If this point has always been brought up - apologize for the duplicate idea/proposal.
There has been talk of lesser teams in week 11 putting their kids in peril because the games will be so overwhelmingly in favor of the higher seed that players on the lower seeded teams will certainly get hurt.
The facts just don't support that. I have yet to hear of a player being permanently disabled or passing away in a W11 non competitive game. I am sure there have been significant injuries in week 11 - but, it is football - a violent, contact sport. That being said, as severe as those injuries may be - medical science and the rehabilitative fields are so advanced that these should not be life limiting injuries.
Taking those thoughts into consideration, the sobering fact of D1 is that R1 has just 17 teams, R2 and 3 have 18 teams each, and R4 has 19. Once the brain surgeons on Roseola Place deemed that 16 teams make the playoff from each region, the wheels were in motion to have very lopsided games in W11, as well as some O for the season teams qualify.
We all have our opinions on the matter, but only the OHSAA decision makers can truly answer this - if the move to 16 teams was motivated singularly by econmics, then God bless them - they got what they wanted. If they wanted to give kids a chance at a ring that would otherwise have no shot at one - that is a noble idea but out of touch with reality. Urban said it best "If you want the corner office, you go out and work for it to get it. It's not going to be given to you."
My proposal is driven by the desire to reward a solid season's body of work and a big emphasis on more competitive games.
My proposal would be go to a 12 team per division format. You stll have a 6 game road to the state title (same as currently), but you can reward the top 4 region finishers for an excellent season with a W11 bye. You separate the chaff from the wheat by eliminating seeds 13-16. Under this proposal, the chances are significantly better for the 5 vs 12 game being much more competitive than a 1 vs 16 game. I hate games that are 35-0 just two minutes into the second quarter.
But - we have all seen how arrogant the OHSAA can be - so i will be shocked if the 16 team format changes. Anytime the administrators have made a change in the past, it has always been to add more teams, never paring the field.