I hope as many teams secede from the FHSAA as possible. This open division makes one division great and 7 divisions sorry as hell. Basically you are taking away every elite team from the other divisions. What’s sad is a lot of coaches support any move that makes it easier to win a title. Regardless the of how watered down and pathetic the product is. 

This development was underreported, given the hoopla surrounding the NIL adoption.  The 8-team "open" division bracket will feature the top 8 teams, regardless of class, as ranked by MaxPreps at the end of the regular season.  As an aside, it was adopted for all FHSAA team sports, not just football (I guess to be seen as "we're not picking on the football elite only", although that is clearly who is being targeted).  The teams will be seeded #1-8 and placed into two brackets.  Within each bracket, there is a double elimination format, until the state semifinals, where it becomes single elimination.  Somewhat confusing, so here is a visual depiction, https://fhsaa.com/documents/2024/5/29/59_61.pdf .  Several things: 1) Does not appear to be an "opt-in" or "opt-out" feature; if you're in the top 8, you go to the "open" bracket.  2) Teams will lose some home games that they would otherwise potentially host if they remained in their original class; not sure how revenue will be distributed, but some teams will be upset.  #3) Travel could be an issue, although realistically there is very little chance that a team from the panhandle would ever qualify; more likely to be an issue in the other team sports.  4) The logic of the double-elimination format was stated that top 8 teams "deserve" a second chance based on their season-long performance; let's be realistic - more games = more revenue.  5) Implementation was delayed until 2026, presumably because teams have just been reclassified for 2024 and 2025 from Metro-Suburban to school enrollment; may also give some elite teams a chance to rethink their future in the FHSAA.  It will be interesting to see if this move meets the intended goal of making the playoffs in all the classes more competitive.  And it should certainly create some great matchups in the open division bracket.  As always, there are winners and losers as a result of this decision.      

Looks like the FHSAA board of directors did vote earlier this week (12 for vs 1 against) to enact the open or championship division based on the season end rankings of the top 8 teams.  That is great news to stick all the powerhouses regardless of class enrollment into that championship bracket.  I would like to see this expanded to the top 16 teams in the upcoming years to include more of the schools that "Attract Talent".  Maybe Dr. D can expand more on this developing story but it surely will relieve many of the lopsided scores witnessed in previous championship games. 

Sorry for late replay.  I was at that game.  TS D1 transfers in from CAI were dominant.  I have no idea why that QB and WR decided to transfer to Tarpon but holy shit they were crazy good.  As crazy as it sounds, Tarpon was loaded with athletes.  However, they are suspect on the lines and don't play good defense.  The varsity vs varsity action ended with PHU 21 - Tarpon 20.  These two teams rematch in the 2024 regular season so it should be a fun game to watch.   On a side note, those CAI transfers are young players.  I suspect they are one year rent-a-players until they find a more suitable home when CCC, Berkeley or Jesuit have openings.

Full disclosure, and I don't think yet NIL related, Lakeland appears to be SMASHING it in the transfer game this off-season. As in, they may well be noticeably more talented than *any* team they face all season. A check of the schedule, and who's in their playoffs division, should make that pretty remarkable. Of course, it's way too early to know for sure how it will pan out come August.