Playoff time....Explain how your do it State does it

[JRutledge]

I am just curious. For those that do not know I now live on the border of Illinois and Indiana. It has been interesting talking to officials across the two states how they do things.

I guess I have two questions. How do you get your playoff assignments? And what is the format of playoffs?

For example, in Illinois, we have 4 levels of playoffs in each class.

Regional
Sectional
Super-Sectional (usually not at a school, but often a college)
State Finals

Regionals
-Everyone plays in this and is seeded by either Sectional or

Sectional
-Regional title winners (4) play at this level

Super-Sectional
-One game to determine who plays for the semifinal of their particular class

State Finals
-Semifinals and Championship game (3rd Place games)

Officials are assigned up the latter. You do not work the next level without being assigned/worked the previous level. So a State Final official for that year works a Regional (Championship), Sectional (Semifinal Championship), Super-Sectional and State Finals (Work two games, Semifinal and/or Championship/3rd Place game).

It must be noted that when you work a State Finals, you are considered a State Final official when you work the two games, regardless if you work the actual title game.

We also have 4 classes. The Girls and Boys stagger their playoff starts. Each does a regional week at a different time.

1A/2A Girls
3A/4A Girls
1A/2A Boys
3A/4A Boys

So to make it clearer, next Monday is the start of Regionals for 3A/4A Boys and this weekend is the State Finals for 1A/2A Girls.

I probably gave a lot of information, but I would like to know what your state does and how you are assigned? As much detail as possible too would be nice.

Finally, the Girls Administrator for the IHSA assigns every official in every game as does the Boys Administrator. No associations have anything to do with assignments.

Peace

[sdoebler]

We have 1A-5A classifications

1A and 2A have districts and then regional tournaments with an eventual final 8 team state championship bracket.

3A Has districts and then a 32 team state championship bracket

4A and 5A go straight to a 48 team seeded bracket. The top 16 seeds all get a first round bye.

Boys and girls operate in the same way.

Assigning: This is my best understanding but I can not confirm 100% accuracy.

About 2 weeks before the end of the season we have a voting system. All coaches, officials, ADs, and assignors get to vote for up to 20 referees. The results of the voting are never made public but there is supposedly count number thresholds in order to work certain levels, great 8/final 4/state championship etc.

There is a committee of ~5 individuals that make the ultimate recommendations to the state board of who should work what games each round. The ultimate decision is up to the state association but they have tasked this committee with making recommendations.

District tournaments are assigned by the assignors for their respective leagues. All of our assignors, and there are a plethora of them, assign both boys and girls for their respective leagues so there is no dichotomy there.

Outside of or after districts the playoff decisions are made by the committee recommendations.

Random notes. You must qualify for playoffs by completing a mechanics and video test, attending monthly meetings, and be in good standing with the association. Officiate at least 12 varsity contests and 2 sub varsity contests throughout the season. Officiate 6 girls games, or 20% of your total schedule. You are supposed to be available for the duration of the playoffs or not apply to work. If you work the state tournament 5 years in a row you must take a year off.

All that I can think of right now but it seems like the process is always getting little tweaks year to year.

[#olderthanilook]

Class 1, 2, 3, 4DI, 4DII, 5 and 6

Sub State - all teams play
State bracket - consists of sub state champions

[The_Rookie]

Here on the Left Coast in the Golden Bear State, Playoffs are broken down as two separate tournaments:

1) Sectional, There are numerous geographic sections throughout the state and each holds a tournament. Officials assigned by a coordinator appointed by the commish.

2) State , North vs South ,state divided whereby the winners of each class would face off for the state championship. State Coordinator and their Committee make officials assignment. Coordinator appointed by CIF.

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by The_Rookie

Here on the Left Coast in the Golden Bear State, Playoffs are broken down as two separate tournaments:

1) Sectional, There are numerous geographic sections throughout the state and each holds a tournament. Officials assigned by a coordinator appointed by the commish.

2) State , North vs South ,state divided whereby the winners of each class would face off for the state championship. State Coordinator and their Committee make officials assignment. Coordinator appointed by CIF.

A little more detail:
Section playoffs is the first step. Teams qualify based upon regular season league play and some sections also use the maxpreps rankings for at-large qualifiers. Each Section does this stage a little differently. For example, some Sections have an Open division while others just stick with D1, D2, D3, etc. Each Section gets to send a certain number of teams on to Regionals. This is based upon how many schools are in the Section.

There are 13 Sections.
Following Sections, teams qualify for either NorCal or SoCal Regionals. At this stage the CIF central office takes over the tournament. It seeds the teams and makes the brackets. The winners of these brackets face each other in the State Finals, so each championship game is North v South. There are different levels for the schools to compete in: Open, D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, & D6. D6 may just end with the Regional Final and not have a State Final.

Officials: At the Sectional level the officials are handled by each Section. They are free to do this however they wish. Brackets can range from 32 teams, 16 teams, to only 8 or somewhere in between. I don't think that there are brackets bigger than 32 anymore, but the Southern Section used to have a couple of 48 team brackets a few years ago. Most Sections have the local area assignors cover the home games played in their territory during the early rounds. Once the teams reach the semifinals or Sectional Finals, the folks in the Section office put crews on the games who may involve officials from different local associations within the Section. For example, if a section has two associations during the season which break the territory up into North and South, those groups will cover the early games with their guys, but then could find themselves working on a crew with officials from the other group for the last round or two.

NorCals/SoCals: The local officials associations nominate a certain number of officials to the CIF office. The office then takes these officials and makes crews out of them from each Section. Most of the time these crews work Regional contests with teams from other sections, however once in a while a crew will see a team from their home section. The officials are told prior to the start of regionals how many early round contests they are pre-selected to work--1, 2, or 3. The CIF office staff makes this choice. The officials are then awarded Regional Finals based upon what the CIF staff observes.

State Finals:
The State Championship crews are selected from the Regional Final crews.

[Nevadaref]

Nevada

A relatively small population state, so the setup is fairly simple.

Teams are classified 4A, 3A, 2A, and 1A, with 4A being the largest.

Regional tournaments are the first stage. There are 3 Regions for the 4A and 2 for all other levels. There are two 4A Regions in the South (Vegas) and one in the North, while all other levels have one Northern Region and one Southern.

The Regional tournaments are only 8 teams and only 6 in a couple of cases at the smaller school levels.

Officials: There are four associations in the State. North, South, Central (very small), and East. Each of these associations has a Commissioner appointed by the State Office. The Commissioner handles the assignments, with some advice from the Executive Board of the local association, for the Regional stage. Each association and commissioner handles all of the games played within their regular season territory.

The State tournament consists of a final four teams for each of the four levels. Therefore, there are only State semi-final contests and State Finals.
For 1A, 2A, and 3A levels the winner and runner-up in the Regionals qualify for State. For 4A, the winner of each of the three Regions qualifies and one of the runners-up will get the 4th spot. In even years, the 4th spot goes to the Northern Region runner-up because the event is held in Reno. In odd years, the tourney is in Vegas and the two runners-up from those 4A regions play a game to determine the 4th qualifier for State.

To receive a medal the official must actually work a State Final, not a semi.
The State office creates a matrix which divides the officiating slots for the games among the four associations. Each commissioner then gets to fill those designated slots with officials from his area. The State tourney rotates between being held in Reno and Las Vegas each year. It has never been held anywhere else. All crews for the State games comprise of mixed crews with officials from the different associations. Usually the East and Central officials don't receive spots on 4A games.

[so cal lurker]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

There are 13 Sections.
Following Sections, teams qualify for either NorCal or SoCal Regionals. At this stage the CIF central office takes over the tournament. It seeds the teams and makes the brackets. The winners of these brackets face each other in the State Finals, so each championship game is North v South. There are different levels for the schools to compete in: Open, D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, & D6. D6 may just end with the Regional Final and not have a State Final.

How divisions are done may be different in CA than most places (at least Southern Section). Rather than using size of schools, they use a Byzantine formula based on the performance of the basketball team over the past two years. It’s two-thirds last year, and one-third the year before that. Each win or loss during the season gets points based on the division of the opponent and the quartile of that opponent in the division. And then there are bonus points for playoff games, again depending on level of playoffs. My understanding is this was put in, along with the open division, as a reaction to transfers and schools recruiti, which made size less relevant than it once was. (The open division puls the top 8 teams, as decided by a committee, regardless of division.)

[griblets]

Florida has 9 classifications, 1A thru 9A, primarily based on school population. 1A is smallest, and 9A is largest.

The path to win state is:
District (winner & runner-up advance)
Regional Quarter Final (5A-9A only)
Regional Semi Final (1A-9A)
Regional Final (winners advance to "State")
State Semi Final
State Final

1A thru 4A have 8 districts. 5A thru 9A have 16 districts. The top two teams from the season ending district tournaments advance to Regional. District winners host the first round vs. the runner up of the other district. Districts 1v2, 3v4, 5v6, 7v8, etc... It's possible that district opponents meet in the second round of their classification's tournament.

Genders are staggered. Girls begin one week earlier than boys. Last night was the first round of Regional play for boys, while the girls are playing Regional Finals tonight.

Officials work in local associations. Local associations submit a list of ranked playoff crews. My association is small, so we submit 7-8 playoff crews, while the association to our south submits 14+. FHSAA assigns games to associations. Sometimes FHSAA makes the specific crew assignment, and sometimes the association decides which crew goes to which game. Associations may not work a game for a school with which they are contracted to work the regular season, though sometimes FHSAA will allow a local association work a game between two local teams. Crews may not see the same team twice during the playoffs.

Evaluators observe games to assist FHSAA with crew assignments as the playoffs progress. Being on the #1 crew of your local association gives the best change to advance through Region and State, but it doesn't always guarantee games. I have worked a State Final on the #3 crew and #1 crew, while I've seen a #1 crew go no further than the first round.

On a somewhat related sad note, Stoneman Douglas girls basketball decided to forfeit their Regional game after the horrific shooting at their school that left one of their players fighting for her life.

[ODog]

Format
In Massachusetts, there are four divisions (I thru IV), boys and girls.
Teams must finish at least .500, or at least second in their league, to qualify for the state tournament. The state is divided into four sections (North, South, Central, West). Each sectional plays to a champion, creating the four state semifinalists (exactly like the NCAA/Final Four model).

Officials
Each section has its own postseason assignor, who bases his roster strictly on the recommendations of the regular-season assignors, who must submit a list of names for the boys side and the girls side. Most lists have the same names on both, with a few exceptions. Coaches’ input was eliminated as a criterion by the MIAA a few years ago, so unlike certain states, coaches have no impact on officials’ postseason prospects.

Assigning
From there, each assignor assigns as he sees fit. I can’t speak to how it works in other sections, so I’ll explain how it works in mine. Our section happens to conveniently be comprised of three distinct, clearly-delineated geographic areas. So the postseason assignments work off a matchup-based “formula”:
If teams from the same “area” square off, all three officials will be from that area.
If the teams are from different areas, there will be one official from each of the three areas, the third acting as the “neutral” official. In these matchups, the neutral official is always the R, the official from the home area the U2, the official from the visiting area the U1.

So, in our section at least, the more teams from your area that advance, the more opportunity for officials from your area to advance. There is also the general guideline that you are not to work a team more than once in the postseason.

State semis/finals
Once things reach the state-semifinal stage, North plays South, Central plays West. So let’s use Central-West as an example. There will be 8 semifinals (four divisions, boys/girls), so 24 officials. Twelve will be from Central, 12 from West, each game using split crews in a 2/1 ratio. I’m not sure how it’s determined which games get two Central officials and which two West.

The assignors for the four sections retain their duties for the state rounds, assigning all officials needed from their section. Alternates are also assigned for the state semis and finals, almost always from the area where the game is played, since nobody wants to travel too far to be the A.

For the state finals, the MIAA suddenly wants all-neutral crews. So the eight games are divvied up among the four sections, each assignor getting two to assign. Because of the desire for all-neutral crews, once again, the matchups determine the makeup. Therefore, if a North team is playing a West team in a particular state final, the crew will have to be from either Central or South, and so on. So at this stage, teams from “your” section advancing can be a bad thing. For example, if a team from your section makes the boys Division I state final, you are eliminated from having the chance to ref the boys Division I state final. But we’re talking state finals here, and only six officials from your section are going at all, so beggars can’t be choosers.

Execution
Again, I can only speak to how our sectional assignor handles things, but if you work a sectional final, you will not work a state semifinal. And if you work a state semifinal, you will not work a state final. And you will not work state finals in consecutive years. This is all done to promote opportunity and creates at least the possibility of new faces being rewarded each season. But I know some of the other sectional assignors don’t subscribe to that philosophy, as one individual from another section has worked at least three consecutive state finals, while another from another section just went back-to-back. Sending the same people year after year seems crazy to me when there are literally thousands of high school basketball officials in the state.

Officials in our section feel fortunate our postseason assignor has created all of those guiding principles to mix it up and give more people a shot once things reach the state level. I would have to imagine there is a sense of frustration and hopelessness among members of the sections where the same names get state finals year after year.

It’s far from a perfect system, but at least in my neck of the woods, it’s a seemingly fair and open process, once you get beyond (and get over, for many people) the lists submitted by the regular-season assignors.

[Pantherdreams]

3 Division A, AA, AAA (more A's are bigger)

Boys and Girls in each.

4 regions South West North East. Within each region their are 1 or 2 assigning zones with their own assignor.

PLayoffs

Round 1 - Regionals

Top 3 teams in each zone make it at each level. These teams meet in regional playoffs. South vs West, North vs East. Boys and girls alternate which year which region hosts.

In each division the top team in the hosting zone plays host to the other 3 teams. 2 vs 3 cross overs are elimination games on Friday night. Winners move onto semi's vs 1's on Saturday. After semis a championship and consolation (3rd place game) are played for seeding.

Officials for the regional tournaments are assigned by local assignor and zone Must be varsity rated officials, but selection is at discretion of the assignor. Varisty rating for playoff games can be obtained through test scores and formal evaluations at official evaluating tournaments.

Round 2 - Sectionals

In each division the winning team from each regional hosts a sectional. The 3rd place team remains at that sectional. 2nd place and 4th place team travel to opposite regional winner, with their 2 and 4 seeds travelling as well.

1 vs 4, 2 v3 single elimination on a Friday night. Winners meet on Saturday.

Officials for these games cannot be from assigning zones of teams involved. A crew chief (an assignor or university rated official) is sent with a group of officials to cover these 3 games. Based on performance in Friday games and the Saturday Matchup. Crew Chief will decide who does the Saturday game.

Round 3 - Championship

All sectional winners in all divisions and genders. Meet for the 6 championship games on the same Neutral site (university/pro court) the following weekend. Schedule fluctuates but generally 2 championships on Friday 4 on Saturday.

Recommendations from Crew CHief and Assignors based on previous weekend and season body of work decide the crews for each final. At this stage they try to avoid having officials from zones being represented on those games but not always possible. Officials from the same assigning zone cannot be put together.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Pantherdreams

3 Division A, AA, AAA (more A's are bigger).

Odd. Here in Connecticut, LL schools are larger than L schools.

[sdoebler]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Odd. Here in Connecticut, LL schools are larger than L schools.

Isn't that the same then? More letters, larger

[ODog]

Originally Posted by sdoebler

Isn't that the same then? More letters, larger

Sure is -- and Conn. doesn't even use letters anymore anyway -- but that post count doesn't just happen without A LOT like the above.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by sdoebler

Isn't that the same then? More letters, larger

Sorry. Read it too fast, and too wrong.