OHSAA opts to scale back football playoffs

High school coaches have consistently supported scaling back the football playoffs. The OHSAA Board of Directors finally listened. The Ohio High School Athletic Association announced Thursday that the number of football teams qualifying for the 2025 postseason will be reduced from 16 to 12 per region. "For the last few years, we have been pleased that more schools experienced the football playoffs, and there were some lower seeds that won playoff games," Doug Ute, OHSAA Executive Director, said in a news release. "But over the last year, we have received feedback from our schools, with a slight majority favoring 12 qualifiers per region, and we had many conversations with stakeholders around the state that led us to make this proposal to our board." The top four seeds in each region will receive first-round byes beginning this season. The first three rounds will be hosted by higher seeds instead of the first two rounds, which would allow a top-four seed to still get two home playoff games. "I think it's a good compromise," said Hopewell-Loudon coach Brian Colatruglio, who is the First Vice President of the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association. "It avoids some of the big mismatches that can happen and it still allows teams with seven or eight wins to get in." The OHSAA expanded to 16 teams per region in 2021. Since then, top-four seeds across all seven divisions are 103-8 in the first round. In the four years of those expanded playoffs, No. 1 seeds were 111-1. No. 2 seeds were 105-7 while No. 3 seeds were 101-11. Edison's 23-22 win against Bellevue in the first round in 2021 playoffs was the only win by a No. 16 seeds versus a No. 1 seed. Last fall, No. 1 seeds went 28-0 across seven divisions with an average margin of victory of 42 points. Perkins, the state runner-up in Division IV last season, is 4-0 in the first round since the expansion to 16 teams per region with an average winning margin of 37 points in those games. Pirates coach Jalen Santoro was in favor of going to 12 teams per region. Like many coaches, he cited the wear and tear that comes with playing as many as 16 straight games. "When you count two scrimmages and 16 games (for state finalists) that's 18 straight weeks," Santoro said. "Nobody does that, not the NFL, not colleges. "You can't please everybody, but 12 is better than it was. It's a step in the right direction." Surveys seeking input from football coaches throughout Ohio have shown support for 12-team regions. The most recent OHSAA survey was conducted this spring. "We appreciate the feedback we received and will continue to gather comments moving forward," Ute said. "Like we do with all of our sports, we want to make sure the student-athletes are our No. 1 priority." With the top four seeds receiving byes, lower seeds will visit higher seeds in the first round. The No. 5 seed in each region will host the No. 12 seed, No. 6 will host No. 11, No. 7 will host No. 10 and No. 8 will host No. 9. From 1999 to 2019, eight schools per region qualified for the playoffs. Early in 2020, the OHSAA approved a proposal from the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association to expand to 12 teams per region. Because of the pandemic, the OHSAA allowed all schools to participate in the 2020 playoffs before expanding to 16 teams per region in 2021. A total of 706 teams play 11-man football under the OHSAA's purvey in Ohio. The number of teams by division this fall: Division I (72), Division II (104), Division III (107), Division IV (105), Division V (106), Division VII (106) and Division VII (106). OHSAA member schools can conduct 13 practices, plus five acclimation days, through July 31. The first official day of fall practice is August 1. The regular season begins for most schools on Friday, August 22.