St. Edward 2008-09

[Bennies'01]

Eagles had a good year and would have been in the finals if the draw had been different. From what I understand the Eagles have been in the final four 18 times advancing to the title game 14 times. I am wondering how many of those semi-final losses could have actually been the best two teams playing on Saturday. I would say this was one of those years the best two teams in the final four played on Saturday.

It happens more now since the OHSAA took a bid from Toledo and gave it to Columbus/Dayton/Cincinnati. The fact is that those teams haven't been competitive. Back in the day, when Northwest Ohio usually sent two teams to the state semifinals, those teams were almost always right on par with the Northeast Ohio representatives (sometimes even better). Since I think the draw has almost always been random, I'm sure there were other occurrences of the best two teams facing off in the semifinals. However, it was never as blatantly obvious as it's been since the Columbus district was given a berth in the semis. Now it's gotten to the point that the team that plays the Columbus district winner in the semis pretty much has a bye into the finals.

 

[PeterGammons]

It happens more now since the OHSAA took a bid from Toledo and gave it to Columbus/Dayton/Cincinnati. The fact is that those teams haven't been competitive. Back in the day, when Northwest Ohio usually sent two teams to the state semifinals, those teams were almost always right on par with the Northeast Ohio representatives (sometimes even better). Since I think the draw has almost always been random, I'm sure there were other occurrences of the best two teams facing off in the semifinals. However, it was never as blatantly obvious as it's been since the Columbus district was given a berth in the semis. Now it's gotten to the point that the team that plays the Columbus district winner in the semis pretty much has a bye into the finals.

What are the odds a re-draw actually occurs though?