Just curious by what you mean when you ask "did this help anything?" Of course it did. No, it may not make a difference to you as a fan, but this isn't supposed to be about what's best for your entertainment. This is supposed to be about what is best, and most fair for the kids and teams that end up in the playoffs each year. The success factor and multiplier are there to keep what happened last year in 1a from happening again. Lena-Winslow lost the 2023 title game to Camp Point Central. Althoff Catholic lost earlier in the playoffs to Camp Point Central. What did the 3 schools do? Lena-Winslow brought back their 5 remaining seniors, their juniors, sophomores and freshmen who had been at Lena-Winslow for the past 10 years, worked harder than ever, and pushed for another shot at the state game. Camp Point Central brought back their underclassmen and worked their tails off to defend their title. What did Althoff do? Went out on the recruiting trail because they had 1 more season in 1a to rip everyone to shreds. I don't know what the stat was exactly, but a large number of starters on that team did not attend Althoff prior to the their 2024 title year.
As a alum of Lena-Winslow and father of a former player, I can tell you very confidently that almost every player that has started a state game for Lena-Winslow was a homegrown kid. In 2022, a kid moved back to Lena for his senior season because his school had gone to 8-man, he grew up in Lena, and wanted to finish his career in 11-man. Other than that, the entire 2021 state teams starters were K-12 Lena. All but 1 of the 2019 state team was K-12 in Lena, and I believe that 1 came to Lena in early grade school. Those are the teams I am most familiar with because my kids grew up with those teams. I know the 2010, 2013, and 2017 were not much different, though I cannot give you exact numbers.
So, you'd like to slap a success factor on Lena-Winslow or Byron for winning too much? And what, punish the next class of kids who are next in line to earn a spot on this team? What does this year's team have to do with next year's? I'm so lost on this logic. These are closed boundary, small town farm schools. Their record starts at 0-0, and the coaches take a look at who is going out for football, they get them to the weight room, figure out who is playing where, and they season them for the post season. Why should they be punished for other kid's success?
