http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/varsity_letters/2007/10/25/knocking-on-the-playoff-door/ More news and insights from the high school sports scene Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:58:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/varsity_letters/2007/10/25/knocking-on-the-playoff-door/#comment-3242 Steve Fri, 26 Oct 2007 14:49:22 +0000 http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/varsity_letters/2007/10/25/knocking-on-the-playoff-door/#comment-3242 I have lived in many states including Ohio (graduate of Ellet). Most states have similiar playoff systems. The best one though that i have seen is (of all places) Iowa. In Iowa they threw all of the historical leagues out the window and went to 8 team districts based on class and proximity (which really kept most leagues in tact). That was 7 games in the district, the first 2 weeks are non-district games and you can use those to schedule old rivalries or out of district or out of state teams (my son played and they would schedule schools from Illinois and Missouri the 1st two weeks). The top two teams from each district then went on to state. No computers etc... it was all decided on the field. Districts were re-drawn every two years due to enrollments shifts but these were minimal, and the schedule of home/away flipped during these two years, so one year it 3 home 4 away games and the next year the opposite. Isn't it time to take away the computer and let the teams decide who is the best? I have lived in many states including Ohio (graduate of Ellet). Most states have similiar playoff systems. The best one though that i have seen is (of all places) Iowa. In Iowa they threw all of the historical leagues out the window and went to 8 team districts based on class and proximity (which really kept most leagues in tact). That was 7 games in the district, the first 2 weeks are non-district games and you can use those to schedule old rivalries or out of district or out of state teams (my son played and they would schedule schools from Illinois and Missouri the 1st two weeks). The top two teams from each district then went on to state. No computers etc… it was all decided on the field. Districts were re-drawn every two years due to enrollments shifts but these were minimal, and the schedule of home/away flipped during these two years, so one year it 3 home 4 away games and the next year the opposite. Isn’t it time to take away the computer and let the teams decide who is the best?

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