Post by coachinghopeful on Dec 15, 2008 1:02:22 GMT -6
A thread on another site got me thinking. Now, this is all my own opinion and ramblings. It's not an official proposal in any way, but let me know what you think of this...
Just to review:
If you play for a TN State Championship in DI you play 15 games.
If you play for a NCAA National Title DI FBS; you play 14 games at most. Some might play 1 less.
I personally would like to see less High Schools teams in the playoffs and Bowl Games make a comeback.
It's absolutely "crazy" that teams with a losing record make the playoffs every year.
Thank you for your suggestion but that won't happen,
T$$AA.
I wish there would be a rule in place where you need to finish at least .500 and in the top half of their conference to qualify for the playoffs. It's disgusting that you have teams go 6-4 or even 5-5 and sit at home because they're 5th in their conference, when a team can finish 1-9 and make it under the old system because they get the 4th seed in a 5 team conference (mathematically possible for the #2 seed there to go 3-7 or even 2-8 and get to host!).
I still don't completely understand the way they're going to divide things up into 6 classes for the playoffs in 2009, but I suspect we'll see more of the same. It's sad, really.
It's obvious the playoffs should be reformed beyond what was done this year. The first necessary reform, as I see it, would be requiring that teams have at least a .500 record overall AS WELL AS in conference play to qualify for a playoff spot. If you're in a 5 or 6 team conference and you only win 2 games all year by beating your conference cellar, sorry. You're staying at home. This would cut the playoffs way down, probably by 2 rounds, and it might require that some conference champs get first round byes, but it would also insure that getting there really means something and a bunch of traditional powers don't get a creampuff to embarass in the 1st round every year.
The second part of this proposal is to revive the old "bowl game" format that once had a prestigious tradition in TN high school football but is now merely an anomoly, seldom played unless a couple of .500+ teams who didn't make the playoffs feel like strapping on pads one last time.
The new bowl game system would work like this:
One week after the championship games, let all the schools who finished .500 or better set up individual "bowl" games against teams from in or out of state, with a big chunk of the net profits (say 20%) shared with the rest of the TSSAA. That way the playoffs aren't cheapened and you still get to recoup some of the revenue that would be lost from eliminating those absurd 10-0 vs 1-9 matchups in the opening round. It would also give regional powers or old rivals with scheduling conflicts a chance to finally face off.
To recap, the benefits are many:
1. The prestige of the playoffs is protected and reinforced. All the schools with losing records have made the TN HS football playoffs a joke for about 20 years now!
2. It actually shortens the season for the teams who make it to the championship game, allowing their kids more time to focus on academics and other sports.
3. The addition of bowl games after the postseason would recoup the revenue lost by eliminating losing teams and weak matchups from the playoffs.
4. The ability to actively select teams for these games based on marketing concerns, rather than relying on a seeding formula, would create more exciting and profitable matchups that would inject more money into the schools and communities than many of the games played in the first round under the current playoff system. It also ensures that teams who don't get to play during a 10 game season but have successful years get to meet.
5. Creating these more compelling postseason matchups would be good for the long term growth of Tennessee high school football by raising its profile and interest among fans and players. It would also provide many teams with momentum towards the next year.
6. Commercial sponsorship and televising of these games would also raise the profile of high school football and bring in added revenue.
7. More players would get a chance to go out with a win that means something, instead of their final game being a loss in the playoffs.
8. Revenue sharing from the bowl games means that every team in the TSSAA would benefit from this system.
9. Participation in the bowl games would be voluntary. A school could deny any invitation for any reason (travel expenses, academic issues, etc).
Now, somebody tell me why this can't, or shouldn't, be done...
Just to review:
If you play for a TN State Championship in DI you play 15 games.
If you play for a NCAA National Title DI FBS; you play 14 games at most. Some might play 1 less.
I personally would like to see less High Schools teams in the playoffs and Bowl Games make a comeback.
It's absolutely "crazy" that teams with a losing record make the playoffs every year.
Thank you for your suggestion but that won't happen,
T$$AA.
I wish there would be a rule in place where you need to finish at least .500 and in the top half of their conference to qualify for the playoffs. It's disgusting that you have teams go 6-4 or even 5-5 and sit at home because they're 5th in their conference, when a team can finish 1-9 and make it under the old system because they get the 4th seed in a 5 team conference (mathematically possible for the #2 seed there to go 3-7 or even 2-8 and get to host!).
I still don't completely understand the way they're going to divide things up into 6 classes for the playoffs in 2009, but I suspect we'll see more of the same. It's sad, really.
It's obvious the playoffs should be reformed beyond what was done this year. The first necessary reform, as I see it, would be requiring that teams have at least a .500 record overall AS WELL AS in conference play to qualify for a playoff spot. If you're in a 5 or 6 team conference and you only win 2 games all year by beating your conference cellar, sorry. You're staying at home. This would cut the playoffs way down, probably by 2 rounds, and it might require that some conference champs get first round byes, but it would also insure that getting there really means something and a bunch of traditional powers don't get a creampuff to embarass in the 1st round every year.
The second part of this proposal is to revive the old "bowl game" format that once had a prestigious tradition in TN high school football but is now merely an anomoly, seldom played unless a couple of .500+ teams who didn't make the playoffs feel like strapping on pads one last time.
The new bowl game system would work like this:
One week after the championship games, let all the schools who finished .500 or better set up individual "bowl" games against teams from in or out of state, with a big chunk of the net profits (say 20%) shared with the rest of the TSSAA. That way the playoffs aren't cheapened and you still get to recoup some of the revenue that would be lost from eliminating those absurd 10-0 vs 1-9 matchups in the opening round. It would also give regional powers or old rivals with scheduling conflicts a chance to finally face off.
To recap, the benefits are many:
1. The prestige of the playoffs is protected and reinforced. All the schools with losing records have made the TN HS football playoffs a joke for about 20 years now!
2. It actually shortens the season for the teams who make it to the championship game, allowing their kids more time to focus on academics and other sports.
3. The addition of bowl games after the postseason would recoup the revenue lost by eliminating losing teams and weak matchups from the playoffs.
4. The ability to actively select teams for these games based on marketing concerns, rather than relying on a seeding formula, would create more exciting and profitable matchups that would inject more money into the schools and communities than many of the games played in the first round under the current playoff system. It also ensures that teams who don't get to play during a 10 game season but have successful years get to meet.
5. Creating these more compelling postseason matchups would be good for the long term growth of Tennessee high school football by raising its profile and interest among fans and players. It would also provide many teams with momentum towards the next year.
6. Commercial sponsorship and televising of these games would also raise the profile of high school football and bring in added revenue.
7. More players would get a chance to go out with a win that means something, instead of their final game being a loss in the playoffs.
8. Revenue sharing from the bowl games means that every team in the TSSAA would benefit from this system.
9. Participation in the bowl games would be voluntary. A school could deny any invitation for any reason (travel expenses, academic issues, etc).
Now, somebody tell me why this can't, or shouldn't, be done...
