Strange by-product of the current playoff system

[Darth Backer]

I was reflecting today on how many teams may never win another section title until we change the current playoff system. Let's say a team is base D2. Under the current system, any years when you are actually good enough to win the big game, you are going to get moved up to D1. In the years in which you lose enough games to stay down, your team isn't good enough to win the title.

You've got to have enough down years where you get placed incorrectly and then make a run.

Lemoore comes to mind. They had a cluster of bad seasons, were placed in D3 and then the talent pool shot up so they made that run to back-to-back D2 title games.

I know in 2025 it's about to get a little weirder at the top with a second tier of D1 being put into place. The top 8 teams will play for a D1A title and #9-16 will play for D1AA. Not sure that I have the names correct.

[TeddyKGB]

so they are now going to have two D1 titles? that 1-8 9-16 format is reminiscent of the NCAAs and the other basketball tournament

[Sixtynine]

Whatever we do for playoffs I hope that it's a system where the biggest schools in the area are always placed in D1

It's so embarrassing when any Clovis school, or some of the big Bakersfield schools, willingly accept an invite to a lower division playoff.

I'd put Bullard football in that category when they "won the D2 title" (lol) in 2021

[izne1home]

Agreed. 

[CWClassof2007]

Whatever we do for playoffs I hope that it's a system where the biggest schools in the area are always placed in D1

It's so embarrassing when any Clovis school, or some of the big Bakersfield schools, willingly accept an invite to a lower division playoff.

I'd put Bullard football in that category when they "won the D2 title" (lol) in 2021

Or when Clovis East & Central baseball played against each other in the D2 championship in 2022. I believe Clovis & Clovis North were also in that bracket.

[Sixtynine]

Or when Clovis East & Central baseball played against each other in the D2 championship in 2022. I believe Clovis & Clovis North were also in that bracket.

You're correct.

That's embarrassing for all involved who accepted invites

[PipersPit4evr]

Yes its official, we will have Div1A and Div1AA, meaning Div 1 will field 16 teams. I am curious, could someone on here way smarter than me (and with more time) take last years playoff brackets and re-do them with this format? I am curious to see how or if this affects the remaining divisions and if it does, positively or negatively.

[TeddyKGB]

Yes its official, we will have Div1A and Div1AA

so the solution was to rename the problem?

[Darth Backer]

Yes its official, we will have Div1A and Div1AA, meaning Div 1 will field 16 teams. I am curious, could someone on here way smarter than me (and with more time) take last years playoff brackets and re-do them with this format? I am curious to see how or if this affects the remaining divisions and if it does, positively or negatively.

I believe this was part of the discussion when they announced it to the league reps and it had Hanford as the top seed in the D1AA bracket.

[Darth Backer]

Whatever we do for playoffs I hope that it's a system where the biggest schools in the area are always placed in D1

It's so embarrassing when any Clovis school, or some of the big Bakersfield schools, willingly accept an invite to a lower division playoff.

I'd put Bullard football in that category when they "won the D2 title" (lol) in 2021

We've been down this road a million times. No one wants McLane, Roosevelt and Fresno High playing up just because they have over 3,000 students. BIGGER schools is just a silly notion. CN has half the student bodies of those schools but no one in their right mind wants CN playing in D2 and those big enrollment schools playing D1...

McLane has over 3,000 kids with about 800 eligible.

We've got to get rid of the big school small school language. It's just silly in the central valley demographic.

[PipersPit4evr]

We've been down this road a million times. No one wants McLane, Roosevelt and Fresno High playing up just because they have over 3,000 students. BIGGER schools is just a silly notion. CN has half the student bodies of those schools but no one in their right mind wants CN playing in D2 and those big enrollment schools playing D1...

McLane has over 3,000 kids with about 800 eligible.

We've got to get rid of the big school small school language. It's just silly in the central valley demographic.

I actually agree with you on this. There are so many factors in our area. The only ones who disagree are the ones who haven't coached/played anywhere but TRAC schools.

[Cristobal]

I believe you will not be able to move down from your base division? If that's correct this may be what we have been looking for.

[PipersPit4evr]

I believe you will not be able to move down from your base division? If that's correct this may be what we have been looking for.

Not true. Still one up or down.

[Cristobal]

Still no good then, at least they are trying.

[PipersPit4evr]

Still no good then, at least they are trying.

Again, I'd like to see last years brackets re-placed with the 16 team D1 before I say it's no good. My gut feeling is it will help the mid level teams stay close to their base division.

[hardhitter23]

Same with like Sanger. They have the students to play (number wise) D1 but they dont have the athlete to compete D1 football.

[Underdog]

Again, I'd like to see last years brackets re-placed with the 16 team D1 before I say it's no good. My gut feeling is it will help the mid level teams stay close to their base division.

It seems this new system would have given Hanford and Sanger a real chance to compete for a title last year. Which should have realistically been the Div. 2 Title game.

I assume base divisions will be reset? As it sits schools like Clovis W, Clovis E are base D2.

[Sixtynine]

We've been down this road a million times. No one wants McLane, Roosevelt and Fresno High playing up just because they have over 3,000 students. BIGGER schools is just a silly notion. CN has half the student bodies of those schools but no one in their right mind wants CN playing in D2 and those big enrollment schools playing D1...

McLane has over 3,000 kids with about 800 eligible.

We've got to get rid of the big school small school language. It's just silly in the central valley demographic.

I probably worded my post wrong. I meant the TRAC schools of the world. I agree I don't want a Buchanan playing Mclane in a playoff game

[HS Harry]

Or when Clovis East & Central baseball played against each other in the D2 championship in 2022. I believe Clovis & Clovis North were also in that bracket.

You're correct.

That's embarrassing for all involved who accepted invites

Not to make any excuses for those schools having down years, but during that season the D1 Baseball Bracket only had (or allowed) an 8 team field.

[anthilllegend]

They may as well break each 16 team bracket into two 8 team brackets and hand out 12 Section Championship trophies.  Then, when the whining continues...break the 8 team brackets into 4 team brackets and give out 24 VC trophies.  This whole trend of bitching because "we can not win a trophy"...started with Fresno Unified, when the Clovis schools started to up the athletic ante.
FUSD...saw the work that was being put in, and wanted no part of it.  We've lost the will to rise-up (in this country). FUSD chose to let their schools drift and settle into comfortable levels of existence.  That's how you get a school of 2,000+ students into a D5 athletic level. You just keep lowering the bar...until you are able to jump it...then you feel good about yourself.  Under these new parameters...when a former D1 competitor (ala, Clovis Unified, Central Unified, Bakersfield or Bullard, etc.) play in a traditional D1 conference (all year) and finishes in 5th or 6th place...they have failed to meet the predetermined level of acceptance. That exact same team, that has underperformed, might now move down to lower level, and win a section championship.  Are they really "champions"...because, 3 weeks earlier...they were a complete failure. The Anthill realizes it's just not here in the valley (it's the whole state...hell, it's the whole nation).  Also, Clovis Unified should never play for a D2 title.  They were the initial 'bar raisers"...they built the schematic for elite success. They understand the values of a meritocracy.  The process of "climbing up" to claim something, far out ways the feeling of "falling into" something. Under the current system...we have a lot of "fallers"

The Anthilllegend       

[anthilllegend]