I have a simple rule when it comes to the Illinois High School Association’s football state playoff system: Rant and rave all you want until the games begin, then the focus should be on the players and teams involved.
With the games more than a week away, here are some suggestions about how to fix what’s broken.
Currently, playoff brackets take into account a team’s record and location.
That means the same schools play each other year in and year out, including teams from the same conference.
* Let teams fall where they may in a seeding system.
“You’ll never be able to get the perfect playoff system, but at least with a true 16- or 32-team seeding you have a chance to get the best possible teams to a state championship,” Sacred Heart-Griffin coach Ken Leonard said. “I’m also not a big fan of playing basically the same teams every year in the state playoffs, and a true seeding would at least change things up a bit.”
* Move the state finals up a week. There’s a better chance of bigger crowds, and doing so would allow athletes more time to prepare for winter sports.
* Reward high seeds when it comes to hosting.
The current system for determining a host team, according to the IHSA’s Web site: “In the first round, the higher seed hosts the game. In subsequent rounds, the school that has hosted fewer times during the current playoff series hosts the game.”
That means if a 9-0 top seed has hosted more playoff games than a 5-4 team, and both make the semifinals, the 5-4 team hosts. Throw out that rule for the semifinals and let the higher seed host.
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* I remember when first-round games were played on Wednesdays, a practice stopped mainly because of safety issues, which is understandable. Still, our neighbors in Iowa have Wednesday games without a significant increase in injuries. Wednesdays were special playoff days.