The Kentucky High School Athletic Association announced a radically-altered postseason format for football on Wednesday — but most coaches don’t seem to be fans of the new plan.
First- and second-round playoff games will now be contested within each district, as opposed to the traditional cross-bracketing format against another district. However, the most ground-breaking decision is the use of a computer formula — a Ratings Power Index (RPI) — for determining the third and fourth round opponents and sites. Those changes take effect this fall.
Caldwell County head coach David Barnes said it was basically a desire of superintendents and principals to reduce travel in the first round of the playoffs, especially with many matchups that end up being lopsided.
“I think playing within your district in the first two rounds of the playoffs is not what most coaches wanted,” said Barnes.
“I’m just shocked,” added Christian County head coach Steve Lovelace, who was in Sevierville, Tenn., where he will help coach the Kentucky All-Stars in the Border Bowl on Saturday. “Nobody knew anything about it. Coaches have been calling me all day.
“I don’t see how this really changes anything,” Lovelace added. “You’re still playing a 1 (seed) and a 4 (seed), but now we’re playing the same teams we saw in Weeks 6, 7, 8 and 9.”
“The thing that frustrates me the most is that coaches found out about this on social media,” noted Trigg County head coach Coby Lewis. “We weren’t notified in advance that this was coming up. We had already made our schedules for 2019-20. If we knew schedule strength was going to be a factor in the RPI, we may have scheduled differently.”
Barnes, Lovelace and Lewis were in agreement that the state’s football coaches were not proponents of the new format.
“I have not talked to one coach that is in favor of it,” noted Lewis. “If there is a chance of playing a team in week nine and again two weeks later, they need to move the scheduling grid up in the season so that more games are played between the district games and the playoffs. You don’t see basketball or baseball playing a district game then playing in the district tournament the next week.”
According to the KHSAA, the RPI would be a function of the strength of schedule, with parameters weighted 35 percent on a team’s strength of schedule, 35 percent on its opponents’ strength of schedule, and 30 percent on its opponents’ opponents’ strength of schedule. The organization said the RPI could also have the added benefit of resulting in more competitive schedules for some schools and a modernized method of breaking three-way district ties.
“There is probably no fan of high school sports that doesn’t have an opinion about the football playoffs,” KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett said in a statement. “There certainly have been a variety pack of formats as we continue to get membership feedback. However, in the end, the vast majority of the schools did not want to reduce the number of playoff teams.
“With that in mind and continuing concerns about less than desirable matchups in the first round, the board felt very strongly that the amount of travel for the first two rounds needed to be reduced regardless of the fact the teams might have already played. Certainly, those repeat matchups occur in every team sport and the board did not feel a difference was justified if less travel was involved.
“The RPI will be an exciting development, especially given the fact that it will be totally transparent. It does not reward teams for higher point margins, instead rewarding teams that play a tougher schedule, and will not be some group of people interjecting opinions and thoughts with potential unchecked bias. The objectivity of the RPI will be a great feature. “
However, coaches objected to the timing of the format change.
“My biggest frustration is how we found out and that it came after we made out our schedules based on the cross-bracketing the KHSAA came up with last year,” said Lewis.
Barnes said if Caldwell had known about the playoff changes earlier, it may have impacted the school’s thought process prior to realignment last year.
“We might have chosen to stay in Class 3A instead of dropping to 2A if we had known this at the time,” said Barnes, whose team is likely looking at a second-round matchup against perennial power Mayfield instead of a third-round meeting.
Barnes also noted a few other changes could be on the horizon for high school football in Kentucky.
“Last year they played a game at Pulaski County on a field that really wasn’t playable. I think they’re going to look at the third and fourth round of the playoffs and, if the field is in bad shape, going to a neutral site with a turf field. They have a list of all the turf fields.
“I also think you’re going to see a 40-second play clock next season (instead of the traditional 25-second clock). I think that’s another change coming.”
The 40-second play clock begins when the previous play ends, as opposed to waiting for officials to mark the ball and whistle it into play.
