We are looking at 5-6 teams with only 4 wins in the playoffs. The bar to qualify should be much higher. Looking back the last two years, nearly all the first round games weren’t close. Most were blowouts. It’s great to have teams in the playoffs and teams get more games, but these are not high quality games. There’s a couple of good 8/9 games but that’s all.
Keeping the playoffs to the top 8 teams in each class would eliminate the first round and extend regular season another couple of days.
But how do you choose the 8 teams? The team that achieved a gaudy record playing only cupcakes, or the team that played a tough schedule and lost a lot of close games?
The way it is set up now is the lesser of several evils.
BTW the top programs like the current set up because it allows them to play top programs out of the section - to keep kids from leaving - and still qualify. Lesser programs like it because it ensures entry. So basically no one will want to scrap it.
While I have some issues with the current system, you can keep the same formula and make the cutoff at the top 8 of each class make the playoffs.
The issue with the system as it stands is a team can theoretically play 16 games against .500 teams, only win 4 and you are in the playoffs. I like the bonus points you get for playing tougher teams, and it allows you to play out of section and not be punished for doing so. I have no problem there. The threshold to qualifying is too low.
The bonus point system does not necessarily benefit you for playing tougher teams in many instances. A mediocre team that plays a soft scheduled generates bonus points for their opponents, while sometimes a better team that plays (and loses) a tough schedule does not.
Except, that's exactly what it is designed to do: reward teams that play tougher schedules. Look at Mahopac and Rye Neck. They have 6 wins between them and they both on the verge of making playoffs. Mahopac has only won 2 games (8 points) but has 13 bonus points. They are one win away from qualifying. Had the bonus points not been there for the opponents they played - and THEIR. - schedules, they'd be nowhere near making it in this year. Mahopac got bonus points and double from nearly every team they played this year.
Now, They deserve credit for the schedule they played. I argue that a 2-3 win team shouldn't be in the playoffs, but that is the system we have. The formula is unlikely to change and I was the original one that suggested we limit it to the top 8 seeds in each class. That is 32 of 50 teams in the section. That's over 60% of the total teams make the playoffs still.
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