Hey all, looking for clarification on the SJ section at large playoff birth determination process...in reading the section web page it states..."In Divisions I-IV, any school not in its league’s top 3 that is ranked in the Top 15 by MaxPreps in their last rankings prior to the selection process will be added to the tournament as an at-large team." Is the MaxPreps ranking they speak of Top 15 in their division? Or Top 15 in the entire section? Thoughts?
At large Playoff Birth in Sac-Joaquin Section
- Thread starter Sarahmoose2
- Start date
That is rather unclear... But my guess is in their division. Very unlikely that a team in the Top 15 of all divisions would be 4th or worse in their own league... Possible in the planets align juuuussssst right (or wrong?), but very unlikely.
btw, the word you were reaching for is "berth", which means a place, such as a spot in a playoff bracket or a bed on a railroad car. Nothing's getting born here.
btw, the word you were reaching for is "berth", which means a place, such as a spot in a playoff bracket or a bed on a railroad car. Nothing's getting born here.
Ok thanks, I wonder why there trying two be vague in they’re description of the playoff scenarios. Its’ not to hard to right a clear explanation of the rules in my opinion?That is rather unclear... But my guess is in their division. Very unlikely that a team in the Top 15 of all divisions would be 4th or worse in their own league... Possible in the planets align juuuussssst right (or wrong?), but very unlikely.
btw, the word you were reaching for is "berth", which means a place, such as a spot in a playoff bracket or a bed on a railroad car. Nothing's getting born here.
Everything the Sac-Joaquin Section does leaves a lot of head scratching etc. from the old time Power Ratings to the current model. The at large bids were added approximately in 2015 the year after the each league was awarded playoff opportunities to placate the schools in the southern part of the section who claimed to not be equally represented in the section playoffs. Two schools in the SFL that year, (2014) Woodcreek Boys and Rocklin Girls had records and max prep rankings significantly better than a number of 2nd and 3rd place finishers in multiple leagues, hence the add on came into play. It started as overall record of .500 or better or top 12 in Max preps and moved to top 15 a couple of years after that with the elimination of .500 or better due to coaches intentionally scheduling in non league to ensure a .500 or better record (yes this did happen)
Once you can read between the lines you can start to figure out how the system works. While the section says they can move teams around, they stick to the max preps rankings for seedings as much as possible with the exception of avoiding league opponents in the first round, and second round if possible, and try to give a league winner at least one home game, but not always possible. The additional teams can be 5th-7th place finishers from strong leagues such as the Delta and SFL.
This often leads to greater than 16 teams in a division forcing the "play in" game, but can also wreak havoc on which division a team gets placed in. If you are in the bottom three or top three as far as "division enrollment" you can be moved up or down a division to equally fill out brackets amongst Divisions 1-4. Not to mention if you are a lower enrollment division but win a higher division league, you must play in the higher division for playoffs. This year think Elk Grove and the Delta. If EG wins the Delta even though they are D-2 they will play in D-1, now if they tie with Sheldon then it comes to the league determined tie-breaker (since both teams split games and each won by 2 points), the section washed their hands of that years ago forcing leagues to implement their own, so there is no consistency in tie breakers among the leagues. Let's not forget the sections "continuance of success" that will move teams up if they have had a pattern of success.
Convoluted? Nah, the Mob goes to the section for advice on how to convolute things LOL Hope this helps explain and not further confuse.
Once you can read between the lines you can start to figure out how the system works. While the section says they can move teams around, they stick to the max preps rankings for seedings as much as possible with the exception of avoiding league opponents in the first round, and second round if possible, and try to give a league winner at least one home game, but not always possible. The additional teams can be 5th-7th place finishers from strong leagues such as the Delta and SFL.
This often leads to greater than 16 teams in a division forcing the "play in" game, but can also wreak havoc on which division a team gets placed in. If you are in the bottom three or top three as far as "division enrollment" you can be moved up or down a division to equally fill out brackets amongst Divisions 1-4. Not to mention if you are a lower enrollment division but win a higher division league, you must play in the higher division for playoffs. This year think Elk Grove and the Delta. If EG wins the Delta even though they are D-2 they will play in D-1, now if they tie with Sheldon then it comes to the league determined tie-breaker (since both teams split games and each won by 2 points), the section washed their hands of that years ago forcing leagues to implement their own, so there is no consistency in tie breakers among the leagues. Let's not forget the sections "continuance of success" that will move teams up if they have had a pattern of success.
Convoluted? Nah, the Mob goes to the section for advice on how to convolute things LOL Hope this helps explain and not further confuse.
