Arizona approves an 8 team Open Division playoff...to obtain 1 true state champion

[StingMan44]

https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/high-school/2019/01/08/arizona-high-school-football-open-division-playoffs-approval-needed/2516538002/

 

 

[LiberalDonaldTrump]

2 minutes ago, StingMan44 said:

https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/high-school/2019/01/08/arizona-high-school-football-open-division-playoffs-approval-needed/2516538002/

 

 

Cool post

 

 

didnt Know Arizona plays Football in high school 

[StingMan44]

7 minutes ago, LiberalDonaldTrump said:

Cool post

 

 

didnt Know Arizona plays Football in high school 

Maybe after you learn how to pump your own gas, you can read a book or two. Maybe even one on Arizona HSFB.

[Omaha Vol]

Would these teams be FORCED into this playoff, or can they option out to play for their class title? In other words, would Saguaro actually want to play the big boys? 

[StingMan44]

At this point. Forced, but people are bringing up the fact that a team headed for the 7 or 8 seed may lose to avoid it. I think it will create many unforseen issues. In 2015 we had something similar but it was for the regular season and playoffs and only 17 teams opted in. BTW, Centennial won it that year.

[Sammyswordsman]

1 hour ago, StingMan44 said:

https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/high-school/2019/01/08/arizona-high-school-football-open-division-playoffs-approval-needed/2516538002/

 

 

Great news for Centennial.  Will finally be able to settle things on the field.

[StingMan44]

https://amp.azcentral.com/amp/2643983002?__twitter_impression=true

 

It has been approved for 2019.

[bigrobstercraws]

On 1/9/2019 at 5:37 PM, Omaha Vol said:

Would these teams be FORCED into this playoff, or can they option out to play for their class title? In other words, would Saguaro actually want to play the big boys? 

Please please please make them step up. 

[StingMan44]

Yes they would be forced if they end up in the top 8

[old_e]

15 hours ago, StingMan44 said:

Yes they would be forced if they end up in the top 8

That's awesome.  That will leave no doubt that AZ will send their best to the Geico game.

[Las Vegas_JC]

23 hours ago, StingMan44 said:

https://amp.azcentral.com/amp/2643983002?__twitter_impression=true

 

It has been approved for 2019.

Thank you for this information. This system should be used by other states as well. 

[NotBigdaddybloom]

Isn’t Centennial, Corona the default Arizona state champion? Ha ha ha, I crack myself up sometimes...nm carry on.

[Las Vegas_JC]

On 1/9/2019 at 4:37 PM, Omaha Vol said:

Would these teams be FORCED into this playoff, or can they option out to play for their class title? In other words, would Saguaro actually want to play the big boys? 

I don’t believe that 4A Saguaro high is hiding from 6A Chandler or from 5A Centennial Peoria. Saguaro has an enrollment of almost 1,300 kids. Chandler has around 3,200 kids. All three of the schools are public and coed. 

[Omaha Vol]

2 hours ago, Las Vegas_JC said:

I don’t believe that 4A Saguaro high is hiding from 6A Chandler or from 5A Centennial Peoria. Saguaro has an enrollment of almost 1,300 kids. Chandler has around 3,200 kids. All three of the schools are public and coed. 

Then they need to get it on!! Lol

[StingMan44]

@golfaddict1 I would have been for a system that had the top 4 or so teams play in a playoff AFTER the regular state tournaments are finished. I do not support the system they voted on. Some 4A and/or 5A team will be throwing a fit when they end up being the 7th or 8th seed, lose in the first round (after only playing one postseason game) and then sit there and watch some team they know they can beat win the “4A or 5A Conference Title”. I could also see accusations of throwing games if a team headed for the 7th or 8th seed loses a game late in the regular season.

A big part of the push for this system came from people saying they wanted a way to see who was really top dog between Saguaro, Centennial and Saguaro but those weren’t the schools pushing for this system and there are plenty of other ways to do that.

In my eyes, the true reason this system was pushed is because MANY 4A-6A teams wanted to get Saguaro, Centennial and Chandler out of their conferences so they’d have much better odds of winning titles.  There are other ways to do that!!!

It would be one thing if those 3 teams were private schools and played by different rules, but they are public and they don’t!

[golfaddict1]

20 minutes ago, StingMan44 said:

@golfaddict1 I would have been for a system that had the top 4 or so teams play in a playoff AFTER the regular state tournaments are finished. I do not support the system they voted on. Some 4A and/or 5A team will be throwing a fit when they end up being the 7th or 8th seed, lose in the first round (after only playing one postseason game) and then sit there and watch some team they know they can beat win the “4A or 5A Conference Title”. I could also see accusations of throwing games if a team headed for the 7th or 8th seed loses a game late in the regular season.

A big part of the push for this system came from people saying they wanted a way to see who was really top dog between Saguaro, Centennial and Saguaro but those weren’t the schools pushing for this system and there are plenty of other ways to do that.

In my eyes, the true reason this system was pushed is because MANY 4A-6A teams wanted to get Saguaro, Centennial and Chandler out of their conferences so they’d have much better odds of winning titles.  There are other ways to do that!!!

Hmmm, that doesn't sound too good of a system actually.   I retract my liking it statement.   I'm for post season activity, similar for FL hope.  I say F the Geico series and let the playoff teams miss a gimme game and save the opponent a burial and start playoffs earlier.   This way get the state title done with sooner and have a few weeks to work with to get 4 down to 2 and a final.   But first, get the transfer epidemic straightened out, which seems to be of no care to the schools or the FHSAA at this time.   Secondly, the class dilution still sucks and in some ways the recent changes made it worse (FL).  

[StingMan44]

Open enrollment and transfers are the issue. I don’t know what the solution is because there is no uproar when some elite tennis player transfers or some kid who doesn’t even play a sport. It’s only if some talented football/basketball player does.

Our (AZ) current system is to have transfers sit out the first half of the regular season for all sports they played at the previous school for the period of a year from the transfer date. You can try for a hardship appeal but that rarely works. Thry have discussed making it a full year of sitting out, they have discussed making it the 2nd half of the regular season, or even the 2nd half and playoffs but I don’t think any of those have ever made it to a vote.

They did also recently implement a prior contact rule where if they can prove you had contact with a coach at a school you transfer to prior to your transfer, you sit out a full year.

 

IMO, nothing can be done or should be done about open enrollment as everyone should have the right to choose where their children are educated. 

 

[mustangman21]

Wow, AZ football about to go down the crapper big time. Not that it was ever that great to begin with. When I lived there (2004) it was all Hamilton. Chandler and pretty much any team out west was garbage. Open enrollment is a cancer that is killing the game out there. Welcome to the new era of HS football. This is going to blow up in their faces.

[Wooderson]

10 hours ago, golfaddict1 said:

Hmmm, that doesn't sound too good of a system actually.   I retract my liking it statement.   I'm for post season activity, similar for FL hope.  I say F the Geico series and let the playoff teams miss a gimme game and save the opponent a burial and start playoffs earlier.   This way get the state title done with sooner and have a few weeks to work with to get 4 down to 2 and a final.   But first, get the transfer epidemic straightened out, which seems to be of no care to the schools or the FHSAA at this time.   Secondly, the class dilution still sucks and in some ways the recent changes made it worse (FL).  

To compound the matter there's been minimal clarification as to what playoff qualifying would look like (open and otherwise), apart from who the eight "open" teams would have been in 2018 (or as I call it, "Look everyone, we CAN find a way to put Chandler, Centennial, and Saguaro in the same bracket!").  There's been talk that the Open would use one formula to generate its seeding and the conference playoffs would use the existing formula, which creates the possibility that you could have a team qualify for the Open while actually being ranked behind teams in their "conference" playoffs.  It's also been said that margin of victory will be taken into account for the Open bracket which just seems like a really bad idea.

From 2005 to 2010 Arizona had seven divisions for football.  Did it potentially create one too many champions?  Perhaps, but it also created opportunities for inner-city schools to play meaningful postseason games year after year and was generally well-regarded by coaches.  The AIA ultimately abandoned that model because rural schools not a part of the four highest conferences complained about excessive travel (?) and expenses for medals/trophies in individual sports were starting to be cost-prohibitive (??), but in 2018 that model would have the potential to produce a very quick-and-easy four-team bracket after the playoffs wrap (based strictly on enrollment, Chandler's your 7A champ, Centennial 6A, Higley your likely 5A champ, and Saguaro your 4A champ [this is assuming they don't petition "up" to 5A which is most similar to their placement from 2005-10; if they did petition they obviously replace Higley as the 5A champ and Salpointe likely steps in as the 4A champ]).  

I won't pretend this is a perfect solution, but ultimately think it achieves more in promoting high school ball in the state.