IHSA ruins it

Welcome to the rest of us.. that's how the IHSA has done our regionals FOR YEARS!

James,

The IHSA has just posted the assignments for the regionals & sectionals... they have yet to seed the teams in each assigned regional/sectional tournament.  The assignment has always been done before the season starts --- to determine location of the regional & sectional tournaments.  Usually from year-to-year there is a slight change on which teams/regions schools are assigned too, but not much.  This sort of the tournament is "luck of the draw" and plays out in every HS sport --- football, basketball, baseball.  For basketball... The Chicago City tournament holds more weight for those teams vs. the State championship, because many times there are multiple teams in that region/sectional that could end up playing in the state final four/finals.  A few years back, all of IHSA had used geography (or regions) to attract more local rivalries (crowds) to the playoff contests vs. having a lot of travel for a lower seed vs. higher seed game... At the end of the day, you still have to beat the teams in the region/area/territory to make it to the finals.  The seeds will come out mid-May to determine which are the better teams within a sectional/regional.

Where I would like to see a change in the current playoff system is to have a best 2/3 series once the playoffs are down to the final 8... all too often a one game playoff, doesn't accurately reflect the team with the best talent.  Many other states use a multi-game / mini-series playoff format to determine the state champion. 

3 out of 4 years the best team doesn't win the state title. Single elimination for an entire tournament is ridiculous.

Make 1st round single elimination. That way every team throws their ace. This more times than not will allow the better teams to advance. From there do a best 2/3. I believe the state of Texas does something along the lines of 2/3. Or maybe change it to like football where not all of the teams get in. Something should be changed because this single elimination thing is to much like a lottery.

I totally agree!!!!!

IHSA tournaments are to determine a state champion, not to decide the best team, in orderfor the IHSA to make a lot of money. It is a format that has worked well for them for manydecades, keeps interest up for years after kids graduate from college about who had the best team, in spite of who won the championship. It becomes unfair, ridiculus, stupid, etc. when your team suffers the injustice of losing in a one and done. It is high school. Enjoy it for what it is. 

Enjoying the unfairness and laziness of the IHSA is not my cup of tea. I watched the NCAA regional match ups today and I didn't hear Kyle Peterson or Big Ben mention single elim one time. Other than MLB baseball's wild card it's a best out of 7 series. This was a lazy alternative that the IHSA instituted and has not addressed since.

My opinion of what the IHSA should do.

The 2 options that I have come up with are as follows: (I use this years 4A class and dates as a model with 165 teams)

IDEA #1

May 20/21- The lowest seeded 74 teams would play a single elimination game. I have added the 21st as a rain date.

May 22/23- Now with 128 teams remaining they would all play another single elimination game. Top teams that should advance probably will if they use their #1 while the other teams just survived the day before and have to go one slot lower on the rung. (We now have 64 teams remaining)

May 24/25/27-Memorial Day weekend- 64 teams will play the best out of 3 series. Friday would be game 1, Saturday games 2 and 3 unless both coaches agree that with good weather they'd play game 3 on Monday. Again, an extra day in case of rain outs. (32 teams remain)

May 28/29/30- Best 2 of 3. I know I'll get blasted with the potential rainout theory. An alternative field can be decided prior to the series, etc. This can be worked out no doubt.

(We are now down to 16 teams)

May 31/June 1/3- Best 2 of 3 with 8 winners advancing. Theoretically this series could start on Saturday with a DH if the prior series is still going on.

June 4/5/6- 4 sets of 2 teams play the best of 3. If school is out for all those playing this shouldn't be a problem.

June 7/8- State Final Four- 4 team double elimination bracket- Friday games 10, 1, 4, 7 Saturday 10, 1 and if game 4. 3A and 4A will be at different sites which could help the IHSA. More people might decide to go if they're guaranteed to see their school play 2 games that first day.

IDEA #2

I actually like this idea more than the other.

May 20-21- The 74 lowest seeded teams play a single elimination game to put the tournament at 128 teams.

May 22-27- 32 Regionals with 4 teams play a double elimination tournament. There would need to be 2 different sites for the early games. You'd want 2 games on Wed and 2 games on Thurs which would most likely mean 2 sites. With Monday being Memorial day there's no doubt this thing can get done with on time even with a lot of rain. 32 teams remain.

May 28-June 1- 8 Sectionals (using IHSA terms) with 4 teams. Same amount of days as the week before but with out 2 days where you could start play early due to no school. 8 teams remain.

June 3/4/5- 4 Super Sectionals with the best 2 out of 3 series. Winners advance to the State Final Four. 

June 7/8- 4 teams, double elimination tournament. If rain, it finishes up on Monday. 

Tear me up how you wish.

We're still in school...

I don't think you understood what I meant. The week before you'd have Saturday and Monday to play games starting a 9 or 10am if you wanted to while the next weekend you'd only have Saturday for that option.

You start those games on Tuesday. With 2 games on Tuesday at 2 different sites, same thing for Wednesday. Thursday and Friday are 1 game with Saturday being potentially 2 games.

This could work and if the facility had lights all games could be played at the same location.

Both of your options are pretty good.  I just don't see IHSA changing baseball when every other "State Series" is a one and done format.  All you have to do is convince a majority of the principals who vote on these things to vote to change it, as it would be in the best interest of all of the member schools, their student-athletes, and the IHSA itself.  I think it would be a long uphill climb.  And what I meant in the earlier post about enjoying it, is just that.  IHSA is a long entrenched bureaucracy, it doesn't change rapidly, and the high school years/seasons go by in a hurry.  Most time, the angst you describe is attributed to the smaller schools, where their community identity is tied closely to the high school sports teams, local/regional bragging rights, etc., not the 4A giant schools, where there are so many other things in the community that high school sports are not that well attended, or even noticed.  It hurts, but a state championship is not an end all, be all, or at least is shouldn't be.  Good luck.

Also, there is a site called Illinoishighschoolsports.com.  Coach B25 has contributed there in the past as well as being a moderator here.  You can find a much more sympathetic crowd tearing down/ranting against the IHSA, especially when football seedings/pairings are announced.