bring back the wild card

I'm wondering how many people out there think the wild card should be brought back for high school football.

When the FHSAA used to reward the 2 teams with the next best records in the region, it made every game important, not just the 4 or 5 district games.

It would make each week vital. Teams wouldn't have throw away games.

And in a case like this season where there are 4 teams in District 16-6A worthy of a shot at the playoffs, at least 1 would likely get in. In District 16-4A, Booker T., Edison and Jackson are all capable of doing damage in the playoffs. But only 2 will go and you'll likely have a 7-3 team missing out.

Homestead or Killian or South Dade or Southridge could get left out despite winning seasons.

Meanwhile, you'll have a .500 or worse team make the playoffs in District 12-6A.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to consider this when the FHSAA next re-districts.

Comments

[TBredPride]

You forgot to mention the Hialeah T-Breds. They went from 2-6 last year to a possible 7-2 by the end of this season. The two teams they lost to are the number's 1 and 2 ranked teams in the state (Northwestern and Central). I'm sure they could do lots of damage in the playoffs.

[Sweetness]

It's an easy solution...forget the wildcard format because then teams will schedule the likes of Coral Park, SW, Ferguson, etc...to pump up their record to make the playoffs. All the FHSAA has to do is take the (2) top teams from each district (as its done now) and then seed them in their regions. For example:

6A State Playoffs
(6A-13, 6A-14, 6A-15, 6A-16 Region)

Top 4 seeds: district champs based on overall record (in case of a tie in record the tie breaker would be the winning % of all opponents played)

Bottom 4 seeds would consist of the runner-up in each district based on overall record (in case of a tie in record the tie breaker would be the winning % of all opponents played)

Here's how it would break down and how the bracket would be (obviously the higher seed hosting a playoff game)

#1 Northwestern vs. #8 Sunset

#4 Varela vs. #5 Central

#3 Coral Gables vs. #6 Homestead

#2 Southridge vs. #7 Columbus

This would make all 10 games during the seaon meaningful because it determines how high your seeding would be.