RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from Yahoo Sports — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 1 sourcesThe Ohio High School Athletic Association football postseason expanded to as many as 16 teams before the state reduced the number to 12 last season.
The format calls for the top four teams in the Harbin rankings in each region at the end of the regular season to receive a bye into the quarterfinals, where they also get a home game. Seeds 5 through 12 face one another in the first round and the four winners of those games funnel into predetermined matchups with the four teams receiving byes.
It is a similar format to what is currently used by the College Football Playoff — except the CFP has neutral site games begin in the quarterfinals, whereas in Ohio high school it now begins with the regional final round. Home field advantage was extended an additional round as part of the move by the OHSAA to the 12-team bracket.
The teams and coaches who received a bye generally met the moment with positivity. As the guinea pigs figuring out how to handle the off week in the initial edition and only an irregular 2020 COVID-19 affected schedule to potentially fall back on for ideas, many of those area coaches still felt they were on the beneficial side. Determining how to handle doing nothing for a week was seen as better than trying to figure out what effects an extra game may bring.
Entering Year 2 of the new format, some of those local coaches that went through it and others that watched it play out from afar have weighed in with their opinion after a year of experience, reflection and new perspective.
The views provided have varied. Most agreed that while the format worked well, how they felt overall came from their own preferences on what they think is the right number of teams that should qualify.
How did teams fare?
Among all 28 regions in the first-round games, the higher-seeded team playing at home went 86-26, winning 76.8% of the time. The 6 vs. 11 and 7 vs. 10 matchups tied for the most upsets at eight occurrences, respectively. The five-seeds went 24-4 against 12-seeds and only one of those squads lost by double digits.
Six of those home teams suffering upsets occurred in the three largest divisions. The other combined 20 upset wins were in the four smallest divisions.
The top-four teams receiving byes into the quarterfinals were nearly equally as successful. They went 85-27 for a 75.9 win percentage.
The most common upset by seed predictably occurred in the 4 vs. 5 matchups 10 times. Only one 12-seed advanced past a four: Fort Recovery in D-VII, Region 28. Six-seeds had the next best results from the underdogs, with eight wins over three-seeds.
There were only six total one- or two-seeds that lost and the majority were in the two smallest divisions. The only one or two-seed to go down in their first game after the bye in Ohio’s largest four divisions came in D-II, Region 8, where seven-seed Harrison defeated No. 2 Kings. None of the eight 10-seeds that advanced went on to beat a two-seed.
Only two 1-seeds lost their first game — Williamsburg in D-V, Region 20, by 33 points; and Margaretta in D-VI, Region 22, by 28 points.
Two regions — D-IV, Region 16, and D-V, Region 17 — were chalk and saw the higher seed win in each round.
In the four largest divisions, the lower seed’s average margin of victory in the first two rounds was 13.1 points. In the three smallest divisions, the margin of victory for successful road teams was 25.3 ppg.
Of the regional champions advancing to the state semifinals, 25 of the 28 were either the one- (14), two- (8) or three-seed (3). Two five-seeds and one six-seed won regionals.
What have coaches come up with?
Fairmont head coach Dave Miller had his 2025 Firebirds team go through the same process it would have using the 12- or 16-team formats. They went on the road in the first round as a nine-seed and ended up suffering a last second defeat at No. 9 Lebanon.
Miller said he didn’t have an issue with 16 teams getting in and every team playing in the first round. He said he doesn’t see top teams receiving a bye as a distraction, but feels it’s more difficult to work through at the prep level than collegiate teams.
“Having a bye with high school kids, yes there’s getting them healthy, but in the college the one year all four top seeds got beat,” he said. “I kind of could have predicted that. I’d much rather have 16 but that’s, it’s whatever.”
CJ head coach Marcus Colvin and his Eagles squad didn’t qualify for the playoffs last year in D-III, Region 12. He instead offered his thoughts by falling back on his memories of not getting to keep playing when the state allowed fewer teams to qualify.
“I’m a guy who played high school football and his junior and senior years we finished fifth in our region and didn’t get in because (the OHSAA) only had taken four teams,” he said. “I’m glad we’ve gotten away from that and allowed more teams to get in and play.”
He said 12 teams is a “sweet spot” and a number he supports. But he said he also recognizes where there will be proponents for wanting to go back to 16.
“There was a year we were the 14th-ranked team when 16 go, and we went and played the third-ranked team and we beat Hamilton Ross,” he said. “So when people say, ‘well 13, 14, 15 don’t deserve to be in there,’ I’m just like I agree, but there are these setups that the CJs, the Badins, those who are gonna play these schedules where you are gonna go 4-6 and 5-5, but you’re not sorry, you know?
“There’s some teams that are 9-1 playing people that you’re not playing and when you match up with them, you might be better. So I support the 12. I was OK at eight, and I think 16 is too many.”
Colvin added he thinks it’s important for teams to need to earn their postseason berths. That is shared by Xenia head coach Maurice Harden. His Buccaneers got a four-seed last year and earned a bye. They lost to fifth-seeded La Salle.
He said 12 qualifiers are fine because enough teams will be able to experience playoff football that may not have gotten chances ...
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.