Texas High School Football Playoffs: A Broken System

Driving around my neighborhood tonight, I noticed yellow ribbons everywhere–on fences, stop signs and in front of houses. While I do live in fiercely patriotic community, these ribbons are not part of a military salute, but rather part of a unique Texas high school football tradition. This week marks the start of the Texas high school football playoffs, one of the most exciting events in all of sports. During the playoffs, the Highland Park community places yellow ribbons around town to show their solidarity with their local team (HPHS’s school color are navy and yellow).  It’s one Highland Park tradition that reminds me of home.

As a kid growing up in rural East Texas, high school football meant the world to me. The performance of our local football team defined our community. Making the playoffs sent a message to surrounding communities that we excelled in something uniquely Texan and served as a rallying point for everyone in town. I still remember the first playoff game I attended. In 1983,my Atlanta Rabbits took on the Carthage Bulldogs at Longview’s Lobo Stadium. My Rabbits lost that night, but this brief glimpse into this spectacular new world engendered an insatiable appetite for the game. Years passed before our next playoff appearance and the mystique surrounding them grew.  Then in 1990, the Rabbits entered a new era, one punctuated by an appearance in the state championship game in 1994.

Part of what made the playoffs so exciting was the selective nature of the system. Eleven man football in the state was broken into five classifications based on school enrollment. Each classification consisted of approximately 200 schools, divided into districts. Prior to the mid 80’s, only one school from each district–the district champion–advanced to the playoffs for a five week tournament. In the mid 80’s, the UIL, the state’s governing board for sports, decided to expand the playoff format and take the district champion and runner-up to compete in a 64 team field, stretched over six weeks.

In both scenarios, only the best teams advanced to the post-season and at the end of the year, each classification crowned one champion. This changed in 1998 when the UIL created two divisions within each classification (2A-5A, 1A would not adopt the policy until 2006)–a large school division with 32 teams and a small school division with 64 teams. The top 3 teams from each classification advanced to the playoffs, with the school with the largest enrollment going in the big school division and the other two teams advancing through the small school division (5A adopted this system in 1990 & 4A in 1996, but 1998 was the first season for 3A and 2A).

Under this new system, teams with sub-.500 records began earning playoff spots and each classification crowned TWO state champions. A team could finish in third place in a district and advance to win a state title. To say the least, the playoffs became watered down and state titles lost some of their luster.

For example, in 2003, the Atlanta Rabbits won the 3A Division II state championship, 34-0 over Marlin,  in one of the most dominating performances in a state championship game in Texas history and earning my alma mater their first state title in football. I watched from the stands that day and celebrated with my friends after the game, but something about the title felt cheap. Indeed, the weekend before, Gainesville High School had won the 3A Division I state title. We’ll never know if Atlanta or Gainesville had the better team (although Atlanta has won every meeting with Gainesville) and in my mind the championship will always feel like a co-championship. In some ways, I’m more impressed with our state finals appearance in 1994, a 36-15 loss.

Now the UIL has watered the system down even more, taking four teams from each district–two for each division–in 4A & 5A.  That means that at least half of the district makes the playoffs in most cases, 128 total teams in those two classifications.

What kind of champions do you get in this kind of system?

Let’s look at the two state champions in 4A from last season. Austin Lake Travis won the Class 4A Division I (big school) title with a 16-0 record. Led by quarterback Garrett Gilbert (now Colt McCoy’s back-up at UT), the Cavaliers won the District 25-4A state title, winning their 16 games by an average of 33 points per game. In the state championship game, they defeated the Longview Lobos, 48-23, capping off one of the most dominating seasons in Texas football history.

The Sulphur Springs Wildcats won the Class 4A Division II state title. For a full recap on their “unusual” path to the state title, I invite you to check out a piece we published in July. Suffice it to say, they took the road less traveled, finishing third in a district that featured Longview (see above paragraph). Longview defeated Sulphur Springs in district play 32-13. Yet Longview loses in a state title game and the Wildcats hoist a trophy at the end of the season. Sulphur Springs gave up an average of 30.6 points a game, only held one team to under 20 points the entire season and gave up 30+ points seven times. Clearly Lake Travis was the best team in Class 4A, but they will forever be remembered as a “co-champion.”

The UIL must do something about the high school football playoff system. I suggest creating a 6A division for the large high schools surrounding the state’s major metropolitan areas and adjust the other classifications accordingly. Return to a single champion format for each classification, with a 64 or 32 team field playoff. If this current trend continues, Texas football’s legacy stands to be tarnished.

Five college football questions the other guys are afraid to ask…

We at Geoausch.Com feel that “sports experts” do not exist! However, every blogger, every writer, every loud mouth radio guy feels like they can accurately pick the winner of every FBS conference and accurately predict the winner of every game on the 2009 schedule. We’re not that generic. Sure, we could predict Texas to win the national championship and for Colt McCoy to win the Heisman, but if those scenarios were to come to fruition it wouldn’t make us experts, nor would it make us original. Instead, I thought it would be interesting to examine five questions I haven’t seen asked about the upcoming college football season.

1. Will teams finally figure out Florida the third time through? Everyone, from USA Today to the Cass County Sun predicts that Florida will repeat as national champions. This seems like a logical decision, especially with Tim Tebow leading the offensive attack for a third straight year. However, what people have failed to discuss is the gimmicky nature of the Florida offensive scheme. The reason gimmick offenses work is that they keep the defense guessing. The Wishbone was successful because the defense had three different backs to constantly key on, eventually defensive coordinators developed schemes to shut the offense down and teams stopped using it.  I think after three years of watching Tebow run this offense, defensive coordinators SEC will figure out a way to shut down the Florida attack. I don’t think the Gators will have a losing season, but is a 3 loss season out of the question?

2. Will anyone emerge to join the Heisman race? Please? It’s hard not like Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow, all three are upstanding young men with bright futures. However, it’s getting really old to see the same three faces on the cover of every magazine and college football website.

West Virginia running back, Noel Devine, was more visible in the media as a high school phenom than he has been in college. He put up solid numbers last year and could run his way into Heisman talk by season’s end, especially considering that he will be the Mountaineers primary offensive threat this season.

A lot of attention was placed on the bevy of quarterbacks in the Big XII last season: Graham Harrell, Chase Daniel, McCoy and Bradford wowed viewers and pundits from coast-to-coast.  With so many great quarterbacks in one conference, it’s no wonder that Kansas’ Todd Reesing slipped under the radar for most of the season. While McCoy and Bradord are back for another season, Harrell and Daniel have moved on, clearing room on the big stage for Reesing to show he belongs with the big boys.

Another Big XII offensive firecracker who should make a splash on the nation stage is Oklahoma State receiver, Dez Bryant. The Cowboys could probably win a couple of the other BCS conferences, but in the Big XII they are the third best team in their division. However, they feature an explosive offense and Bryant is the leader. He could be this year’s  Michael Crabtree.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention at least one defensive player. They don’t get much better than USC safety, Taylor Mays. Mays led the Trojans last year with 53 tackles and should be even better this year. The Trojan defense will depend on Mays to be a leader for some of their youth and if this defense puts up some numbers, Mays deserves to be in the talks for player of the year.

3. Will Rich Rodriguez or Charlie Weis be fired first? Notre Dame and Michigan are both learning that finesse football isn’t as valuable as it once was. Scandals have rocked the Michigan program and Notre Dame simply lacks athletes. As a result, neither fan base is too happy with their current coaching situation and both coaches enter the season on the hot seat.  The Irish have a relatively easy schedule this season and anything less than a 9 win season will probably result in Weiss’ early dismissal. If the Irish struggle early, lose a couple early, Weiss might not be around for the USC game in October.

Michigan opens with a favorable schedule early, but there is no room for hiccups. If they lose more than one game to another team from Michigan, Rodriguez is gone. Other wise, Rodriguez should make it to at least November and needs a 9 win season himself to save his job.

4. Will Texas A&M win a conference game this season? Throughout the 80’s and 90’s the Aggies were a perennial Top 10 team and for a short period of time were the premier college football program in the state. The last decade has been one of mediocrity for the Aggies and this year things could hit an all time low. Entering the season, the Aggies will be favored to win only one conference game, a Halloween home game against Iowa State. If the Aggies lose that one, there is not another favorable game on their schedule. If that happens, look for Mike Sherman to join Charlie Weis and Rich Rodriguez in the unemployment lines.

5. Will this be the season that the Big XII passes the SEC? Several experts feel that the Big XII may be a better conference than the SEC, from top to bottom, this season. Big XII fans have felt this for years, even though head-to-head results (see last year’s bowl games) seem to prove otherwise. It comes down to the age old adage, “offense wins games, but defense wins championship.” Simply put, they do not play defense like they do in the SEC anywhere else in the country. Combine that with explosive athleticism and you have the recipe for the best college football conference in the land. The Big XII is good, but at the end of the season, SEC will still be the king.