Last month, the Ohio High School Athletic Association voted unanimously to expand the prep football playoffs from eight to 12 teams per region starting with the 2021 season. The proposal had the backing of the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association.
The new format would provide a bye in the Week 11 for the top four seeds. No. 5 would play No. 12, No. 6 would play No. 11, No. 7 would play No. 10 and No. 8 would play No. 9.
In Week 12, No. 1 will play the 8-9 winner, No. 2 will the 7-10 winner, No. 3 will face the No. 6-11 winner and No. 4 will play the 5-12 winner. If all higher seeds win, the format will be the same as Week 11 currently stands.
The regular season will begin one week earlier and there will be a few other adjustments, but each team will still play 10 regular-season games. The state finals will be held on the same weekend as they currently are.
Many of my sports writing colleagues have cried foul, citing a supposed “watering down” of the playoffs. However, I see this as opportunity for teams who had solid seasons to experience the postseason.
For instance, since 2001, there would have been 18 more local teams in the playoffs if 12 teams had qualified per region instead of eight — an average of about one per year. Five of the six county schools would have had at least one more appearance, as would Mohawk and Seneca East.
Crestline wouldn’t have benefited from the 12-team format, but only 2007, 2010, 2012, 2016, and 2017 wouldn’t have had any additional local teams.
Wynford would have padded an already impressive playoff resume with six more appearances. Seneca East and Buckeye Central would have had three more, Bucyrus and Galion two each, and Colonel Crawford and Mohawk one apiece.
Wynford would have made the postseason in ’01 (7-3, No. 12), ’03 (7-3, No. 9), ’04 (6-4, No. 10), ’13 (6-4, No. 11), ’18 (6-4, No. 10), and ’19 (7-3, No. 11). Buckeye Central would have slipped in in ’06 (6-4, No. 11), ’14 (5-5, No. 12), and ’15 (5-5, No. 10).
Bucyrus would have made it in ’08 (7-3, No. 9) and ’09 (8-2, No. 11). Fun fact: The Redmen finished 13th twice, including their 9-1 season in 2007. Galion would have added to years to its banners, one in ’08 (5-5, No. 12) and ’11 (8-2, No. 10).
Seneca East would have qualified in ’01 (5-5, No. 12), ’02 (6-4, No. 9), and ’05 (8-2, No. 9). Colonel Crawford made it retroactively in ’14 (8-2, No. 11) and Mohawk would have gotten in despite a 4-6 record in ’13 (No. 10).
Naysayers fear lopsided games with the introduction of more teams. I don’t think that there is any increased chance of blowouts with No. 5 playing No. 12 in the first round than the No. 1 vs. No. 8 matchups. In the current format, there are top-heavy divisions and weak divisions. That cannot be avoided with geographical regions.
Not only will the expansion allow more teams to experience the playoffs (from 224 to 336 — over half the schools participating) it would help to avoid some embarrassing situations like occurred last year. Both Northwood (Division V, Region 18) and Gibsonburg (Division VI, Region 23) finished 10-0. Each finished No. 9. Only Newcomerstown in 2001 went undefeated and could not participate prior to that.
Football is the only sport in Ohio where not all the teams play in the tournament. In 2021, the OHSAA takes a step in the right direction to rectifying that situation.
While the tournament expansion will generate more revenue, this was not a money grab by the OHSAA as some have speculated. After all, the proposal has the backing of the football coaches’ association.
If history is any indicator, starting in 2021, this area can anticipate an average of one additional football team in the playoffs. To local high school football superfans, that is good news.