New to Tennessee....Need help understanding the playoffs

[Khall555]

3 hours ago, TrickyD said:

Still can’t get over this setup where you’re rewarded for losing with another game

Not all Districts are equal. 8AA before they went to 4 classifications had 8 teams (Macon, York, Cannon, Watertown, Livingston, DeKalb, Upperman, Smith) in it and 6 of them were legitimate State Championship quality some seasons. The adjoining District 7AA in the same Region was the worst in the state. The Regional Tournament was 3 blowouts and 1 close game. Then after the Regional Tournament the 2 remaining teams  won in the Sectional and made the State Tournament. 2 teams from that District played in the State Championship Game a couple of times. 3 of 4 State Champions came from that District and one year the Tournament was cancelled with 2 of them left in the final 4. 

Edited January 22, 2023 by Khall555

[tradertwo]

1 hour ago, TrickyD said:

I just don’t like being able to lose three games and still make it to state

IMO, it's the most logical format that you could have. You can take the position that you stated, and it makes perfect sense until you consider the alternative...either give the team who has suffered a loss the opportunity to advance with a win in the next round, or automatically advance a team who is weaker than the team who has a loss but is fortunate enough to be the best team in a bad district or region. Ultimately, you can't win if you're not good enough to be there in the first place, and allowing a good team the opportunity to put out a weaker team isn't a bad thing.

[tradertwo]

1 hour ago, Khall555 said:

Not all Districts are equal. 8AA before they went to 4 classifications had 8 teams (Macon, York, Cannon, Watertown, Livingston, DeKalb, Upperman, Smith) in it and 6 of them were legitimate State Championship quality some seasons. The adjoining District 7AA in the same Region was the worst in the state. The Regional Tournament was 3 blowouts and 1 close game. Then after the Regional Tournament the 2 remaining teams  won in the Sectional and made the State Tournament. 2 teams from that District played in the State Championship Game a couple of times. 3 of 4 State Champions came from that District and one year the Tournament was cancelled with 2 of them left in the final 4. 

That's more of the norm than the exception too...West places two teams in the championship round, and many (as often as not) times there have been three, four, or even five teams in some years with a legit shot at the title if they get hot. Nothing is completely "fair" other than the undisputable fact that whomever wins the gold ball has played their way to it, and won it on the floor.

[LadyCavsFan]

17 hours ago, TrickyD said:

Still can’t get over this setup where you’re rewarded for losing with another game

IMO this gives the best team the advantage of making the final.   Yes they can lose in a district/regional to a team they have beaten 3-4 times already and still make a final.  Sometimes the best two teams in the state are in the same district/region.  Lots of examples of teams in same district playing in final game.   If your goal is to get the best two teams in the final this is a great way.  

[pioneer42]

17 hours ago, tradertwo said:

That's more of the norm than the exception too...West places two teams in the championship round, and many (as often as not) times there have been three, four, or even five teams in some years with a legit shot at the title if they get hot. Nothing is completely "fair" other than the undisputable fact that whomever wins the gold ball has played their way to it, and won it on the floor.

Gibson County, Greenfield and TCA were all in the same Region a few years ago. All 3 were elite teams and won Gold Balls in 2018, 2019 and 2020. 2020 Gibson County and Greenfield were in semis at state when cancelled. All were in Region together and were loaded. The year Greenfield won the Title in 2018 they were upset in the District Championship by Gleason and therefore put them in the bracket with Gibson County in Region semis and it went to the buzzer with a Greenfield win. But all three were top 3-5 teams in state all three years. 

Edited January 23, 2023 by pioneer42

[LetsGoBrandon]

On 1/23/2023 at 11:33 AM, pioneer42 said:

Gibson County, Greenfield and TCA were all in the same Region a few years ago. All 3 were elite teams and won Gold Balls in 2018, 2019 and 2020. 2020 Gibson County and Greenfield were in semis at state when cancelled. All were in Region together and were loaded. The year Greenfield won the Title in 2018 they were upset in the District Championship by Gleason and therefore put them in the bracket with Gibson County in Region semis and it went to the buzzer with a Greenfield win. But all three were top 3-5 teams in state all three years. 

Good post. I remember watching all 3 play and on any given night, it was a toss-up. 

[pioneer42]

5 hours ago, LetsGoBrandon said:

Good post. I remember watching all 3 play and on any given night, it was a toss-up. 

Lot of people have never talked about it much but we were all in the same Region for three or four years and Greenfield, Gibson County and TCA in 2918, 2019 and 2020 respectively won Gold Balls with TCA winning in the private sector in 2020 and Greenfield and Gibson County winning the public in 2018 and 2019 and Gibson County and Greenfield in 2020 were sent home in semis like Westview in AA with Greenfield’ undefeated. So very possible one of us could have won it again in 2020. Kinda got a scenario this year in AA with Westview, Gibson County and Huntingdon all in the same District and very strong especially with Westview already having won it last year and undefeated this year.