I am sure you all have looked at the representation for the state tournaments coming up and generally I think it will work out, but 4A boys is going to be a mess. Right now we are potentially looking at 2 of the top 5 according the the MaxPreps rankings (which are being used to SEED the bracket once all teams are in) that will NOT be playing at all. District 5 only gets one bid...between Preston, Poky and Century. Again, all of those are top 5 teams according to MaxPreps. We could potentially see a 14+ ranked team in over #4. Crazy. I have no idea what the answer is here and what the fix is, and usually the system works out just fine (football I thought actually went the way it should, you saw top 5 teams all in the semis instead of a 1v2 in the first round) but in cases like this, someone is getting left out that should not only be there, but probably has a chance to win the whole thing. Any thoughts? What could be done? Do we have a committee? Expand the tournament? I know other states do home site first and second rounds based off rankings and THEN have a state "final four" experience like we currently have in place (which I think is a great experience). This would allow more teams in and you would most likely get the top 4 showing up. Just some thoughts!
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The half bids and play in games should be decided based on competitiveness and how districts perform at state, not on the number of teams. 4A Dist 5, 3A Dist 5/6, 1AD1 Districts 2,4, and 1AD2 Dist 4 are prime examples of this. Lots of competitive teams staying home, while mediocre teams from 4A Dist 4, 3A Dist 1/2/3, 1AD1 and 1AD2 District 3 all get to play at state, only to be blown out and go 2 and out most years. It's a big problem with all the 1A Dist3 charter schools getting so many bids.
In reference to the 3A 5th and 6th districts, the problem is each conference protecting their "extra" bid aside from the conference champ. From what I have heard Snake River is one of the schools who is the major objection to combining. Especially when it comes to FB. No one wants to play Sugar Salem anymore. SS is now the Shelley of 15 to 10 years ago. The 3A classification overall causes difficulties, currently schools are either growing to where they become the smallest 4A schools or they are losing population and dropping down to 2A. There are not enough 3A schools statewide. I feel it may need to be time to redo the classification structures to have a more even allotment of schools in each class.
With all due respect your math isn't adding up to me. If the 1st place team from the 5th gets a bid and the 1st place team from the 6th gets a bid then the winner of the 2nd place teams gets a 1/2 bid thats 1+1+1/2=2 1/2 not 1 1/2
So this year in 3A, the second place teams from Districts 5 and 6 play each other in the first play-in game. Then the winner of that has to play the second place team from District 4. So instead of 2 full bids, they are really getting 1.5. Again, these are issues the IHSAA should really be in charge of. If you leave it up to the individual schools, they will always do what's best for their schools, not the entire state. That's not their fault, they are just using the current system to their advantage.
I haven't looked at it but in 3A if each district gets 1.25 seeds then no 2 is not better than 2.5. I personally think it's funny how this topic as well as many others are not a problem until it affects Boise or the larger schools. This has been a problem for years in the 1A's. There have been several years when 2 or 3 teams have been better than all of district 3 yet we get 1 bid and they get multiple.
On the topic of small conferences, are there any 3A fans on the board? I've always wondered why Districts 5 and 6 don't combine there. This year, the second place team from either district has to win TWO play-in games just to make it to state. Wouldn't a six team league with 2 bids be better?
Get rid of 3 team conferences. UNACCEPTABLE...especially when there are so many 4A teams in southern Idaho!
Unfortunately it has never really been fair. It should be out of the hands of the people who have a vested interest in the outcome. What goes around comes around. The 4th district is very weak.. Just like the mess with the deplorable Nfhs contract the ISHAA gave to an organization that gives nothing back to Idaho High School sports it itself is corrupt answers to no one and will not do anything to help the cause. Without Idaho Sports we would have nothing promoting Idaho Sports and would have no idea about schedules records etc out of our immediate area. Why doesn't the ISHAA support Idaho Sports,com.?.
The problem right now is that there is no incentive for the schools in Districts 4 or 6 to take on Preston, Pocatello and Century. Even if it leads to more bids at state, those three are far superior to anyone in Districts 4 or 6 except Jerome and Hillcrest. So these leagues would rather protect their bids, which leads to the some of the best teams staying home. I've covered high school sports in Montana and Nebraska, and the conferences in those states are determined by the state association. The IHSAA doesn't really act as a governing body in this regard, and until they get involved, this will continue to be a problem.
I’m in agreement with Axes. The answer is probably to combine conferences so you have a larger number of teams allowing for more state representation from that conference. As long as IDHSAA decides to follow the allotment by conference, district 5 for 4A is going to be limited to 1 team. So the immediate answer for Century, Poky, and Preston is go win your conference tournament. I agree it’s crazy to leave one or two of those teams out, but that’s how it is set up.
Last night Pocy beat Madison one of the top 5a's in the state. Middleton Bishop Kelly, Jerome and Hillcrest are the only other comparable teams to Preston and Century, Pocatello. Second seed in Great Basin and top 4a in north Idaho as third in Boise loose by double digits to any of the 3. Need to combine Eastern Idaho and give them at least 2 and a half seeds next year. Don't see doing away with district tournaments and seeding state tournament based on rankings.. One great thing is state tournament will be seeded this year a huge step in the right direction. The half seeds could be switched up or down and designated at the end of the regular season and moved around based on Max Prep rankings as well.