Overtime

Nothing simple about football playoff format

Column by Jim Benton
Posted 10/16/18

There are still two weeks remaining in the regular season, but it’s never too early to review the format for the state football playoffs. The Colorado High School Activities Association revealed …

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Overtime

Nothing simple about football playoff format

Posted

There are still two weeks remaining in the regular season, but it’s never too early to review the format for the state football playoffs.

The Colorado High School Activities Association revealed the post-season plan before the season, and CHSAANow.com recently released the format again.

So here’s what to expect in the playoffs — except for winners and losers. And it is probably best not to try to figure out the ratings percentage index (RPI). Just wait for the standings to be updated.

If anybody does want to figure out an RPI standing for a team, the formula calculates combining 37.5 percent of a team’s winning percentage, 37.5 percent of the opponent’s winning percentage and 25 percent of opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage.

So, here’s the basic, non-detailed outline for the Class 5A playoff bracket.

The six league winners receive automatic berths into the playoffs and draw first-round byes. The next 17 teams in the RPI rankings will advance into the post-season with the exception of a second team from the Metro 10 Conference.

That’s 23 teams with the last spot in the 24-team 5A playoffs going to an at-large team selected by the seeding committee.

The Metro 10 will have its champion advance into the playoffs, but the league can only have a second team qualify through an at-large berth.

Final RPI rankings, common opponents, strength of schedule, head-to-head matchups and, hopefully, a little common sense will be used to seed teams.

RPI standings change weekly and, with two more weeks remaining, there should be a lot of movement.

The Oct. 7 RPI standings for 5A had a bunch of bubble teams around the all-important 24th spot.

Lakewood was 21st, followed in order by Far Northeast, Horizon, Boulder, Fossil Ridge, Northglenn and Legend.

In 4A, 3A and 2A conference champions receive automatic tickets into the playoffs with the remaining teams advancing based on RPI rankings. Playoff brackets will have 16 teams.

Ponderosa was hanging on to the 15th spot in the Oct. 7 RPI standings in 4A and Standley Lake was 16th. But remember all this will likely change.

National leader

Colorado Mesa University volleyball player Kasie Gilfert, a redshirt sophomore from Legend, is a national leader in NCAA Division II statistics.

Gilfert, who has won back-to-back Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors, holds the national statistical lead for hitting percentage at .443.

She has hit at a .400 percent or better clip in 10 matches this season, and before matches against Dixie State and Westminster on Oct. 12-13, Gilfert had 246 kills with 44 errors in 456 total attempts.

Gilfert, a 6-foot middle blocker/right side hitter who transferred from Northern Arizona, was a four-year letterman at Legend and set single-season school records as a junior for hitting percentage (.428) and blocks (158).

Jim Benton, Colorado High School Activities Association, football playoff format

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