The Van Wert County Courthouse

Friday, Mar. 29, 2024

Monday Mailbag: November 4, 2019

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

This week’s Monday Mailbag features questions about a proposal to expand the OHSAA football playoffs and 10-0 teams not making the playoffs.

Q: What are your thoughts on this proposal to expand the football playoffs to 12 teams per region? Name withheld upon request

A: Personally, I’m not a fan of the idea because it seems even more watered down to me, but can I see why some people would like to see it.

If this comes to fruition, it appears one scrimmage would be dropped, and the top four teams in each region would have a bye in the opening round of the postseason.

I’m looking back at many lopsided results between the No. 1 and 8 seeds and No. 2 and 7 seeds. While upsets do happen from time to time, does anyone really think a No. 11 or No. 12 seed would have a consistent chance against a No. 1 or 2 seed, especially if the top teams had an extra week off to prepare and heal up?

The plus side to the idea is that it gets more teams, fans and communities involved.

Only time will tell if this proposal becomes reality.

I’ve polled a number of area high school coaches about the idea and the results have been interesting so far. Check tomorrow’s Sports pages for more on that.

Q: If the football playoffs are expanded to 12 teams per region, how soon would that happen? Name withheld upon request

A: In theory, I suppose it could happen as soon as next year.

However, a more realistic scenario would be 2021 or even 2022.

Q: Any team that goes 10-0 in the regular season should be allowed in the playoffs. Do you agree? Name withheld upon request

Yes and no. It actually happened to two teams this year – Gibsonburg and Northwood.

In both cases, strength of schedule came into play. Neither played an overly strong schedule.


Four of Gibsonburg’s opponents had a combined 3-37 record, and three of those were Division VII schools. In fairness, the Golden Bears had to scramble to fill a hole in the schedule when Sandusky St. Mary Central Catholic made the late decision to go to 8-man football. Options were very limited, and the choice was made to play Antwerp, who finished 0-10.

In Northwood’s case, strength of schedule definitely came into play. The Rangers are a Division V school that played seven Division VI or VII schools. That’s a product of being the biggest school in the Toledo Area Athletic Conference.

I understand that schedules are made well in advance and it’s sometimes tough to predict how successful opponents will be.

So yes, in a sense, a 10-0 team seems deserving of a playoff spot, but one of the best things about the Harbin ranking system is the fact that strength of schedule plays a big role in deciding which teams get in and how they’re seeded in each region.

Next week’s feature will be the Best of the Monday Mailbag, questions from the 2019 fall sports season.

POSTED: 11/04/19 at 5:07 am. FILED UNDER: Sports