Competitive balance?

[Dan in Daytona]

23 hours ago, VeniceIndiansFootball said:

I thought Columbia would beat them soundly, but boy, was I wrong. Best of luck to your Bucs. Don't overlook them!

Impossible, with two weeks, to overlook a team 14-0. Mainland's head coach ( Travis Roland ) was a 1st Team All-State LB'er on Mainland's only Championship team (2003). He brings plenty of intensity and wisdom to the table. I may have seen more talented Buccaneer teams in the past, but you can rest assured this one will give 100% heart and effort to win that game and the title that comes with it.... Buc Forever.

[Dr. D]

Circling back to competitive balance, one of the purported factors in support for the Metro-Suburban reclassification was the history of lopsided matchups in state championship games.  Last year's 7 championship games (excluding 1R-1M which was not reclassified) were decided by 2,6,18,21,28,28, and 35 points.  It will be interesting to see if this year's matchups are more closely contested.  Good luck to all! 

[VeniceIndianFan]

On 11/22/2022 at 7:02 PM, BigBoyBall said:

So VENICE you are saying to combine the classes and have a school with 400 students play against schools with 1000-1300 students? Remember, many of the 1R schools are middle-high schools so they rely on 8th graders just to fill a complete team.

Coming back to this topic months later, do you understand now why we need fewer classes? 1R is basically what 1A used to be. Union County had a very strong team for themselves and was able to knock off Madison County, but that won't always happen.  This means that these 1A schools who are now in 1R are basically right back to where they started. And not only this, but you can also practically write in state championships now because the power has become too concentrated into a small group of teams. Just look at this nonsense:

1M- TCA vs CMD

2M- Central vs AHP

3M- STA vs Tampa Bay Tech

4M- Apopka vs Columbus

1R- Madison County vs Hawthorne

2S- Cocoa vs FSU

3S- Mainland vs Lake Wales

4S- Venice vs Lakeland

I shouldn't be able to write in the state championships with such ease. 1A got screwed even worse with the addition of a new classification and now Madison County, Pahokee, and Chaminade/TCA will rule over the 3 new 1A classifications. How is this fair in any way? 

 

 

[Dr. D]

You hit on the underlying problem with the strength of the 10-15 elite teams (due to tradition, coaching, "school choice", etc.) that would dominate regardless of class.  If your goal is to create less predictable, more wide open, more competitive playoffs, then create a separate "Super 16" bracket for those top, elite-tier teams, regardless of class.  Then divide the remaining 470 teams into 5, 6, or 7 classes, and I guarantee those playoffs would be less predictable, more wide open, more entertaining, and more amenable to the "little guy" having a puncher's chance.  Of course the "Super 16" teams would be unhappy that their path to a championship had gotten much harder, but maybe you could cut them in on the TV money to soften the blow.

[PinellasFB]

49 minutes ago, Dr. D said:

You hit on the underlying problem with the strength of the 10-15 elite teams (due to tradition, coaching, "school choice", etc.) that would dominate regardless of class.  If your goal is to create less predictable, more wide open, more competitive playoffs, then create a separate "Super 16" bracket for those top, elite-tier teams, regardless of class.  Then divide the remaining 470 teams into 5, 6, or 7 classes, and I guarantee those playoffs would be less predictable, more wide open, more entertaining, and more amenable to the "little guy" having a puncher's chance.  Of course the "Super 16" teams would be unhappy that their path to a championship had gotten much harder, but maybe you could cut them in on the TV money to soften the blow.

I think if you just throw the private schools into their own league that takes care of 99% of the problem.

[VeniceIndianFan]

3 minutes ago, PinellasFB said:

I think if you just throw the private schools into their own league that takes care of 99% of the problem.

The source of most of these competitive imbalance problems are the South Florida juggernauts. Put them into their own classification and let them duke it out, then create 5-6 classifications for the remaining teams and you should theoretically see much more competition with the so-called, "little guys," having a chance. Agree alot with @Dr. D on this. 

[Perspective]

I know this topic has come up several times under various threads, but this seemed like as good of a place to post this as any.   Apparently, Texas in now considering legislation that would keep their equivalent of the FHSAA from enforcing the rule that makes kids sit out a year if they transfer.   And, apparently, the current SMU head football coach is opposed to this idea.  Here's the bulk of the article that was on MaxPreps, borrowing from the article that appeared in the Dallas News:

"As reported by the Dallas Morning News, SMU head football coach Rhett Lashlee made his feelings clear Monday on a potential bill in Texas introduced earlier this year that would allow high school athletes in the state to transfer to district for athletic purposes without penalty once during their career.

 

"I have an experience being in other states that allow free transfers, and it ruined high school athletics in those states," Lashlee said. "I know myself, and I believe all of the other college coaches would agree ... we stand strongly against that. We’ve got to do what’s best for the young men and women in our state, and what is best is not to allow people to transfer high schools freely without moving."

 

The bill, written by Texas State Representative Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, would prohibit the University Interscholastic League (UIL) from penalizing transfers who move to another district for athletic purposes.

 

The UIL currently mandates that students transferring for athletics must sit out from varsity competition for a full year, even if both parents moved to the new district.

 

The proposal would allow students to transfer once between eighth and 12th grade without penalty from the UIL. It's similar to the provision passed by the NCAA in 2021. Since that time, transfer portal entries in the FBS have nearly doubled according to Chris Hummer of 247Sports."

 

[Nulli Secundus]

5 hours ago, VeniceIndianFan said:

The source of most of these competitive imbalance problems are the South Florida juggernauts. Put them into their own classification and let them duke it out, then create 5-6 classifications for the remaining teams and you should theoretically see much more competition with the so-called, "little guys," having a chance. Agree alot with @Dr. D on this. 

Wait, we have that now.  It's called Metro/Suburban/Rural. 

[VeniceIndianFan]

2 hours ago, Nulli Secundus said:

Wait, we have that now.  It's called Metro/Suburban/Rural. 

No, we don't. We have 12-15 teams out of hundreds who will be expected to win a state championship on a yearly basis. The Metro/Suburban split was an overall positive, but the addition of yet another class was like a kick to the ribs after the FHSAA finally seemed willing to listen to reason. Just look at the smaller classes:

The original 1A class got screwed so badly by this split that it isn't even funny. Madison County will terrorize 1R with their massive talent disparity. Chaminade-Madonna has virtually no competition in 1M outside of Trinity Christian Academy. First Baptist or Trinity Catholic will almost always be expected to win 1S. Cocoa steamrolls 2S. I could go on. 

How is any of this fair? I'll tell you why, it's because it only looks like a mistake to a casual observer. The FHSAA knew exactly what they were doing by adding a new class instead of cutting back. They don't care about competitive imbalance, teams having to travel 75+ minutes for a district game, massive blowouts in regional playoff games, or potential injuries due to facing vastly physically superior teams. Why? Because more classifications = more playoff games = more state championships = more tickets sales = more parking = MORE MONEY!! And that is what they really care about. They had chances to stop this nonsense but never pounced on them because they have about the same amount of integrity as a politician in an election year. They are lining their pockets from ticket and parking sales and that is the bottom line.