West Virginia does, should Ohio ?

[FANOSPORTS]

In WV high school football you must play 60% of your games against teams in your division/classification or higher to qualify for the playoffs, regardless of record or 1st/2nd level points etc.. If Ohio would ever implement something like this you'd have a lot of angry people. Thoughts ?

[VetteMan]

I wonder if the fact that West Virginia has probably 1/10 the amount of High Schools in the State compared to Ohio, has anything to do with it? I just know that when WV playoffs are held, they don't have to play very many games to win the championship. I guess how many Classes or Divisions they have would also determine that.

[formerfcfan]

WV probably makes this work well because there’s only three classifications (AAA, AA, and A.)

I just can’t see this working in Ohio. Not when competitive balance shifts teams up and down yearly now, and especially not when the schedules are written years in advance and thus no control is to be had on whether or not your opponents get moved up or down.

[FANOSPORTS]

I wonder if the fact that West Virginia has probably 1/10 the amount of High Schools in the State compared to Ohio, has anything to do with it? I just know that when WV playoffs are held, they don't have to play very many games to win the championship. I guess how many Classes or Divisions they have would also determine that.

WV plays 4, Ohio plays 5 to win state.

[VetteMan]

You are right about how many games they have to play. I had just checked on Pt.Pleasant the last couple years. I had 7 games on my mind from Basketball. I had also not taken competitive balance in consideration.

[Tank14]

If spring valley played division 2 schedule in Ohio they wouldn’t even sniff the playoffs in Ohio.

[OHHS old timer]

It's an interesting way to do it but I don't see large states doing. Way too many divisions in big states

[mattash]

Maybe 2 or 3 max required. Crooksville, Athens and a few others wouldn't be able to do it. Would like to see it for D7

[FANOSPORTS]

Maybe 2 or 3 max required. Crooksville, Athens and a few others wouldn't be able to do it. Would like to see it for D7

Athens would be out of playoffs in WV even if they would go undefeated because they only play 3 schools now their size or larger but Crooksville would be eligible for playoffs because they already play 9 games against their size schools or larger.

[FANOSPORTS]

Maybe 2 or 3 max required. Crooksville, Athens and a few others wouldn't be able to do it. Would like to see it for D7

D7 - It wouldn't matter because everyone is your size or larger.

[Fattseycline]

Dumbest thing I have heard!!! Some of the best football teams in Ohio are division 5 and up! That would be an awful rule change!

[Raider6309]

Maybe 2 or 3 max required. Crooksville, Athens and a few others wouldn't be able to do it. Would like to see it for D7

Athens would be out of playoffs in WV even if they would go undefeated because they only play 3 schools now their size or larger but Crooksville would be eligible for playoffs because they already play 9 games against their size schools or larger.

Im pretty sure Athens is considered AA and everyone they play are AA or AAA expect for NY

[efarns]

The points system rewards playing up. I don't think we need more rules.

[portsmouth_98]

Yeah, I think the points system takes that into consideration without forcing schools to travel crazy times to play a school with more similar enrollment.

[questionmark]

Looking at Division III, Region 11 (the teams I follow) if you had to play 60% at Division or Higher to get into the Play-Offs, the top teams who would be in the Top 8 (plus 1 via TIE in POINTS) only (3) of the (9) would be eligible...

#1 - Bellbrook Golden Eagles --(NO)
vs (2 D2) (3 D3) (3 D4) (2 D5)

#2 - Sheridan Generals -- (NO)
vs (2 D2) (1 D3) (5 D4) (1 D5) (1 D6)

#3 - Bishop Hartley Hawks -- (YES)
vs. (5 D2) (2 D3) (1 D4) (2 D6)

#4 - Eastmoor Academy Warriors --(YES)
vs. (1 D1) (5 D2) (3 D3) (1 D6)

#5 - Granville Blue Aces -- (NO)
vs. (3 D2) (2 D3) (3 D4) (2 D5)

#6 - Hillsboro Indians -- (NO)
vs. (2 D2) (3 D3) (2 D4) (2 D5) (1 D6)

#7 - Jackson Ironmen -- (NO)
vs. (2 D2) (2 D3) (4 D4) (2 D5)

T-#8 - Athens Bulldogs -- (NO)
vs. (2 D2) (1 D3) (3 D4) (2 D5) (1 D6)

T-#8 - Marion Franklin Red Devils -- (YES)
vs. (3 D1) (3 D2) (3 D3) (1 D6)

[enigmaax]

West Virginia only has 3 classes (divisions) and something like 30-40 schools in each class. Sixteen teams in each class make the playoffs.

I’ll use Parkersburg as an example. They have 1500+ students. There are only 2 AAA schools in their immediate area and a dozen or so with enrollments in the 1-200s.They could easily schedule 10 small schools every year, go 10-0 on sheer numbers, and make the playoffs. The rule is necessary to prevent things like that and it is ALL about simple mathematics (half the teams make the playoffs, so it is mathematically easier to get in; there are so few divisions, the discrepancy in points from little schools to big schools doesn’t effectively overcome this).

Ohio has enough schools, enough divisions (a big school essentially pays a huge points price by beating a small school if an opponent beats a big school) and a smaller playoff pool within each region (about 1/4 of the teams) that such a rule is not competitively necessary.

[purpleblood1]

Most of the schools in WV are in a conference that is class oriented. Example MSAC has a AAA and a AA division and they play 7 or 8 games in the conference.

[eagle one]

no no and no