If i was the 8-man playoff czar.. Take the power out of the power points

JAG164 said:

After reading the discourse on playoff qualifiers in 8-man, specifically the D3 argument of playing up.. Here's what I would do.

Iowa's playoff system:
- Iowa has 10 eight-player districts with 6–7 teams per district in the 2025–2026 cycle.
- Thirty teams qualify automatically: the top three teams in each district.
- Two additional statewide at-large teams qualify, making 32 playoff teams total.
- At-large selection begins with the fewest district losses. If more teams are tied than available spots, the 17-point differential tiebreaker is used: plus/minus points from district games divided by the number of games played within the district.
- District standings also drive first-round hosting opportunities. District champions are positioned strongly, and the manual contains specific tie procedures for district finish and hosting.

D3 Example (41 teams)

7 districts (6 - 6 - 6 - 6 - 6 - 6 - 5)

1) Everyone plays 9 games (4 non & 5 district / 5 non & 4 district)
2) District Champ and Runner Up are auto bids (14 teams)
3) Two at large bids based off power points (2 teams)
4) 7 District Champs HOST 1st round of playoffs - after that power points used for "seeding"
5) Power points used for seeding, not qualifying, as well as tie breakers. Power points are fluid through 1st rd

Justification:
- Eliminates power points from controlling playoff qualifiers
- Makes winning games in your district in your CLASS important
- Eliminates scheduling issues and creates an even/fair playing field for everyone in the class, regardless of location

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huskbuster said:

Its not broken and doesnt need fixed. Best teams have won state last several years and the best make the finals since switching from East-West division in the brackets

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bigredguy23 said:

I always felt like a more accurate way to do it would be having 10 tiers rather than 4 for points. Sounds complicated, but it's very simple. For a 9 game season:

Winning against:
8-1 Team: 50 Points
7-2 Team: 49 Points
6-3 Team: 48 Points
5-4 Team: 47 Points
.
.
.
0-9 Team: 42 Points

Losing to:
9-0 Team: 41 Points
8-1 Team: 40 Points
.
.
.
1-8 Team:

and so on.

It would do a couple things: Differentiate more to reduce the ties in the power points, and would punish teams less for losses to really good teams. If you look at the points system now, I don't agree with the fact that beating a really bad 0-9 team is worth 5 more power points than losing a game to the top 9-0 team in the state.

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Husker7562 said:

Any thought on going to 24 team playoffs instead of always flopping between 16 and 32. I do feal that 32 teams is to many but 16 feels like not enough. Especially in D3 this year. 24 just seams like the right number.

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Husker7562 said:

Feel like a class with 30 teams and a class with 40 is a pretty decent difference in who makes it in and who doesn't.

Look at the records of the teams making it into playoffs in C1 and C2 and compare that to D-3. Especially when you get these schedule and district imbalances where over half the playoffs could be or would be coming out of 2 or 3 districts. St. Mary's is one such team that is top ten caliber team but siting on the edge from having a tough non-district and tough district. Doesn't feel like we are getting the best teams into the playoffs.

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ACICOD is BACK said:

16 is the right number. Everyone gets 9 games now to prove they belong. When a team goes 5-4 against a really good schedule, they've proven they cannot beat playoff teams 4 times.

That's just my take on it.

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Husker7562 said:

Understand the logic but what about teams that only play 1 playoff quality team or 2 and make it in? Would have lost to the same 4 or 5 the other teams did just didn't have the opportunity to lose them.

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Husker7562 said:

Understand the logic but what about teams that only play 1 playoff quality team or 2 and make it in? Would have lost to the same 4 or 5 the other teams did just didn't have the opportunity to lose them.

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Coach Klein said:

In D1 there’s a district champ that will be a 14-16 seed depending how the cookie crumbles the next two nights. Luck of the draw I get that but just kind of sad to me. Had 3 chances against playoff teams and didn’t play a single one of them close.

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ACICOD is BACK said:

I'm curious.................who is the team that you would want in the playoffs that won't make it? It seems as if you have a team who you feel doesn't deserve to be in................if you could pick the 16 teams who deserve to be in, who would they be?

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ACICOD is BACK said:

I'm curious.................who is the team that you would want in the playoffs that won't make it? It seems as if you have a team who you feel doesn't deserve to be in................if you could pick the 16 teams who deserve to be in, who would they be?

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Coach Klein said:

Someone between Ponca, Pender, Amherest, Alma, Tri county is going to get left out depending on how things shake out. I get your next argument that if they win Friday they are in. Also I get luck of the draw argument you put anyone of those said 4 teams in District 3 and they run the table in that district to get in. It's going to be a blow out in the first round of the playoffs. Just to me and maybe I am way off in my thinking I would like to see the champion of districts compete in the playoff not get blown out first round.

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bigredguy23 said:

I think Ponca and Pender are probably both better than Cross County this year. Pender unfortunately dealt with some injuries throughout the season that caused them to drop the Wisner game. Ponca is dealing with injuries now from what I hear, which could impact this week's game.

I don't think any of the other 3 teams would beat Cross County. I don't think any of those games would be competitive.

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Husker7562 said:

Any thought on going to 24 team playoffs instead of always flopping between 16 and 32. I do feal that 32 teams is to many but 16 feels like not enough. Especially in D3 this year. 24 just seams like the right number.

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Coach Klein said:

Someone between Ponca, Pender, Amherest, Alma, Tri county is going to get left out depending on how things shake out. I get your next argument that if they win Friday they are in. Also I get luck of the draw argument you put anyone of those said 4 teams in District 3 and they run the table in that district to get in. It's going to be a blow out in the first round of the playoffs. Just to me and maybe I am way off in my thinking I would like to see the champion of districts compete in the playoff not get blown out first round.

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