There is a new proposal out to change the by-law to 8 regular season games and expanding playoff to 512 teams.
Here is a link to the complete IHSA Football Playoff proposal
Here is a link to the complete IHSA Football Playoff proposal
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There is a new proposal out to change the by-law to 8 regular season games and expanding playoff to 512 teams.
There is a new proposal out to change the by-law to 8 regular season games and expanding playoff to 512 teams.
I do not know that answer but good question as there were 552 this year.What would be the cut off? Four wins or three? St. Joe's and Bishop McNamara get in and not Brother Rice? Doesn't seem fair. Strength of schedule has to come into play.
I think this is a bad idea.
I am not for or against the proposal but I don't get this logic. Other sports do it, it doesn't seem to turn baseball/basketball/volleyball games I have seen into preseason games.Bad idea. It turns the regular season games into all pre season games meaning nothing.
I would rather go back to 6 classes with less teams.
I would be in favor of all the teams not making the playoffs having their own separate bracket challenge.
Question: Is there any scenario that a potential state champion is being excluded in the current format?
In other words, What is the purpose of any change?
I am not for or against the proposal but I don't get this logic. Other sports do it, it doesn't seem to turn baseball/basketball/volleyball games I have seen into preseason games.
Never thought about it like that, but yeah, the playoffs and at least one more game in your life is a HUGE carrot.It means not only can players take a play or two off, now they can take 9 games off and lose nothing because they still make the playoffs.
It means not only can players take a play or two off, now they can take 9 games off and lose nothing because they still make the playoffs.
Anyways...the scheduling issue and conferences splitting apart is a state wide issue...it effects all levels and all sizes and locations. My fear is that we've yet to see any other proposal/idea outside of this one that addresses scheduling.
I definitely do not like this at all....yet like others have mentioned until we see/hear/read a better idea...I can tell you that the several administrators I've talked to about this are all in favor of this proposal.
The two best-run team tournaments in this state (hockey and lacrosse) let everyone in . . .
It all started and revolves around the whole scheduling issue.
FYI we've been talking about this proposal over on the Nation side for what 2-3 months now at least? Miss a little miss a lot
Anyways...the scheduling issue and conferences splitting apart is a state wide issue...it effects all levels and all sizes and locations. My fear is that we've yet to see any other proposal/idea outside of this one that addresses scheduling.
I definitely do not like this at all....yet like others have mentioned until we see/hear/read a better idea...I can tell you that the several administrators I've talked to about this are all in favor of this proposal.
The saddest part of all? No longer can the adults sit in a room and agree on anything anymore so when the system doesn't work you need to make a change.
The district system is the answer... I know it's tradition in Illinois but having 7a team qualify for the playoffs by playing 5,6,8a teams in conference makes no sense... you should be playing 7a teams all year to make or not make the 7a playoffs. Then there is no scheduling issue because you have to play who you have to play as determined by the state districting. And depending on number/size of districts in state you may have crossover games with neighboring districts to fill out schedule (i.e. - D1 plays D2, D3 plays D4, etc. or if numbers work out and you have 9 team districts then it's not necessary for crossovers. Yes some districts will be tougher than others and someone may get in from district 8 that sucks compared to a team from district 4 that didn't get in but such is life and it already happens now in the current system.
If a state like Texas can live without the tradition of conferences I think Illinois can.... and most states re-district every two years and there is some shifting of teams as schools enrollments increase or decrease enough to move classes. Many traditional rivalries will still occur and new ones will be created... bite the bullet and stop acting like everyone gets in is the only possible solution... fact is that's the lazy solution for the IHSA as they don't have to do the administrative work of districting every 2 years.
The district system is the answer... I know it's tradition in Illinois but having 7a team qualify for the playoffs by playing 5,6,8a teams in conference makes no sense... you should be playing 7a teams all year to make or not make the 7a playoffs. Then there is no scheduling issue because you have to play who you have to play as determined by the state districting. And depending on number/size of districts in state you may have crossover games with neighboring districts to fill out schedule (i.e. - D1 plays D2, D3 plays D4, etc. or if numbers work out and you have 10 team districts then it's not necessary for crossovers. Yes some districts will be tougher than others and someone may get in from district 8 that sucks compared to a team from district 4 that didn't get in but such is life and it already happens now in the current system.
If a state like Texas can live without the tradition of conferences I think Illinois can.... and most states re-district every two years and there is some shifting of teams as schools enrollments increase or decrease enough to move classes. Many traditional rivalries will still occur and new ones will be created... bite the bullet and stop acting like everyone gets in is the only possible solution... fact is that's the lazy solution for the IHSA as they don't have to do the administrative work of districting every 2 years.
Problem with districts is that it kills natural rivalries.. when a mock system was created, the Kankakee area teams were split up.. some lumped into the suburbs, others going southwest.. if I remember correctly, Herscher and Coal City were grouped with teams on the other side of Peoria and Bloomington, while not playing Peotone,Manteno..
Districts are not the answer for Illinois.
Maybe it works in Texas, where you have a population spread over a huge area and need to control for travel and transportation. But in Illinois, the population is centered around Chicago and travel isn't prohibitive. In fact, we just made a major step forward with 1-32 seeding in 7a and 8a.
And what that did was expose the flawed seeding.
Most other sports in the IHSA have broken free of the strict boundaries for regional and sectional play, allowing for overlap and spreading out the talent.
Currently we have a numbers problem in the sport: fewer individuals and fewer teams. Any change should be that to encourage more participation - of both individuals and teams.
Districts working in Texas doesn't mean the IHSA could make it work here, good idea or not. I see no issue with adding more teams to the playoffs and reducing non-conf games to one.