2- and 3-win teams in the playoffs? A look at the problems in the state seeding process

North Gem’s Craig Yost battles through the tackle attempt of Rockland’s Zack Permann. The Cowboys and Bulldogs were among the teams left on the outside of the state tournament, despite both teams carrying worthy resumes. | EastIdahoSports.com Note: As a bonus to our readers who have followed us into Year 2, the East Idaho Sports staff will post a special story on Sundays – Could be a column, opinion, feature, or just something fun and goofy. Hope you enjoy, and thanks again for coming along on this journey. EASTERN IDAHO — Eyebrows raised in unison across the state last week when the official brackets for the Idaho High School Football State Championships were unveiled. The whole Capital-Boise-Owyhee-Highland snafu was not the start of the issues, but it took center stage — at least for a few days. Last week’s opening weekend, which included some teams playing round-one games and others playing play-in games — the differentiating terminology is another issue altogether — featured 13 teams across the six divisions with losing records, and no single division or bracket was without its questions. The 1A division may have had the biggest eyebrow-raising issue — at least as far as local schools are concerned. Perennial contender Rockland was left out of the playoff field, despite finishing the year with a 6-3 record (all records listed in the story include only regular season games). The eliminating circumstance? A 78-72 loss to North Gem, who were also 6-3. Instead of the Bulldogs or Cowboys, the Challis Vikings, and their 4-5 record, received District 5-6’s lone berth. Why? That spot was determined by point differential. Meaning Challis’ 36-20 victory over North Gem meant more than Rockland’s 42-36 victory over Challis, or Rockland and North Gem’s absolute slugfest in the season’s final week, or the fact that the Bulldogs and Cowboys were the better teams all season. The Vikings lost to Garden Valley. By 30. At home. In the 2A division, the gripes come from outside of eastern Idaho, as Oakley (3-6) and Glenns Ferry (4-5) each earned at-large bids over Idaho City (6-2). Both teams lost Friday. By a combined 114 points. At-large seeding benefited D5-6 teams in 3A, where Firth (2-7) and Malad (3-5), along with Melba (2-6) got in over Grangeville (5-4). The Cougars lost, 54-0, and Melba was downed, 28-6. The Dragons, though, produced one of the most competitive games of the playoffs’ opening weekend, dropping a heartbreaker to West Jefferson, 21-20, on a successful two-point conversion in the game’s final two minutes. Perhaps the single most befuddling berth occurred in the 4A division, where a 2-7 Teton team found itself in the playoffs over South Fremont. The Cougars were no world-beaters, but their 3-6 record was slightly better than Teton’s. And the most crucial factor: South Fremont had pocketed a regular-season win over the Timberwolves head-to-head. Teton lost to Weiser, 47-21. In 5A, a 2-7 Shelley team got the playoff nod over a 3-6 Preston squad that beat the Russets. The Century Diamondbacks, who went 8-0 during the regular season, showed some frustration with their No. 5-seed as they were running away from Columbia at home. After their victory, several Diamondbacks players addressed the underdog role they have accepted. Head coach Ryan Fleischmann spoke about the MaxPreps “algorithm” used to determine at-large berths and seeds, but said his job is to coach, not pick participants. “I’ll let the smart people figure out the algorithm,” he said. “In the end, the algorithm is the algorithm and we’re not doing it anymore — now it’s the bracket.” In 5A, as it was throughout the state, the bracket exposed the seeding shortcomings, with the sub-.500 teams going 0-13. Four of the 16 5A teams that made the playoffs were sub-.500 — two of those squads were among the five D6 teams to qualify for the tournament. Another baffling seeding situation in the 5A bracket saw Lewiston (3-6) take the No. 8 seed and home field advantage over Lakeland (8-1), which had beaten Lewiston by 26 points one week before the playoffs started. That matchup produced another incredibly compelling game, with Lakeland claiming a one-point win in overtime. At the conclusion of the weekend, the four 5A tourney teams that entered the playoffs with losing records lost by a combined total of 98 points. While the 6A bracket featured the teams with the best resumes, the seeding flaws seemed to be on display. As it was reported after the brackets were released, results from the Capital-Boise regular season finale were not sent to MaxPreps in time to be included in the final rankings and thus were not taken into account in the seeding. So, the game occurred. Capital won, 50-14. But because that information did not reach a company based in El Dorado Hills, Calif. in time, they were not used in the bracket seeding. Some have suggested — though no evidence has been shown — that the late reporting was done intentionally. But the overarching question is: should the Idaho high school football state brackets be determined entirely by a company that probably couldn’t find Rockland or Bancroft on a map? Speaking personally, I have been to dozens of IHSAA football games this year alone, and have never met anyone associated with MaxPreps. Now consider the fact that strength of schedule, and the measure of good losses versus bad wins, are taken into account, measured by the people who have never seen these games. Nothing is perfect. But there must be something better, and wins MUST carry a higher value than anything else. Maybe the ideal system involves Idaho media or voting from coaches and athletic directors from other divisions. IdahoSports.com has its own power rankings algorithm, the use of which would have solved many of the above-listed issues. Whatever way you cut it, it’s nothing short of heartbreaking to realize that there are countless high school seniors in Idaho right now who want to be playing for a state championship as, for most of them, their playing careers will end with the season. Kids who deserve to be playing for a state championship. But aren’t, because a computer said that their win did not mean as much as another team’s loss.The post 2- and 3-win teams in the playoffs? A look at the problems in the state seeding process appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com