Can someone please explain why…

[Virginia HS Football Fan]

North Stafford hosts West Springfield in one Class 6 State Semifinal when West Springfield had the higher power point rating between the two?

The PA Announcer at North Stafford today originally announced North Stafford at West Springfield next week and then immediately corrected himself by starting that North Stafford would be hosting West Springfield.

Any explanation is welcome. And I’m assuming that James Madison is on the road at Oscar Smith in the other semifinal.

Thanks.

 

[Virginia HS Sports Fan]

Thought Oscar Smith was at Madison from a previous post I seen but definitely get what your getting at.

 

[Virginia HS Football Fan]

Thought Oscar Smith was at Madison from a previous post I seen but definitely get what your getting at.

This is the only directive put out by the VHSL. Hence, it would make sense for Oscar Smith to host James Madison and West Springfield to host North Stafford based on the policy guidelines that they themselves put out.

 

[falcettik]

I have been told that since the VHSL abandoned tracking power points that (Class 6 anyway) went to pre-determined matchups and this year it is A@D and C@B. I am positive Smith will travel to Madison.

For what it is worth, even the VHSL's "official" MaxPreps brackets say that the Class 6 semifinal home teams are determined by "regular season final ratings" (e.g., power points) - and that is NOT correct.

 

[VolNation85_rivals]

I have been told that since the VHSL abandoned tracking power points that (Class 6 anyway) went to pre-determined matchups and this year it is A@D and C@B. I am positive Smith will travel to Madison.

For what it is worth, even the VHSL's "official" MaxPreps brackets say that the Class 6 semifinal home teams are determined by "regular season final ratings" (e.g., power points) - and that is NOT correct.

Yes, Class 6 semi-final host sites were pre-determined this year. West Springfield @ North Stafford and Oscar Smith @ Madison. Next year it will be Region D @ Region A and Region B @ Region C.

 

[matthew328826]

Yes - we were told it was pre-determined as well that B and D would host in Class 6.

Quite personally, I think Class 4 of each level does it the right way where it's re-seeded with the four remaining teams. Something that hopefully will get adopted by other classifications, in time, once they realize it is the fairest and most sensible way to do it...

I've always argued that I want the two best teams at the end playing for the title and don't care what area code they are from. To me, your chances of that happening are always strongest doing it that way.

 

[VolNation85_rivals]

Yes - we were told it was pre-determined as well that B and D would host in Class 6.

Quite personally, I think Class 4 of each level does it the right way where it's re-seeded with the four remaining teams. Something that hopefully will get adopted by other classifications, in time, once they realize it is the fairest and most sensible way to do it...

I've always argued that I want the two best teams at the end playing for the title and don't care what area code they are from. To me, your chances of that happening are always strongest doing it that way.

100% agree! I wish VHSL got rid of "regions" and did a true state tournament with the top 32 teams qualifying based on power ratings, regardless of "region.' But for now, I will settle for the Class 4 format of reseeding for state-semis. That makes the most sense.

 

[Virginia HS Football Fan]

100% agree! I wish VHSL got rid of "regions" and did a true state tournament with the top 32 teams qualifying based on power ratings, regardless of "region.' But for now, I will settle for the Class 4 format of reseeding for state-semis. That makes the most sense.

I disagree. Not only have they devalued district championships, some don’t want regional titles either? I will pass on that. Make everything matter.

 

[Virginia HS Football Fan]

Yes - we were told it was pre-determined as well that B and D would host in Class 6.

Quite personally, I think Class 4 of each level does it the right way where it's re-seeded with the four remaining teams. Something that hopefully will get adopted by other classifications, in time, once they realize it is the fairest and most sensible way to do it...

I've always argued that I want the two best teams at the end playing for the title and don't care what area code they are from. To me, your chances of that happening are always strongest doing it that way.

That’s good that some were told in advance that the host sites were pre-determined. The matchups certainly were for the most part (except for Class 4 initially when it wasn’t clearly stated how the teams would be ranked).

However, it certainly was not clear in the short, yet rambling run-on explanation of the state playoff format on the VHSL Website that pre-determined host sites for some classifications were confirmed and which regional winner would host. I’m fine with the rotation of hosts which was the case for many years.

But this stuff needs to be spelled out clearly. I yearn for organization and competence at the VHSL and it looks like we still won’t be getting any of this anytime soon.

 

[VolNation85_rivals]

I disagree. Not only have they devalued district championships, some don’t want regional titles either? I will pass on that. Make everything matter.

You can still have "region championships" if they went to a true state tournament. The "region" championships would just be determined by seeding instead of geographic location. What's the harm in that?

 

[Anon1751902864]

I am not a big fan of VHSL decisions in general, but thank goodness the posters here are not in charge. Having teams play the whole length of the state in the round of 32 would be an economic and logistical nightmare.

 

[Anon1751902864]

In addition, power points on one end of state do not match power points on other end. Even inside a region, you sometimes have teams with no common opponents as anyone else. So a team can run up a really good rating against awful teams who only play each other.

 

[VolNation85_rivals]

I am not a big fan of VHSL decisions in general, but thank goodness the posters here are not in charge. Having teams play the whole length of the state in the round of 32 would be an economic and logistical nightmare.

It would definitely require a lot of economic and logistical planning, but they make it work in other states, specifically in Texas, which is a much larger state in terms of land area. I wonder how they make it work there. Or even in NC, which is comparable to VA in terms of land area.

 

[540CoachC]

100% agree! I wish VHSL got rid of "regions" and did a true state tournament with the top 32 teams qualifying based on power ratings, regardless of "region.' But for now, I will settle for the Class 4 format of reseeding for state-semis. That makes the most sense.

Yes, I'm here for the 1-32 seeding, statewide playoffs. People will say well then you can't win "region" championships. I say award "Quadrant" championships to each of the final four teams. It's the same concept as winning a regional title but this would again allow the top 32 teams by point rating to make the playoffs. In Class 3, their were 5 teams with losing records in the playoffs. None were in region 3C where two 6-4 teams did not make the playoffs.

 

[m-squared2]

Yes, I'm here for the 1-32 seeding, statewide playoffs. People will say well then you can't win "region" championships. I say award "Quadrant" championships to each of the final four teams. It's the same concept as winning a regional title but this would again allow the top 32 teams by point rating to make the playoffs. In Class 3, their were 5 teams with losing records in the playoffs. None were in region 3C where two 6-4 teams did not make the playoffs.

There is a team in the Class 1 semi finals that is 7-6, so they were 4-6 when the playoffs started. Record doesn't tell the whole story.

 

[Anon1751902864]

Yes, I'm here for the 1-32 seeding, statewide playoffs. People will say well then you can't win "region" championships. I say award "Quadrant" championships to each of the final four teams. It's the same concept as winning a regional title but this would again allow the top 32 teams by point rating to make the playoffs. In Class 3, their were 5 teams with losing records in the playoffs. None were in region 3C where two 6-4 teams did not make the

3C was certainly a stacked region, and not just because it has way more teams than 3B

 

[540CoachC]

There is a team in the Class 1 semi finals that is 7-6, so they were 4-6 when the playoffs started. Record doesn't tell the whole story.

Class 1 is the lone class where you will get occasional 4-6 teams that can still be legit vs their own class. Gap played 5 Class 3 opponents (2-3 in those games) which contributed to their 4-6 record. For Class 1 teams, they are almost always going to be playing bigger schools for at least half their schedules as most C1 teams aren't surrounded by more C1 schools, they usually sit near 1-3 others.

 

[VolNation85_rivals]

Yes, I'm here for the 1-32 seeding, statewide playoffs. People will say well then you can't win "region" championships. I say award "Quadrant" championships to each of the final four teams. It's the same concept as winning a regional title but this would again allow the top 32 teams by point rating to make the playoffs. In Class 3, their were 5 teams with losing records in the playoffs. None were in region 3C where two 6-4 teams did not make the playoffs.

Exactly! I call them "sectional championships" but it's the same thing as a "region" championship.

 

[VolNation85_rivals]

There is a team in the Class 1 semi finals that is 7-6, so they were 4-6 when the playoffs started. Record doesn't tell the whole story.

Record doesn't always tell the whole story, but power rating is usually a good indicator if a team is good or not because it is determined by strength of schedule. And That's' a great story but they should not have been in the playoffs, especially if there was a team in another region that had a higher power rating and did not make the playoffs.

 

[Bridgewatereagle47]

Are you talking about creating a format where the top 32 Teams (6A-1A) would compete based on PowerPoints?

 

[CackalackyNole]

He is saying each group has a 1-32. I saw NC referenced, they do east 1-32 and west 1-32 in each class except for 8A bc they don't have enough teams in 8A as the other 7, they do 1-16 in 8a in the east and west. It would be great if VA went back to an East/west split or a North/south split if that works better for a particular class.

 

[Lorkie12]

If VA did that format, 6A would be hard to figure out due to not being a lot of 6A schools out west except Franklin county I believe and North /South would be tough since it’s already like that and not a lot of teams in the south. They would have to do 1-16 and have northern VA as a region or side of a bracket then combine the old northwest region schools ( battlefield N Stafford colonial forge patriot etc..) with the region A schools ( Smith, Manchester, Thomas Dale western branch

 

[CentralVAFootballFan]

If VA did that format, 6A would be hard to figure out due to not being a lot of 6A schools out west except Franklin county I believe and North /South would be tough since it’s already like that and not a lot of teams in the south. They would have to do 1-16 and have northern VA as a region or side of a bracket then combine the old northwest region schools ( battlefield N Stafford colonial forge patriot etc..) with the region A schools ( Smith, Manchester, Thomas Dale western branch

Franklin County dropped to 5A a few years back. I feel like north/south works better for 6A if the ideas above were implemented

 

[NoVaHomer]

There are 2 big reasons while a 32 team state format would not work for 6A. Or even the 16 team format of North and South. I 6A there are are 57 school in 6A of those 57 school ONLY 9 of them are located below Stafford.

#2 the power points system does not support a strength of schedule like many people think it might. The proof is as follows.
If a 6A school plays another 6A school its 26 for a win and 14 for a loss plus the bonus point for wins. Which is great the problem is if a school loses to a 10-0 school they should be rewarded. Unfortunately, they will only get 24 points once the bonus pts are given. Which is still 2 less points than if a team beat a team that goes 0-10 and get 26 points for that win.

 

[falcettik]

There are 2 big reasons while a 32 team state format would not work for 6A. Or even the 16 team format of North and South. I 6A there are are 57 school in 6A of those 57 school ONLY 9 of them are located below Stafford.

#2 the power points system does not support a strength of schedule like many people think it might. The proof is as follows.
If a 6A school plays another 6A school its 26 for a win and 14 for a loss plus the bonus point for wins. Which is great the problem is if a school loses to a 10-0 school they should be rewarded. Unfortunately, they will only get 24 points once the bonus pts are given. Which is still 2 less points than if a team beat a team that goes 0-10 and get 26 points for that win.

You might also add that playing down a level or two - which was done to be "fair" if teams played in mixed classification districts and had to play lower classification teams - gives bonus points that skew a team's power point average and make it much easier for a team with a schedule against (usually) weaker teams to be ranked higher than they probably should.