I thought TC had this unstoppable offense that was impossible to stop. I forgot what type of offense it was. Which was during their era they were playing nothing but big powerful schools
While your position is well-argued, reality is not totally consistent with your conclusions. Here are the teams that would have made the Open Division bracket in 2024 had it been in effect:
Nease
Cardinal Newman
Venice
Jones
Gadsden County
C-M
West Boca Raton
AH-P
And in 2025:
DeLand
Cardinal Mooney
Vero Beach
Buchholz
Miami NW
Mandarin
Carrollwood Day
Bolles
So in the past 2 years: no STA, no Miami Central, no Raines, no Lakeland, no Edgewater, no Armwood, no Lake Mary, and so on.
The variable that cannot be accounted for is the use of MaxPreps rankings to select the Open bracket teams. At this point, there is no human element involved in selection, no selection committee, no "eyeball" test, no historical element of success, and no "these are the teams that I think should be in the Open Division" in the opinion of various members of this board.
All we know is MaxPreps uses W-L record, strength of schedule, margin of victory, and who knows what other variables in some weighted formula to magically produce a numerical value. Will a team with a 9-1 record whose only loss is to an out-of-state powerhouse be pushed out of the Open Division by a 10-0 team who pounded a bunch of cupcakes?
I don't think the entire playoff system in Florida is going to implode into a pile of rubbish with the advent of the Open Division, although you may be correct in the end. I think there are enough good teams in Florida to keep things interesting. I'll give it a year to see what actually transpires before drawing any conclusions.