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Will strength of schedule matter?

NCFB73

Well-Known Member
Jan 23, 2024
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I’ve heard there is talk about RPI not mattering next season that playoffs could be based purely off wins vs losses.

Hope they use RPI or you are going to see some awful non conference games.
 
If I were in control of making my teams schedule, I would water it down as much as possible. Yea I’d get called out online, but when I was playing at home throughout the playoffs as a 1-2 seed, I wouldn’t really care. You’re gonna have to end up playing tough teams regardless, I’d rather do it in the third round than in week 2,3,4 get a 9 seed and play a juggernaut in round 1. All you get when making a brutal schedule is the ability to say “oh we get to see where we match up against great teams”. Yea well you’re gonna get to do that in the playoffs anyway. You don’t get rewarded for being 7-4 in the regular season but you played mallard creek, Shelby, watauga and Butler close when you are on the road every playoff game
 
If I were in control of making my teams schedule, I would water it down as much as possible. Yea I’d get called out online, but when I was playing at home throughout the playoffs as a 1-2 seed, I wouldn’t really care. You’re gonna have to end up playing tough teams regardless, I’d rather do it in the third round than in week 2,3,4 get a 9 seed and play a juggernaut in round 1. All you get when making a brutal schedule is the ability to say “oh we get to see where we match up against great teams”. Yea well you’re gonna get to do that in the playoffs anyway. You don’t get rewarded for being 7-4 in the regular season but you played mallard creek, Shelby, watauga and Butler close when you are on the road every playoff game
This.
 
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If I were in control of making my teams schedule, I would water it down as much as possible. Yea I’d get called out online, but when I was playing at home throughout the playoffs as a 1-2 seed, I wouldn’t really care. You’re gonna have to end up playing tough teams regardless, I’d rather do it in the third round than in week 2,3,4 get a 9 seed and play a juggernaut in round 1. All you get when making a brutal schedule is the ability to say “oh we get to see where we match up against great teams”. Yea well you’re gonna get to do that in the playoffs anyway. You don’t get rewarded for being 7-4 in the regular season but you played mallard creek, Shelby, watauga and Butler close when you are on the road every playoff game
Totally agree..but most of the time those "watered down" teams hang up the phone
 
I’ve heard there is talk about RPI not mattering next season that playoffs could be based purely off wins vs losses.

Hope they use RPI or you are going to see some awful non conference games.
Although there was no better alternative, the RPI is greatly flawed in HS sports because it can't distinguish between classifications. A prime example of that is Erwin getting rewarded by the RPI for playing Brevard and Mountain Heritage, when in reality Erwin had no business being the 1-seed.
 
Totally agree..but most of the time those "watered down" teams hang up the phone
Which is why you have to incentivize playing tougher teams, not necessarily those with better records. If I am "watered down" team why would I go play an AC Reynolds team who has Shelby, West Forsyth, East Forsyth, Watauga, Asheville and Erwin on their schedule? I can find a much easier 6-5 team to go play, which highlights the flaw with the RPI as I pointed out above.
 
I’ve heard there is talk about RPI not mattering next season that playoffs could be based purely off wins vs losses.

Hope they use RPI or you are going to see some awful non conference games.

Looks like the RPI will be the only thing that they will use.

NCHSAA football changes conference champions will no longer determine the the playoff seeds will go 24 East and West. Top 8 seeds get bye. The Playoff seeds will be determined by RPI finish. A 2nd seed can be seeded higher than a conference champion. A conference champion is no longer guaranteed a playoff berth if RPI is not in the top 48 RPI of each class
 
I have seen a lot of stupid things over my years but this one may be at the top of the list … I have thought about it and I can’t figure out what the NchSAa was thinking with this one ….. 🤯
 
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I have seen a lot of stupid things over my years but this one may be at the top of the list … I have thought about it and I can’t figure out what the NchSAa was thinking with this one ….. 🤯
I think we are at a point of people just making decisions so it looks like they are doing something. Even back to the 8a thing. We don’t need 8! We need a private school conference, and keep 1-4a. Even Texas don’t have 8!
 
I'm not saying this is the answer, but you have to have something to figure in who you've played and who you've beaten. You shouldn't be rewarded for playing a cupcake schedule and beating up on bad teams.
 
I'm not saying this is the answer, but you have to have something to figure in who you've played and who you've beaten. You shouldn't be rewarded for playing a cupcake schedule and beating up on bad teams.
Do you feel this system is better than what was used last year?
 
I think we are at a point of people just making decisions so it looks like they are doing something. Even back to the 8a thing. We don’t need 8! We need a private school conference, and keep 1-4a. Even Texas don’t have 8!
I don't think we need 8 now, but we needed at least 6 twenty years ago, so I think 8 is just allowing room for future growth and change so we aren't caught with our pants down again.
 
I'm not saying this is the answer, but you have to have something to figure in who you've played and who you've beaten. You shouldn't be rewarded for playing a cupcake schedule and beating up on bad teams.
I would like to see RPI only come into consideration with conference and/or same classification games since it's used to determine playoff implications by classification and conference. I think that would also help some teams get over their out of conference scheduling fears and make it easier for other teams to schedule games locally.
 
I like that conference champions no longer are guaranteed the top x spots in each class, but I do think that conference champions should be somewhat protected and be guaranteed a home playoff game (i.e. top 16 seed either east or west for 1-A through 7-A or a Top 8 seed in 8-A).
 
Do you feel this system is better than what was used last year?
I don't know if it will work out better or not. I'll just give last year as an example. We played in a very good conference with us, South Point and KM. All 3 teams were probably as good or better than half the other conference winners. We ended up having to play an away game at Oak Grove in the 2nd round. We took the starters out up 35-0 in the 3rd quarter. Not trying to knock them but they had played a very very weak schedule and didn't really deserve the seeding they got. There were others as well.... so to answer your question, the best way of seeding probably lies somewhere in the middle between conference winners, but also rpi and strength of schedule. Otherwise teams are just going to schedule teams they know they can beat up on.
 
I don't know if it will work out better or not. I'll just give last year as an example. We played in a very good conference with us, South Point and KM. All 3 teams were probably as good or better than half the other conference winners. We ended up having to play an away game at Oak Grove in the 2nd round. We took the starters out up 35-0 in the 3rd quarter. Not trying to knock them but they had played a very very weak schedule and didn't really deserve the seeding they got. There were others as well.... so to answer your question, the best way of seeding probably lies somewhere in the middle between conference winners, but also rpi and strength of schedule. Otherwise teams are just going to schedule teams they know they can beat up on.
Good point but the crappy thing is you do not get rewarded for winning a conference championship by the same people that created these conferences. Burns and Shelby for the first time probably ever, have the same exact schedule. We both play KM and Crest in non-conference in week 1 and 2. We basically swap opponents those two weeks and then play the exact same teams in conference. Everything about this realignment and new rules is a $hit show.
 
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