So I decided to have a little fun with Class 6...

[Virginia HS Football Fan]

Hi all.

*THESE ARE NOT THE VHSL PLAYOFF BRACKETS.*

Also, this is a long post, so please read to the end and let me know what you would think if this happened (please don't complain about travel since I know some of you complain if you have to drive 15 minutes for a game).

I decided to have some fun with Class 6. I've come up with some creative things before (ex. doing a statewide district setup based on enrollment and geography), but I wanted to try something new since the playoff brackets were released today.

And based on some posters' thoughts (those that devalue district championships, those that think fewer games should be played, those that think the playoffs are too long, and those that think Freedom and Highland Springs should play the first game of the season, call it the State Championship, and have that be it and nobody else has to have a season because games don't matter), I decided to come up with an alternative playoff format where I eliminate regions (since if they don't care about district titles, then who needs regional championships right?), and came up with two brackets...a statewide 32-team bracket and (for the "there should be fewer playoff games" crowd), a statewide 16-team bracket.

I did this based solely on power points. There were tiebreakers which I broke based on overall record, head-to-head, and record against common opponents. There was one three-team tie for spots 30-32 (at 26.00 points) and since all three teams did not play each other, George Marshall got the 30 Seed based on their overall record followed by Potomac at 31 based on their head-to-head win over Woodbridge which grabbed the last playoff spot at 32.

Some interesting notes in my 32 Team bracket (remember, there are no regions in this little experiment)

Regional Breakdown of teams based on their current regions
A) 6 Teams (Western Branch and Cosby did not make this bracket but made the VHSL bracket)
B) 9 Teams (Woodbridge made this bracket, but not the VHSL bracket)
C) 7 Teams (West Potomac did not make this bracket but made the VHSL bracket)
D) 10 Teams (Chantilly and George Marshall made this bracket, but not the VHSL bracket)

Best Record - 10-0 (4 Teams)
Worst Record - 4-6 (2 Teams)

And yes, everyone's beloved 1) Highland Springs vs. 3) Freedom (PW)is preserved for the State Title Game if they win out in this bracketed scenario. Also the same in the 16 Team bracket.

Here's the 32 Team bracket:

1) Highland Springs (36.60)
32) Woobridge (26.00

17) Herndon (30.50)
16) Oscar Smith (31.00)
--
9) South County (33.00)
24) Fairfax (27.20)

25) Landstown (26.70)
8) Manchester (33.30)
--
5) James Madison (34.80)
28) Mount Vernon (26.40)

21) Thomas Edison (28.40)
12) Colonial Forge (32.20*)
--
13) McLean (32.20)
20) Patriot (28.80)

29) Chantilly (26.30)
4) Mountain View (35.00)
--
3) Freedom (PW) (35.11)
30) George Marshall (26.00*)

19) Westfield (29.30)
14) Glen Allen (31.80)
--
11) Lake Braddock (32.30)
22) Forest Park (28.30)

27) Langley (26.60)
6) South Lakes (34.40)
--
7) Battlefield (33.40)
26) Hayfield (26.60*)

23) Yorktown (27.40)
10) Washington-Liberty (32.90)
--
15) West Springfield (31.00*)
18) Gainesville (29.80)

31) Potomac (26.00**)
2) Thomas Dale (36.00)

Now to my 16 Team statewide bracket.

A couple of notes in my 16 Team bracket (remember, there are no regions in this as well)

Regional Breakdown of teams based on their current regions
A) 5 Teams
B) 4 Teams
C) 3 Teams
D) 4 Teams

Best Record - 10-0 (4 Teams)
Worst Record - 7-3 (1 Team)

Here is the 16 Team bracket:

1) Highland Springs (36.60)
16) Oscar Smith (31.00)

9) South County (33.00)
8) Manchester (33.30)
--
5) James Madison (34.80)
12) Colonial Forge (32.20*)

13) McLean (32.20)
4) Mountain View (35.00)
--
3) Freedom (PW) (35.11)
14) Glen Allen (31.80)

11) Lake Braddock (32.30)
6) South Lakes (34.40)
--
7) Battlefield (33.40)
10) Washington-Liberty (32.90)

15) West Springfield (31.00*)
2) Thomas Dale (36.00)

Let me know what you think. Quite the gauntlet for many of these teams no matter the bracket.

 

[CountryClubJoesSecretAlias]

I like this format. This is basically how NC does their regions -- East and West. I think 32 is too many, but with 4 classes I guess it's understandable.

Then instead of power points, you have RPI, and conference champions automatically get the higher seeds. In other words, you might be top 10 in RPI, but you can't leap frog anyone that won their conference.

 

[CountryClubJoesSecretAlias]

VA is different, though, I feel like most of your population is in NoVa, Richmond and Chesapeake/VA Beach? I don't know how you'd do that...But it does make for some interesting match ups.

 

[falcettik]

I love this-this is exactly the way a state level tournament should be run (disallowing for the two largest factors that currently stop your idea from becoming reality-travel and gate receipts, as you mention). And definitely go with 32. Using only 16 keeps too many very good teams out and only serves to bring us back to the way it was two decades ago when very deserving teams were left out. Why do I say that? Because leaving a 9-1 or 8-2 team out because they had one very bad game or because their schedule is levels more difficult than other areas/districts with much weaker competition is just wrong, IMO. And, lest someone bring this up, forget district champions automatically getting in-we all know the difference in district quality is huge.

 

[cutnjump]

I love this-this is exactly the way a state level tournament should be run (disallowing for the two largest factors that currently stop your idea from becoming reality-travel and gate receipts, as you mention). And definitely go with 32. Using only 16 keeps too many very good teams out and only serves to bring us back to the way it was two decades ago when very deserving teams were left out. Why do I say that? Because leaving a 9-1 or 8-2 team out because they had one very bad game or because their schedule is levels more difficult than other areas/districts with much weaker competition is just wrong, IMO. And, lest someone bring this up, forget district champions automatically getting in-we all know the difference in district quality is huge.

I think your argument for 32 has merit in the upper classifications(6 and maybe 5) with heavily populated areas(NOVA, 757 and Richmond) that have a lot of teams with good records. I am not so sure 16 is not better for the lower classes. A lot of .500 or lower teams and even some slightly better that the suspect quality of their schedules really calls into question the quality of their record. I think it will be interesting to note game scores, both point differentials and how many upsets by 5(really seeds 6-8) or lower seeds occur. I also like the idea of statewide seeding but, can see a lot of debate about and adequate system to seed teams statewide as well as the always present issues of travel and geographic distribution.

 

[TDKLIGHTSOUT]

I love this-this is exactly the way a state level tournament should be run (disallowing for the two largest factors that currently stop your idea from becoming reality-travel and gate receipts, as you mention). And definitely go with 32. Using only 16 keeps too many very good teams out and only serves to bring us back to the way it was two decades ago when very deserving teams were left out. Why do I say that? Because leaving a 9-1 or 8-2 team out because they had one very bad game or because their schedule is levels more difficult than other areas/districts with much weaker competition is just wrong, IMO. And, lest someone bring this up, forget district champions automatically getting in-we all know the difference in district quality is huge.

The old system was better. Sometimes a 9-1 or 8-2 team would miss out but as long as a under 500 team didn't make it I am cool with that. Less playoff teams leads to a better regular season. Every game should matter.

 

[falcettik]

The old system was better. Sometimes a 9-1 or 8-2 team would miss out but as long as a under 500 team didn't make it I am cool with that. Less playoff teams leads to a better regular season. Every game should matter.

I do agree that teams with records like 1-9 or 2-8 should not be included. And as cutnjump said, perhaps the number qualifying has to be adjusted per classification. The only solution to teams with very poor records not being included to get a balanced bracket is to have byes for the top rated teams, which I am fine with, but I hear (anecdotally) that some coaches dislike having a bye week. I grew up in a state (long time ago) that did just this. If you weren't .500 or better you did not get in and the bracket was set accordingly. Sometime after I moved away they morphed it to .400 as the cut off. A lot more first round blowouts, but it worked ok overall.

 

[VolNation85]

Hi all.

*THESE ARE NOT THE VHSL PLAYOFF BRACKETS.*

Also, this is a long post, so please read to the end and let me know what you would think if this happened (please don't complain about travel since I know some of you complain if you have to drive 15 minutes for a game).

I decided to have some fun with Class 6. I've come up with some creative things before (ex. doing a statewide district setup based on enrollment and geography), but I wanted to try something new since the playoff brackets were released today.

And based on some posters' thoughts (those that devalue district championships, those that think fewer games should be played, those that think the playoffs are too long, and those that think Freedom and Highland Springs should play the first game of the season, call it the State Championship, and have that be it and nobody else has to have a season because games don't matter), I decided to come up with an alternative playoff format where I eliminate regions (since if they don't care about district titles, then who needs regional championships right?), and came up with two brackets...a statewide 32-team bracket and (for the "there should be fewer playoff games" crowd), a statewide 16-team bracket.

I did this based solely on power points. There were tiebreakers which I broke based on overall record, head-to-head, and record against common opponents. There was one three-team tie for spots 30-32 (at 26.00 points) and since all three teams did not play each other, George Marshall got the 30 Seed based on their overall record followed by Potomac at 31 based on their head-to-head win over Woodbridge which grabbed the last playoff spot at 32.

Some interesting notes in my 32 Team bracket (remember, there are no regions in this little experiment)

Regional Breakdown of teams based on their current regions
A) 6 Teams (Western Branch and Cosby did not make this bracket but made the VHSL bracket)
B) 9 Teams (Woodbridge made this bracket, but not the VHSL bracket)
C) 7 Teams (West Potomac did not make this bracket but made the VHSL bracket)
D) 10 Teams (Chantilly and George Marshall made this bracket, but not the VHSL bracket)

Best Record - 10-0 (4 Teams)
Worst Record - 4-6 (2 Teams)

And yes, everyone's beloved 1) Highland Springs vs. 3) Freedom (PW)is preserved for the State Title Game if they win out in this bracketed scenario. Also the same in the 16 Team bracket.

Here's the 32 Team bracket:

1) Highland Springs (36.60)
32) Woobridge (26.00

17) Herndon (30.50)
16) Oscar Smith (31.00)
--
9) South County (33.00)
24) Fairfax (27.20)

25) Landstown (26.70)
8) Manchester (33.30)
--
5) James Madison (34.80)
28) Mount Vernon (26.40)

21) Thomas Edison (28.40)
12) Colonial Forge (32.20*)
--
13) McLean (32.20)
20) Patriot (28.80)

29) Chantilly (26.30)
4) Mountain View (35.00)
--
3) Freedom (PW) (35.11)
30) George Marshall (26.00*)

19) Westfield (29.30)
14) Glen Allen (31.80)
--
11) Lake Braddock (32.30)
22) Forest Park (28.30)

27) Langley (26.60)
6) South Lakes (34.40)
--
7) Battlefield (33.40)
26) Hayfield (26.60*)

23) Yorktown (27.40)
10) Washington-Liberty (32.90)
--
15) West Springfield (31.00*)
18) Gainesville (29.80)

31) Potomac (26.00**)
2) Thomas Dale (36.00)

Now to my 16 Team statewide bracket.

A couple of notes in my 16 Team bracket (remember, there are no regions in this as well)

Regional Breakdown of teams based on their current regions
A) 5 Teams
B) 4 Teams
C) 3 Teams
D) 4 Teams

Best Record - 10-0 (4 Teams)
Worst Record - 7-3 (1 Team)

Here is the 16 Team bracket:

1) Highland Springs (36.60)
16) Oscar Smith (31.00)

9) South County (33.00)
8) Manchester (33.30)
--
5) James Madison (34.80)
12) Colonial Forge (32.20*)

13) McLean (32.20)
4) Mountain View (35.00)
--
3) Freedom (PW) (35.11)
14) Glen Allen (31.80)

11) Lake Braddock (32.30)
6) South Lakes (34.40)
--
7) Battlefield (33.40)
10) Washington-Liberty (32.90)

15) West Springfield (31.00*)
2) Thomas Dale (36.00)

Let me know what you think. Quite the gauntlet for many of these teams no matter the bracket.

This is great! Georgia does something similar where they take the top 4 teams from their 8 regions and seed them 1-4 based on regular season. The top four teams from Region 1 are paired against the top four teams from region 4, Regions 2 & 3 are paired, regions 5 & 8 are paired, regions 6 & 7 are paired. For example The #1 seed from Region 1 plays the #4 seed from region 4. So and so forth. There are no "region playoffs", it's a true state playoff tournament.

I have no idea how they determine seeding in Georgia though.

 

[VolNation85]

VA is different, though, I feel like most of your population is in NoVa, Richmond and Chesapeake/VA Beach? I don't know how you'd do that...But it does make for some interesting match ups.

This format was for Class which, all off the Class 6 schools are in those 3 regions. The majority of the class 5 schools are in those regions as well but the population gets more sparse for the Class 1-4 schools.