Quote:
Originally Posted by bisonlj
Don't tell that to any Hoosiers. Every team plays every game hard according to them. And there are still conference championships to earn. Proponents see the system as two different seasons. There is some truth to that and it is unique. I just think it is counter to what most people are used to. If it was such a good system you'd think at least one other state would consider it. I believe we are the only state with no playoff qualification. The same is true in all high school sports. There is some seeding in sports like wrestling and tennis but I think that's it.
|
Are there teams that refuse the playoffs and prefer to play games against traditional rivals? Or do their association rules forbid that, and make everyone finish their seasons once the playoffs begin? Are there consolation games? Do teams that have been knocked out get to arrange games while the playoffs are under way?
I thought it was weird to read of states where even a quarter or more of competitors qualified. Then reading here of Wisc. and it's about
half?! But
all in Ind.? The software on this board won't allow the adjectives I'd apply!
It's nuts to have this long, very variable length tail on a season. If they want more football or other sports, just let them have more of a regular season. That way they'd know a decent time in advance whether, when, and who they were playing (or officiating), and could in many cases arrange better games than playoff pairings would produce. Plus they could cut their travel. How's that in Indiana, where the random draw could mean many teams from the far corners of the state could play each other in every round? At least Ind.'s not that extended a state, but still....
Plus, these extended playoffs probably completely chop off the JV season.
AFAICT it shouldn't be that hard to arrange conferences in football that would fairly knock out 7 of 8 teams before playoffs begin. If you don't want to play in a conference big enough to do that, your school isn't interested enough in playoffs to qualify anyway. Adopt that in Wisc. and you get rid of 2 rounds of playoffs, easily enough to abolish the situation where you have to play a round during study hall and another round on the bus.
It's funny in the present environment to read in
Rocket Boys (reissued under the movie title,
October Sky) of a W. Va. undefeated varsity football team that didn't qualify for the championship in 1957 because they didn't play enough games against opponents from the same state. Apparently they played 2 opponents from another state (more convenient, I guess), and I forgot how many games total they played, but I'm figuring there might've been a 4 team playoff for the state title -- or maybe just a single pairing.