Random Thoughts: expanded playoffs

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

This week’s edition of Random Thoughts centers around the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s expanded football playoff format, reaction by coaches, Western Buckeye League football coaches and the College Football Playoffs.

Expanded playoffs

Yes, I know it’s baseball, softball, track and tennis season, but I’m going to focus on football today.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association announced last Thursday that the football playoffs would expand from the previously announced 12 teams to 16 teams per region, effective with the 2021 season.

That means 448 of just over 700 football playing schools will qualify for the postseason.

To get an idea of what the field could look like, I went back to the 2019 season and looked Division VII, Region 26. Out of the top 16 teams, only two had losing records – No. 15 seed Monroeville (3-7) and No. 16 seed Crestline (4-6). Crestview finished 5-5 that season and as the No. 11 seed would have traveled to play No. 6 seed Arlington (7-3).

In Division IV, Region 14, no teams had a losing record. In fact, Bryan was the only team with a non-winning record (5-5) and the Golden Bears would have played at No. 1 seed Keyston, while Van Wert (6-4) would have been the No. 15 seed and would have played at No. 2 seed Wauseon (8-2).

Losing records

Yes, teams with sub-.500 records are going to get into the playoffs with this format. Personally, I’m not a big fan of that, but that’s the way it is.

I know there was chatter of 0-10 teams getting into the playoffs but I think that will be extremely rare.

10-0 teams

There have been cases of teams finishing 10-0 not getting into the playoffs. It happened to Northwood (Division V, Region 18) in 2019. I’m sorry, but if you finished 10-0 and didn’t qualify for the postseason, that means it’s time to look at your schedule.

This isn’t meant to knock anyone but in the case of Northwood, there were six Division VI and VII schools on the schedule. That means they played down, not up. Nothing can be done about conference games, but the non-conference schedule is a different story.

Coaches

The day after the announcement of the expanded playoff format, the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association issued a statement voicing displeasure with the decision.

“The OHSFCA worked over two years to create a viable expansion of the playoff system,” the statement read. “The OHSFCA proposed the playoff expansion to 12 teams in January of 2020. The OHSAA approved this expansion in the spring of 2020 for the 2021 season.”

“We are extremely disappointed in yesterday’s vote by the OHSAA without consulting the OHSFCA. It is abundantly clear that this decision is financially motivated.”

It is somewhat curious that the Ohio High School Athletic Association seemingly and suddenly changed course and voted to expand the playoff field again.

What’s the big deal?

Many people will point out that teams in all other OHSAA sanctioned sports get automatic bids to the postseason, so why not football too?

Football is different. It’s hard to explain but it just feels like football playoff spots are to be coveted, something special. Judging from some of the first round scores I sometimes think eight teams per region is too many.

While one can easily argue the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association’s statement is more about not being consulted about the latest expansion, it also shows the group of coaches doesn’t like the idea of 16 teams per region.

Wait

This is just my opinion, but I think the OHSAA should have waited on another playoff expansion. Why not wait a couple of years to see how the field of 12 goes before expanding yet again?

WBL coaches

When the 2021 season kicks off in August, three of 10 Western Buckeye League schools will have new coaches.

Doug Frye and Kevin Kline recently announced they were stepping down at St. Marys Memorial and Defiance respectively and on Monday, Kenton head coach Brent Fackler announced he’s calling it quits.

These three schools are going to have to hurry to find new coaches, but I’m guessing no new hires will be done until next month.

College Football Playoff

There’s more chatter about expanding the College Football Playoff to six, eight, 12 or 16 teams.

Six or eight teams appear to be the most likely scenario. Six teams means the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds would get a first round bye. It could also be structured so each of the Power 5 conference champions get an automatic bid, leaving one at-large spot. Notre Dame could be in a tough spot if that happens, simply because the SEC runner-up may actually have a better case for a playoff spot.

Eight teams seems like too many. Why? Think back to last season when many fans admitted the No. 3 and No. 4 teams stood no shot of winning the national title. If that’s the case, why would teams 5-8 have any better shot?

Regardless, a change is coming at some point.

If you have thoughts on any of the above points, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com.