As of now, the PIAA won't be going to six classes

[Relayer]

At least in the near future. However, the idea is still very much on the table.

http://highschoolsports.pennlive.co...sifications-but-it-also-could-stay-with-four/

 

[wcburrs87]

Hard to have change when all people care about is their own agendas.

 

[Stalker]

Oh joy, the possibility of seeing essentially a AAAA playing a AA (in other state playoff formats) is alive and kickin in good ole progressive PA. Yippee! Where's my horse?

Oh well, I guess we should be thankful a few areas of the state have actually discovered the forward pass.

Thanks Relayer (that's what they said the last time) and amen Huck.

 

[wcburrs87]

Stalk, what do you mean by a 4A playing a 2A?

 

[not_a_fan]

Gotta get this done in my opinion. Make it work with six & cut the number of teams making the playoffs so the season doesn't go until Christmas. In D1 AAAA, there's no reason for a 6-4 team to make the playoffs, it waters down the accomplishment. Adding 2 more classifications will allow for the best 50 or so teams in the state to duke it out.

 

[Relayer]

I wouldn't complain about a 6-4 team making the playoffs in D1. The bigger problem is 1-8 teams from the PCL making the playoffs, or 3-6 teams from the WPIAL.

 

[wcburrs87]

I wouldn't complain about a 6-4 team making the playoffs in D1. The bigger problem is 1-8 teams from the PCL making the playoffs, or 3-6 teams from the WPIAL.

The PCL playoffs really aren't the problem. Those games are needed to fill the weeks.

Furthermore, in D-1 it's not inconceivable for a 6-4 team to be stronger than a 9-1 team. Strength of schedule sometimes plays apart here. The D-1 point system can reward teams who schedule lightly. Very easy to manipulate the system if you have someone savvy setting the schedule.

Lastly, I may have missed it, but I haven't read anything about less teams in the playoffs. If they drop a week I thought I saw it would be at the expense of either one scrimmage or just a 9-week RS season instead of ten weeks.

 

[Stalker]

Hello Huck. What I mean is in some other states, using the extreme example of North Penn (1861 males) vs Oxford (502) in the playoffs, is such a huge gap-difference, that if played in other states using the same format it would encompass multiple classifications. Our classification system becomes farcical knowing the other classifications are broken down as follows.
1A 1-174 Difference = 173
2A 175-299 Difference = 124
3A 300-492 Difference = 192
4A 493..... Difference = 1359....using North Penn as an example
The PIAA's breakdown of the number of schools in each classification, 1A-142, 2A-143, 3A-146, 4A-148, suggests their priority was simplicity, expediency. From an earlier post I thought this was overly simplistic, allowing the tail to wag the dog so to speak.

Relayer's e.g. above shows this force feeding-fitting from another perspective. From the PIAA's point of view "we need to fill these playoff brackets dammit!"
Damn those torpedos........

 

[ptomaselli]

I'm surprised this won't make it. Wouldn't 6 classes mean more playoff games and therefore more money for the PIAA?

 

[Relayer]

What are the WPIAL thoughts on this? Right now they only have 24 AAAA teams and 16 qualify, hence why 3-6 teams get in. They won't be able to fill 16 team fields with 6 classes unless everyone makes the playoffs.

Huck, I agree about D1 with the scheduling. However, conference imbalance plays the bigger part. It's so uneven in the SOL when they stack one conference with all the best teams. I'm glad they are switching things up next year. Truman flirted with the playoffs all season last year. They wouldn't have sniffed the playoffs in the National Conference.

 

[tulla]

Re: the PCL. I get the absurdity of having almost every team in the league qualifying for the league playoffs--end every single one of the teams in 4A--but it's also true that since the PCL entered the PIAA the teams that have come out of the PCL playoffs have done very well.

 

[Relayer]

I understand that tulla. My point to not-a-fan is District 1 at the 4A level is difficult to qualify for playoffs compared to other districts around the state. I could have substituted D2 for the PCL where Holy Cross went 1-9 and still made the post-season. Last year's O'Hara team was the first example to pop in my mind.

One of things that makes the regular season great in D1 is that every game is critical towards making the post-season. It makes the last couple weeks a lot of fun. The same holds true in D11. Those schools in the South Division are competing with schools up north for the subregion and there's clearly not a balance of power.

 

[RoverNation05]

I actually think the MVC-LVC merger was driven by trying to balance the schedules more so that the MVC schools have to play two crossovers against the LVC schools. It sucks that Easton can't go out and schedule the likes of Pennsbury, O'Hara, Altoona, CB West with an open date as they have in years past, but I partly see the logic.

Of the two 6 class options, which do people prefer? I think Super 700 sounds good until you break down which schools actually fall where. It basically eliminates all of D7 at the 6A level, with only North Allegheny , Butler, and Seneca Valley making the cut, turns 4A into Erie Cathedral Prep's coronation every year, and does the same for Bishop McDevitt in 3A. The straight 6 class split still has a weak 6A D7, but at least adds PCC, and the powerhouse 3A schools don't get spread quite as thin across 5A through 3A.

 

[IAdelco]

I think one of the main sticking points as to why the PIAA is having difficulty passing this rule is the WPIAL. If they go to 6 classifications they may lose the use of Heinz Field for playoff games. There is no way they want that to happen. Definitely an obstacle.

 

[RoverNation05]

If they go to six classes, I don't see how you can have WPIAL playoffs at the 6A level, there won't be enough teams.

 

[wcburrs87]

Six classes could also lead to significant changes in the PCL, too.

 

[not_a_fan]

I wouldn't complain about a 6-4 team making the playoffs in D1. The bigger problem is 1-8 teams from the PCL making the playoffs, or 3-6 teams from the WPIAL.

I think the difference is that in the PCL and WPIAL, they have less teams to fill out the opening of the playoffs. Remember the D1 AAAA Champion plays in the State Semi-Final. The PCL and WPIAL in AAAA have to play other districts in order to reach the semi-finals. My beef isn't with the 6-4 teams getting in. It's that the system encourages it. You play some lousy competition and get points simply b/c they are AAAA. There are some big enrollment schools that aren't very good and others that are.

I have mentioned before on this message board that I think the system should include the power points, the Born Power Index, and then take the teams in the mix to a seeding committee to compare resumes. (Sort of like NCAA Tournament style) There will still be snubs and teams who feel they belong but at least if you use multiple criteria your less likely to get it wrong. The points system now isn't very good as the only way to determine the field.