You'll prob hate this idea but why not take every playoff qualifyers' playoff win percentage over a recent timeframe, say the last 4 years or so and rank each team per class for the playoffs that way. 8a is the top prize anyway so if you are Naz, Montini, JCA, etc.. then your regular season is against higher class opponents anyway so let teams play their way up into the higher class playoffs based on playoff success. If all teams are a little more evenly matched by talent, maybe it could reduce all the first round blow outs. And a school with little playoff success history like a Shepard, Reavis, Von Stuben, Taft, etc.. has a shot to win a title in a lower class instead of just being a tune up each year for the powerhouse teams like LWE, Rice or Mount Carmel. It would also create more parity in the earlier rounds by having 1st round 8A games like IC vs. Main South or Bmac vs. Naperville Central. It could even things out a bit using talent or success of the program as the playoff class determining factor instead of school population. Then if a team like IC makes it to the 8a playoffs but can't compete at the 8a level, adjust them down for next season's playoffs so you have programs moving up and down in playoff class all the time. Just an idea... without putting too much thought into it...