OHSAA approves 16 football playoff teams per region

Got to laugh at how "old folks" complain about "kids these days" with their participation trophies and "back in my day you had to earn a playoff spot" type of comments.. yet it's the old folks who are in the position of power to be making these decisions and kids are just playing in the process that was created for them. Just something to think about next time you want to dunk on the youths.
 
This is a horrible decision. Recipe for bad football. Plus, the season is long enough as it is for playoff teams. OH$AA strikes again.
 
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I am generally in favor of giving kids as many opportunities as possible, but at this point, we may as well let all teams in. One thing that made football unique was that not everyone made the playoffs. If this had been in place for 2020. two regions (25 and 28) would have had only 5 teams not qualify and two other regions (10 and 24) would have had only 6 teams not qualify. IMO, it's not nearly as much the special opportunity it once was.
 
tucson said:
Got to laugh at how "old folks" complain about "kids these days" with their participation trophies and "back in my day you had to earn a playoff spot" type of comments.. yet it's the old folks who are in the position of power to be making these decisions and kids are just playing in the process that was created for them. Just something to think about next time you want to dunk on the youths.
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That rationale only works if you group everyone from a given age group as one in the same. I despise this decision and think it ruins the regular season. I had zero impact on forcing this change. So yes I can say it's a pure money grab and also allows non deserving teams a spot because everyone needs a participant trophy. Of course some like free stuff and being handed things without seeing that being a joke
 
Ericles said:
I am generally in favor of giving kids as many opportunities as possible, but at this point, we may as well let all teams in. One thing that made football unique was that not everyone made the playoffs. If this had been in place for 2020. two regions (25 and 28) would have had only 5 teams not qualify and two other regions (10 and 24) would have had only 6 teams not qualify. IMO, it's not nearly as much the special opportunity it once was.
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Who cares if it's "special"? The good teams will always find their way out.
 
I don't like it for DI
Insane92 said:
Potentially but I could care less about the big schools. From D4 down it could get downright ugly.
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The smaller schools will benefit the most! Look in Region 28. Those MAC schools that missed out could have beat most of the top 8!
 
12 teams was not a bad idea . In some regions good teams got left out due to bad Harbin luck or got hurt playing a tougher schedule { Got the injury bug at the wrong time got healthy and were playing great but just missed etc.} . 12 was a nice remedy for that I thought. It also encouraged teams to step out of their personal comfort zone and their Harbin comfort zone a bit and schedule more ambitiously.

16 is more like the other sports where everyone gets in. So many unnecessary early round match-ups in some of those sports . Making the play-offs a certain number of years in a row or 8 out of 10 or other consistent runs of success measured by play-off appearances is a thing of the past now in football. Losing that dough from this year hurt . Now we are seeing an effort to get some of it back . That's about the crux of it
 
63.18% of schools will now make the playoffs.
D1 88.88% of the teams make the playoffs.
The other six divisions about 58.18% of teams make the playoffs.

Unless you totally suck in D1 you make the playoffs. Looking at Region 4 from 2016-2019 you needed a little over 2 wins to make the playoffs.

2019 Moeller 2-8 and Oak Hills 0-10
2018 Princeton 3-7 and Hamilton 1-9
2017 Lakota West 2-8, Middletown 1-9, and Oak Hills 0-10 (West Clermont added late causing 19 teams in Region 4)
2016 West Hi 1-9 and Middletown 0-10

When 16 out of 18 make it, its not really an accomplishment.
 
jonmoxon said:
How do you now they're all going to be blowouts? I think at least in the higher divisions we could see some good football.
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You clearly haven't seen the disparity in D1. Good luck to West High playing Lakota West. I feel even worse for Oak Hills playing St. X.
Come on, there are going to be atrocious blowouts.
 
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tucson said:
Got to laugh at how "old folks" complain about "kids these days" with their participation trophies and "back in my day you had to earn a playoff spot" type of comments.. yet it's the old folks who are in the position of power to be making these decisions and kids are just playing in the process that was created for them. Just something to think about next time you want to dunk on the youths.
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I don't think the sentiment with criticism here has anything to do with "this generation" or people wanting participation trophies. This stupid decision is literally doing nothing but putting good playoff teams against teams that have no shot of winning and just increasing their chance of injury for the OHSAA to get a quick buck.
 
I personally thought that it was great at 8, and acceptable at 12. However, this expansion completely devalues the regular season, which IMO, football was the only sport left that had value in the regular season. Sure it worked to expand last year when so many teams played, paused, started again etc., but we've never seen a true season with 12 teams qualifying. This is purely an attempt to garner more money for the OHSAA, and to placate the schools they allowed top seeds to host first two rounds.

I can't wait to see some more absolute blowouts for two rounds of playoffs like we did this year.
 
8 was such a perfect number and created not only some awesome late season drama. I don't understand why we want to continue and put more teams into the postseason in all sports
 
cincifbfan said:
I am really struggling to understand how any coaches or schools could remotely support this. As we all know, football games bring in revenue. We also know, that ticket sales have been dwindling for years (before COVID). That was when the regular season meant something. This will DEFINITELY mean less attendance and less revenue for football teams. There is ZERO draw anymore for the casual fan. Casual fans love to go to games with playoff implications. Die-hards will go see a different team (if it's on a different night) for the same reason. Schools are going to see this affected deeply in their athletic budgets and their decreased revenue. At first, they will say it's all COVID related still, but as the crowds get smaller each and every year, they will then realize what I am saying.

I also am willing to bet that this may not make OHSAA any more money than a typical year for the same reasons. Playoff games are packed with casual fans, not now.... nobody wants to pay money so see a team get blown out of the water. Heck, many parents don't even want to pay to see that (regardless of which side of the blowout your team is on).

This is an absolute travesty.
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the key to a higher gate.... a bigger marching band!
 
jonmoxon said:
What's the difference between this and a week 10 game against a team who's 1-9? We could live in hypotheticals if we want...
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What is the advantage of intentionally scheduling a game against a far inferior opponent late in the year or in the playoffs? No one schedules a cupcake week ten unless they have to.
 
jonmoxon said:
What's the difference between this and a week 10 game against a team who's 1-9? We could live in hypotheticals if we want...
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One is something scheduled before the season starts, the other is something the people in charge due to make money off of high school kids.
 
jonmoxon said:
Don't complain when your team gets an extra game if they're seeds 13-16.
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I would say most teams that are 13-16 are going to be complaining that they HAVE to play another game. Teams that are 3-7 would much rather the season be over and get ready for basketball.
 
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AugMer said:
I would say most teams that are 13-16 are going to be complaining that they HAVE to play another game. Teams that are 3-7 would much rather the season be over and get ready for basketball.
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Yup most schools who qualify for the playoffs will be upset about making the playoffs, makes sense.
 
jonmoxon said:
Yup most schools who qualify for the playoffs will be upset about making the playoffs, makes sense.
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Yes, you can be. One of the years I was coaching, we were very close to squeaking in as the #8 in region 4. I definitely didn't want to be in the playoffs that year.... yes, we had made the playoff before, but never as a D1. Our reward would have been an absolute @$$ beating of a lifetime by #1 Colerain, pre-running clock. I didn't want our kids to lose by 70+, and that's honestly what would have happened. It's perfectly ok to be honest with yourself regarding your team.
 
Last year I had to listen to everyone on here talk about wanting to have a season for the kids and now heaven forbid these same kids get an extra playoff game
 
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