MSHSAA Basketball Post Season Idea

[wahoolives]

This is for class 1 2 and 3.
This may be a little confusing to read and while it doesn't fix all the issues with top teams playing each other before the Final 4 it does address some of them and still maintains MSHSAA's wish to have all areas of the state represented in the Finals. Play everything past the first two rounds of districts at neutral sites.
1. to start with seed districts like you do now and play the quarterfinals and semifinals as is done currently. This would leave 32 teams in the state.
2. On the day after the current district semifinal games, either by a point system or a committee or coaches vote seed the 8 teams left in each region 1-8. For example this year is Class 2 Southwest quadrant the seeding might have been 1. Eugene 2. Norwood 3. Hartville 4. Crane 5. Crocker 6. Blue Eye 7. New Covenant 8. Pleasant Hope (based on seeding in the districts not who actually won. Then you play the Regional Quarterfinals and the regional semifinals or substrate or whatever name you want to call it.
3. This would leave 8 teams left from around the state and while one of Norwood Hartville Euguene is still eliminated the other 2 would advance if they win. You then take the final 8 and seed them 1-8 based on same criteria and take all 8 to the state tournament and play it out, I would get rid of the 3rd place game but you could keep it if you wanted.
4. This still guarantees representation from all areas of the state and does allow for the possibility of two teams from the same district to get to the state tournament and possibly even play in the state championship.
5. You could do it like Arkansas and play out the district then play out the regional and then play out the state tournament with top 2 from each advancing, but this keeps the number of playoff games the same as it is currently and it is still lose and you are done this way.
I'm sure there are some issues with this plan for example no district champion so no plaque no banner ECT.

 

[HoopsTournament]

I sent this to the basketball advisory committee last year. A few of them liked it. MSHSAA was very rude to me telling me why my proposal wouldn’t work.

MSHSAA Basketball Postseason Proposal


2023 and 2024 brought two major changes to the postseason for Missouri high school basketball. In 2023, classifications and districts were assigned separately for boys and girls for the first time. This meant a school could have a boy's team in one class and a girl’s team in another. Even if they were in the same class, they could be in different districts. In 2024, sectional and quarterfinal games were no longer being played at neutral sites due to the inability to secure hosting sites. Instead, they would be hosted by one of the teams playing in the game.


This has caused a lot of concern from the media and fans. They include:


· Some sites did not have the capacity to host the game. Therefore, those sites had to find a neutral site anyway.


· Some sites met the MSHSAA capacity requirement but sold out. Fans who wanted to attend the game were not able to attend.


· Capacity counts at sites did not seat everyone comfortably, leading to many fans standing and/or watching the games in the lobby on a TV.


· Fans were only able to attend one game a night instead of 2 or more games they could attend in the past. This also limited the number of games the media could cover.


· The process for selecting the home team is too random. In a study of college sports, basketball has been shown to have a bigger home-court advantage than other sports. (https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/91970875.pdf)


I have had conversations with many fans and media members who have been very upset about how basketball was handled.


Changes above were made for two reasons:


1. Districts mostly in Southeast Missouri having only 2 girls teams.


2. The inability to find neutral sites to host.


In addition, Missouri is one of very few states that only send 4 teams to the final state sight. If each class only had 8 districts and then sent the Final 8 to Columbia (or the selected site), then it would help the following:


1. More schools would be in the same districts for boys and girls. There would still be some schools that would be in separate classes however.


2. Fewer sites would need to be selected for neutral site games (including districts).


3. There would be no home field advantages in games past districts.


In addition, the postseason could still be played in the same number of weeks as the current postseason (with only extending it to the Saturday before).


Proposed Solution:


1. Each Class will have 8 districts


2. Winners of those districts will advance to “State”. Eight teams will play at the final site. For example, if University of Missouri is the location of the Championship, all 8 teams will play the state quarterfinals at MU


a. Additional suggestion would be to seed the Final 8 at State. The remaining coaches could seed the teams.


3. Districts will be Week 1, State will be Week 2


4. Each District will have a host, but only for the final 8 teams. On the Saturday prior to Districts, there will be play-in games at the higher seed. Both Boys and Girls will play on Saturday with Girls being at 1:00 and Boys at 6:00.


a. This will allow fans to attend both games if they have to travel to different locations.


5. District Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championships will be played just like they are today. Girls on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Boys on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. (Switching each year)


6. State Quarterfinals will be on Wednesday and Thursday. State Semifinals will be on Friday. Third Place and Championships will be on Saturday


7. C1 and C2 will be first week, C3 and C4 will be second week, C5 and C6 will be third week.


a. Each Class would shorten their postseason by a week, but the overall calendar would be unchanged


i. Current: C1-C2-C3 are Weeks 1, 2 and 3; C4-C5-C6 are Weeks 2, 3 and 4


ii. Proposed: C1-C2 are Weeks 1 and 2; C3-C4 are Weeks 2 and 3; C5-C6 are Weeks 3 and 4


8. State Game Times


a. 8:00 AM


b. 9:45 AM


c. 11:30 AM


d. 1:15 PM


e. 3:00 PM


f. 4:45 PM


g. 6:30 PM


h. 8:15 PM


9. Sample State Schedule


a. Wednesday – C1Boys and Girls Quarterfinals


b. Thursday – C2 Boys and Girls Quarterfinals


c. Friday – Semifinals (C1 first, C2 last)


d. Saturday – Third Place from 8:00 to 1:15


e. Saturday – Championship from 3:00 to 8:15