State titles in seven classes of high school football will be earned Wednesday and Thursday.
BOONE — Concluding nearly a year of planning, the Iowa Football Coaches Association met Wednesday with the IHSAA Playoff Committee and offered their suggestions for changes to the alignment of teams and the structure of the postseason in all classes.
According to a letter to IFCA members obtained by ThePerryNews.com, Steve Milder, head coach at West Central Valley and current IFCA President, noted the proposed changes had been discussed as far back as January, with IHSAA members invited to attend the March and June meetings of the IFCA Board of Directors. He further noted that the IFCA proposal had been shared with the Board of Directors of the Iowa High School Athletic Directors Association, who did not express any concern with the suggestions.
The key purpose of the changes offered are, the IFCA said, to “increase participation in football while at the same time keeping player safety as a priority.”
The IHSAA is scheduled to announce changes to the makeup of each class and new district alignments early next year.
A major concern for the IFCA was insuring what is called “9 and 32” meaning a nine-game regular season, with 32 playoff qualifiers in each class save 4A, in which 24 would qualify for the post season.
The proposal would create six districts of nine teams each in 8-Man through Class 3A, in which the top four teams in each district, plus eight wildcard teams, would make the playoffs. This would mean 59 percent of schools would thereby qualify for the playoffs, helping to insure meaningful games throughout the season.
Class 4A, which would see the six smallest schools bumped to 3A (and the six smallest 3A to 2A and so on), would now have 42 teams. They would participate in seven six-team districts, with the top three in each and three wildcards — or 57 percent of the total number of schools — reaching the post season.
While the 4A wildcard formula has yet to be determined, 8-Man through 3A wildcards would be determined by:
1. District Champion
2. District Record
3. Head-To-Head
4. 17 Point Rule
5. Alphabetical Draw
8-Man through Class 3A would have four eight-team playoff brackets. Pairings for first round (two brackets):
1 vs wildcard 1 vs wildcard
1 vs wildcard 2 vs wildcard
2 vs 4 2 vs 4
3 vs 4 3 vs 3
*All #1 seeds will host 1st round games
*Highest seed will host 2nd round games and quarterfinal games
*Semi-Finals (rotate 4 quadrants), with 1 vs 2 and 3 vs 4 in the first year; 1 vs 3 and 2 vs 4 in the second and 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 in the third.
Class 4A will differ, with district winners receiving a first-round bye as would one additional team, that determination being made by standards not yet created.
Tiebreakers used to produce district champions in the event of a tie would being with head-to-head play, followed by the 17-point rule and, if necessary, an alphabetical draw, which would rotate each season.
One of the primary goals for both all parties involved appears to be desire to avoid having teams playing beyond Thanksgiving, while allowing the maximum time between playoff games. In helping add to player safety, the IFCA proposal would prohibit Level 4 of 5 contact in practices once the post season begins,
With the start of a nine-game regular season kept in place, the new first round (all dates for 2018 only) would be Thursday, Oct. 25, with the second round held on Wednesday, Oct. 31 and the quarterfinals Tuesday, Nov. 6.
That would generate semifinal action, at the UNI-Dome, Monday-Wednesday, Nov. 12-14. Championship games would then he held Monday, Nov. 19 and Tuesday, Nov. 20, at the UNI-Dome.
The IHSAA can accept all, or none, of the proposed changes. It is expected a decision will be announced sometime with the next six weeks.
[…] After 90 minutes of debate, the PAC passed the coaches proposal with an unanimous vote. The IHSAA also has a proposal, and both will be presented to the IHSAA Board of Control at their January meeting. […]
[…] After 90 minutes of debate, the PAC passed the coaches proposal with an unanimous vote. The IHSAA also has a proposal, and both will be presented to the IHSAA Board of Control at their January meeting. […]