Last year’s sweeping changes to the FHSAA’s playoff system were welcome but, in my opinion, imperfect. The governing body’s board of directors put their seal of approval on proposed tweaks in their meeting on Monday, though, and I believe it’s an upgrade across the board.
The only item that wasn’t unanimously supported by the FHSAA from start to finish was the five-point increase for losses in every category. It was proposed on the basis that teams who schedule tougher opponents would be better rewarded for taking a loss, but I really don’t think it was necessary. I’m cool with it, but I don’t know that it’s perfect.
I would prefer a measure which was discussed that awards tier-based points for schools that play up because I believe it on its own would force scheduling to be more selective and less likely to end with big-time teams getting “cupcake” schedules. That measure won’t be added until at least 2019, however.
We really need the upcoming updates to game rescheduling methods, so I’m glad the FHSAA committed to making that happen. Hurricane Irma caused chaos for everybody’s schedules in a way I’d never experienced before and, while our schools were able to work things out when the time came to get something done, I think the storm showed us we had a need for some changes and may not have known the extent until it left town. Even if we don’t get another Irma-like storm in the near future, I’d rather we have clear, concise guidelines for rescheduling and not need them than need them again and not have them.
And then, there’s the field expansion. Classes 1A through 4A will have six-team playoff fields, with first-round byes for the top two seeds, so the extra week they got last postseason would now be used for games. It makes sense considering those teams are now considered “independents” and do not play in districts.
I wouldn’t say any of these rule changes affect our teams profoundly, like bumping the field up to six teams for all classes would have (Durant could have benefitted directly from that last season, having barely missed the cut), but they’re not likely to hurt the game, either.
I thought Strawberry Crest coach Ron Hawn brought up a fair point when he told me Monday afternoon getting rid of districts entirely would be Florida’s best bet. Though I doubt that will happen in the next two seasons, I agree that it’s probably the best way to ensure that our playoff system is always going to allow the very best teams in our state to make the cut. There’s something to be said about your team winning its district, sure, but it’s another thing entirely when that district champion is getting blown out in a playoff game against a much better opponent while solid teams that didn’t benefit from the scheduling process sit at home.
It’s progress being made in a relatively new system, and perhaps lessons learned from this year’s postseason play can be used to make it even better for our area teams and all others in 5A and up in 2019 and beyond. What matters now is that the FHSAA is taking steps in the right direction.