OSAA to turn 6A football playoffs into a two-tiered bracket
Executive Board vote doesn’t please everyone
There will still be 32 teams competing in Oregon’s 6A football playoffs next fall, but they won’t all be put in the same bracket.
After extensive examination by two different OSAA sub-committees, the full Executive Board has decided to split playoff teams based on the Association’s power rankings. Instead of a single bracket of 32 teams, the 6A classification will split into two 16-team brackets. The Division 1 bracket will include teams ranked in the top 16 of the final OSAA rankings. However, any league champions not in the top 16 would replace lower seeded teams in that list. Division 2 will include the remaining teams in the top 32.
Winning teams in each bracket will receive a trophy after their championship contest.
Discussion of a split 6A bracket has been discussed informally for years. The chief supporter of the split, Sunset High School Coach Damien Merrick, pointed out that of the past 44 teams making it to the 6A semi-final games, only five were from outside the top seven in the OSAA power rankings. He says the numbers show that the power rankings are an accurate way to set up split brackets for the state’s top-level schools.
Not everyone is onboard with the idea of a tiered playoff system.
West Salem’s Shawn Stanley is admittedly a “little old school” when it comes to the playoffs.
“I am kind of torn,” admits Stanley. “I wish that we would have had something like a 16-team bracket, with numbers 17 through 32 having a ‘bowl game’—an extra game after the regular season.”
Stanley does understand why some schools are for the split-tiered playoff system.
“There are schools that don’t have equal opportunities,” concedes Stanley.
“Some private schools offer scholarships, and some others seemingly get high profile transfers every year. But we need to be careful about trying to make everyone champions.”
Sprague head football coach Jay Minyard has similar feelings.
“I liked the (original) eight team format better,” says Minyard, “with numbers 9-32 in another bracket.”
“I don’t think what we’re doing now will solve anything,” contends Minyard.
“Truth be told, I wish we would eliminate rankings all together and go back to the old way of seeding it (#1 from one league playing #3 or #4 from another league),” says Minyard.
“It made league play interesting and more important.”
More work on the 6A playoff format is scheduled for this summer.
I agree with coach Stanley's take on "equal opportunity" not equal outcomes for less than talented teams to recieve trophies. Need to get back to rewarding for merit, not equal outcomes.
Agree with Coach Minyard. #1 vs. #4, #2 vs. #3 and in from there. Sometimes we can overthink this stuff.