the TSSAA has shown little sympathy for DII schools' travel woes. That said, DII squads have traveled as far as Illinois, Florida and even Alaska to find competition. Perhaps one long in-state trip could replace a longer out-of-state journey on the schedule.