MIKE BROWN: Why a bigger Ohio high school playoff football field is better
Everyone in the Mahoning Valley, and for that matter, the state of Ohio, knows that football is king in the Buckeye State.
Whether in-season or off-season, when it comes to football, it’s never the wrong season to talk about the gridiron sport.
And, as we approach the start of another high school football campaign in 10 weeks, one of the issues bantered about is the OHSAA’s decision to allow 16 teams in each region into the football playoffs.
How many teams make the Ohio high school football playoffs?
In 2021, the OHSAA allowed 448 teams into the postseason party. That breaks down to 16 teams in four regions of each division. There are seven divisions in Ohio. There is D7 for schools with the smallest enrollments to D1 for the state’s largest schools.
Using the Harbin football computer ratings, the football playoff system began in 1971 and has been changed on several occasions in terms of teams qualifying for the postseason.
When I played high school football in the early 1970s, only the top two teams in each region made the football playoffs. Imagine that? Eventually, it was increased to four, then eight, and now 16.
Are there too many teams in the Ohio high school football playoffs?
When the OHSAA allowed 16 teams into the playoffs, it began an ongoing debate about the number of teams qualifying for the postseason.
Some feel 16 teams water down the field too much. Others liked the previous format where the top eight teams qualified.
I am probably in the minority on this one. Still, I love that 16 schools in each region get an opportunity to experience the football playoffs.
Are there first-round blowouts because of having 16 instead of eight? Absolutely.
But, on the flip side, we will never again see a 10-0 team fail to make the playoffs in Ohio. And in the previous eight-team format, that happened several times. Imagine going 10-0 and not getting a chance to compete in the playoffs.
But even more importantly, I favor the 16-playoff team format because There are several stacked regions in Ohio that perennially produce way more than eight strong playoff contenders. But in the previous eight-team playoff format, you were left out if you finished ninth in a vital area with an 8-2 record. Sorry.
But that will never happen again in the new 16-playoff team format.
Now, if you’re good, you will get your chance in the postseason — and I, for one, salute the OHSAA’s decision which has made that possible.
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This story was originally published June 12, 2023 at 4:00 AM.