C'mon Mike. I talk regular season and you guys want to add post season to make yourselves feel better. I have given Salem every righteous kudo for what they have done in the post season.
My contention that you don't know who Salem actually is till the post season and that their path is far easier to get there and gives them a measurable advantage when they get there stands.
The point of taking a path is to make it to the finish. Salem is landlocked with decent competition in the Roanoke & Lynchburg areas, that's who they play. The point of the regular season is to get prepared for the playoffs. When Salem has gotten to that point they have stepped up period.
Lake Taylor & Dinwiddie don't necessarily play a tougher schedule considering they have more competitive teams they could possibly play. So why do you continue to bring up this tired argument? I already pointed out that Courtland doesn’t play any tougher schedule and you chose to ignore that. Where has Courtland been the last 25 years or so? Why did they drop Massaponax and Riverbend? Chancellor didn't drop Massaponax or Riverbend and they play an improved Louisa squad and Liberty Bealeton who has struggled the last couple of years, but have good potential.
Salem and Dinwiddie have toughened their schedules, why did Courtland weaken theirs? The point of a regular season path is to get prepared for the playoff journey and to be ready when the time comes.
Other strong programs have difficulty filling a competitive OOD schedule because a lot of teams don't want to play Salem, Dinwiddie, Lake Taylor, etc...
The district schedule weakens everybody's SOS so your argument is pointless. Unless the VHSL eliminates district mandates then everyone is stuck playing inferior competition.
Teams find the best OOD games they can and depending upon availability and willingness for other teams to accept, that's who they play. Salem offered to play a number of great teams in the NOVA, Richmond, and Tidewater markets for this cycle and Dinwiddie was able to do so. I remember Devils saying something similar about them basically playing anyone anywhere. They had similar difficulty filling their OOD schedule last cycle.
You also have to take into consideration gate, travel expenses, with playoff points. Salem isn't taking an easy road just to have a chance for the title. They play whoever is in front of them and when it comes time for the playoffs they do a really good job there too.
The point of a path is to make it to the end of the trail! So you don't like the journey, matters not to the team holding the trophy. No one cares who played the strongest schedule at the end of the season, who's playing in December and who's getting sized for rings? I'm out, have at it Shauntclair.