| Another Confusing Cody Column |
Playoff Pairings: Area
Pros and Cons
Pros and Cons
Conference teams facing off in the first round? The bracket
split? Travel?
split? Travel?
It's weird: The day most high school football fans long for is also the day they
happen to really need to take a chill pill.
Playoff Pairings Night is the high school football fan's equivalent to the morning
they open the presents. There are those who get what they put on their wish list,
and there are those who get a gift card.
When we receive these pieces of plastic, we get this thought of anger in our
heads. After this brief hesitation we immediately thank the person who gave it to
you, joyfully. That's where the similarities end.
If our favorite team gets “a bad draw” in the playoffs, we tend to brew up a storm
directed at the Illinois High School Association. After all, they did make the pairings.
Conference Opponents in the First Round
East Dubuque hosts Polo and Aquin hosts Galena in Class 1A. They are
Northwest Upstate Illini Upstate Division rematches. Sterling hosts LaSalle-Peru in
a rematch from this past weekend. If anything, it gives the losing teams (in this
case Polo, Aquin and LaSalle-Peru) a chance at retribution in a final standoff.
However, it does give the winning team some concern.
It shouldn't matter who you play in the first round. Alexis United played Lincoln Trail
Conference opponent Stark County in the first round in 2004. United went on to
beat Stockton for the Class 1A State Championship that year. To say that the next
round's opponent has an advantage because of playing a non-familiar team is
looking ahead a bit too much. Take each playoff game one at a time, regardless of
who you face.
The IHSA shouldn't make special provisions to accommodate a pair of schools. Do
the rest of the teams really have to be shuffled around because of a situation that
happened “over there?” In fact, there are cases in mega-conferences where
conference opponents playing in the first round is unpreventable. No school or
schools, or conference or conferences, need preferential treatment from the IHSA.
Here's how to prevent this from happening:
Come up with a reason that conference AND non-conference opponents should
not play in the first round. Back your reason up with scenarios, facts, use of
educational development, and sources. Discuss this with your school's IHSA
Official Representative. He or She will take it into consideration, and it can be
discussed with a member or members of the IHSA Football Advisory Committee
(Alleman athletics director Steve Smithers is the area's representative), who may
then discuss it at the committee's yearly meeting.
The IHSA Football Playoff Terms and Conditions state in Section V, Item A,
Paragraph 2 that, “No consideration will be given to conference schools or teams
that played each other the last week of the current season.”
Divided How?
One of the complaints is with the Class 5A assignments of Hillcrest of suburban
Country Club Hills and Sterling.
Sterling is in the south bracket and Hillcrest is in the north bracket. Country Club
Hills is south of Sterling. Methinks the IHSA went upstate-downstate when making
the bracket, instead of the usual north-south. If so, they considered Rochelle and
Belvidere “upstate” schools. However, in the Class 6A pairings, the IHSA went a
direct north-south lining.
The IHSA doesn't make the pairing process a secret. There is a page on their
website devoted to “How the Football Playoff Pairings are Determined.” But there is
one thing they don't tell, and that's how they group the teams into the brackets.
All we know is that the teams are “grouped manually” by the IHSA. Most classes
are divided into north-south, except for Class 8A which was divided east-west for
the first time (and unexpectedly, too) due to the location of teams. Was there a
reason why Class 5A was divided into upstate-downstate? I have the slightest clue.
Suburban schools Joliet Catholic and Rich East of Park Forest are both in the
south bracket. Joliet Catholic and Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin could wind up
playing in the 5A semifinal. The Hilltoppers were ranked No. 1 in Class 6A most of
this year, while the Cyclones were No. 1 in 5A most of this year. This is a state
championship worthy game, and it won't be played in Champaign.
There's no complaint with this one. Deal with it.
Does the IHSA really need to make a exception to their policy to accommodate any
school that is considered a powerhouse? It would also impact those schools that
are not. They didn't when Peoria Manual and Thornton, ranked one-two nationally
by USA Today met in the 1997 Class AA State Boys Basketball Tournament
semifinals. It's only unfortunate, and there's not much to be done about it.
If We All Flew Like Crows
Another thing about the pairing process that irks me also has to do with the Class
5A bracket, but not about competition or anything.
There are some long trips in the southern bracket. The IHSA, in the same V-A-2,
states, “Any bracket of 16 that has more than one (1) game with a travel distance
of 150 miles or more will be placed in quadrants.”
Since we are going by what the IHSA says as “travel distance,” according to
Mapquest's directions listing, at least one game is definitely more than 150 miles:
Triad to Joliet Catholic.
But is there another?
After plugging in Carbondale to Springfield on Mapquest, the directions have one
going through the Metro East. That can't be right. The most direct way to get there
is through Carlyle, Pickneyville and Hillsboro, which is a total travel distance is
160.5 miles.
Marion to Decatur is 162 miles when traveling through Salem and Vandalia.
East Peoria to Cahokia is 168 miles, and there's no other way than taking the
Interstate.
Chatham to Kankakee is also 168 miles, but if one plans on taking Illinois Route 54
from Springfield to Clinton to Onarga to Kankakee, it's less than 150.
That's four games in that part of the bracket that are more than 150 miles apart as
far as “travel distance” is concerned. The IHSA must be using “as the crow flies”
distance when making the brackets instead.
Maybe this is a prelude into 1-32 seeding?
And even more flaws are discovered as I type this ... but nothing factual at the
moment.
Ugh! I need a chill pill.
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat, and writes columns
about Illinois high school sports. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com.
happen to really need to take a chill pill.
Playoff Pairings Night is the high school football fan's equivalent to the morning
they open the presents. There are those who get what they put on their wish list,
and there are those who get a gift card.
When we receive these pieces of plastic, we get this thought of anger in our
heads. After this brief hesitation we immediately thank the person who gave it to
you, joyfully. That's where the similarities end.
If our favorite team gets “a bad draw” in the playoffs, we tend to brew up a storm
directed at the Illinois High School Association. After all, they did make the pairings.
Conference Opponents in the First Round
East Dubuque hosts Polo and Aquin hosts Galena in Class 1A. They are
Northwest Upstate Illini Upstate Division rematches. Sterling hosts LaSalle-Peru in
a rematch from this past weekend. If anything, it gives the losing teams (in this
case Polo, Aquin and LaSalle-Peru) a chance at retribution in a final standoff.
However, it does give the winning team some concern.
It shouldn't matter who you play in the first round. Alexis United played Lincoln Trail
Conference opponent Stark County in the first round in 2004. United went on to
beat Stockton for the Class 1A State Championship that year. To say that the next
round's opponent has an advantage because of playing a non-familiar team is
looking ahead a bit too much. Take each playoff game one at a time, regardless of
who you face.
The IHSA shouldn't make special provisions to accommodate a pair of schools. Do
the rest of the teams really have to be shuffled around because of a situation that
happened “over there?” In fact, there are cases in mega-conferences where
conference opponents playing in the first round is unpreventable. No school or
schools, or conference or conferences, need preferential treatment from the IHSA.
Here's how to prevent this from happening:
Come up with a reason that conference AND non-conference opponents should
not play in the first round. Back your reason up with scenarios, facts, use of
educational development, and sources. Discuss this with your school's IHSA
Official Representative. He or She will take it into consideration, and it can be
discussed with a member or members of the IHSA Football Advisory Committee
(Alleman athletics director Steve Smithers is the area's representative), who may
then discuss it at the committee's yearly meeting.
The IHSA Football Playoff Terms and Conditions state in Section V, Item A,
Paragraph 2 that, “No consideration will be given to conference schools or teams
that played each other the last week of the current season.”
Divided How?
One of the complaints is with the Class 5A assignments of Hillcrest of suburban
Country Club Hills and Sterling.
Sterling is in the south bracket and Hillcrest is in the north bracket. Country Club
Hills is south of Sterling. Methinks the IHSA went upstate-downstate when making
the bracket, instead of the usual north-south. If so, they considered Rochelle and
Belvidere “upstate” schools. However, in the Class 6A pairings, the IHSA went a
direct north-south lining.
The IHSA doesn't make the pairing process a secret. There is a page on their
website devoted to “How the Football Playoff Pairings are Determined.” But there is
one thing they don't tell, and that's how they group the teams into the brackets.
All we know is that the teams are “grouped manually” by the IHSA. Most classes
are divided into north-south, except for Class 8A which was divided east-west for
the first time (and unexpectedly, too) due to the location of teams. Was there a
reason why Class 5A was divided into upstate-downstate? I have the slightest clue.
Suburban schools Joliet Catholic and Rich East of Park Forest are both in the
south bracket. Joliet Catholic and Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin could wind up
playing in the 5A semifinal. The Hilltoppers were ranked No. 1 in Class 6A most of
this year, while the Cyclones were No. 1 in 5A most of this year. This is a state
championship worthy game, and it won't be played in Champaign.
There's no complaint with this one. Deal with it.
Does the IHSA really need to make a exception to their policy to accommodate any
school that is considered a powerhouse? It would also impact those schools that
are not. They didn't when Peoria Manual and Thornton, ranked one-two nationally
by USA Today met in the 1997 Class AA State Boys Basketball Tournament
semifinals. It's only unfortunate, and there's not much to be done about it.
If We All Flew Like Crows
Another thing about the pairing process that irks me also has to do with the Class
5A bracket, but not about competition or anything.
There are some long trips in the southern bracket. The IHSA, in the same V-A-2,
states, “Any bracket of 16 that has more than one (1) game with a travel distance
of 150 miles or more will be placed in quadrants.”
Since we are going by what the IHSA says as “travel distance,” according to
Mapquest's directions listing, at least one game is definitely more than 150 miles:
Triad to Joliet Catholic.
But is there another?
After plugging in Carbondale to Springfield on Mapquest, the directions have one
going through the Metro East. That can't be right. The most direct way to get there
is through Carlyle, Pickneyville and Hillsboro, which is a total travel distance is
160.5 miles.
Marion to Decatur is 162 miles when traveling through Salem and Vandalia.
East Peoria to Cahokia is 168 miles, and there's no other way than taking the
Interstate.
Chatham to Kankakee is also 168 miles, but if one plans on taking Illinois Route 54
from Springfield to Clinton to Onarga to Kankakee, it's less than 150.
That's four games in that part of the bracket that are more than 150 miles apart as
far as “travel distance” is concerned. The IHSA must be using “as the crow flies”
distance when making the brackets instead.
Maybe this is a prelude into 1-32 seeding?
And even more flaws are discovered as I type this ... but nothing factual at the
moment.
Ugh! I need a chill pill.
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat, and writes columns
about Illinois high school sports. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com.
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