07/10/22- Reminders about Playoff Bracketing

July 10, 2022 Football Blog Updates

As practice and play begins for 2022, these reminders about the construction of the playoffs for 2022 and beyond. These may of course be altered in future years, however, schools will be notified if changes are made.

Playoff Games – Dates, Sites, Times
Dates

• Playoff competition is scheduled to begin on the weekend of November 3, 4 and 5.

Times

• All playoff contests shall be held on Friday at 7 p.m. unless there exists a mutual agreement between the schools to hold the game on another day due to field conditions or availability, availability of officials, or with the mutual agreement of the competing teams.
• In the case of multiple consecutive games, games are to be scheduled with not less than three hours between starting times.

Brackets

• A complete bracket of each Class is regularly updated and posted on the KHSAA website.
• The parameters for developing the playoff brackets are contained in these instructions.
• A complete “bracket builder” to help clarify the brackets is listed on the KHSAA website at the link listed at the end of these instructions.

Sites

• The home team determinations, to help guide the pairings, are listed on the KHSAA website at the link listed at the end of these instructions.
• All playoff contests shall be played at sites that meet any adopted required fi eld standards approved by the Board of Control.
• The home team shall be responsible for designating the host site for each playoff game.

Playoff Pairings

• The top four (4) teams in each district as determined by intra-district records, after all tiebreakers have been applied, will qualify for the championship playoffs.
• The finishing position within the regular season district shall hereinafter be referred to as the “seeded position.”
• The team finishing as the top seed after all tie-breakers are applied will be deemed the district champion.
• The team finishing as the second seed after all tie-breakers are applied will be deemed the district runner-up.
• The first round games in all classes will be “cross-bracketed”, with districts 1 and 2 paired, 3 and 4 paired, 5 and 6 paired and 7 and 8 paired.
• Within the cross-bracket pairings:
  • The first place team in a district will be designated as the home team to play against the fourth place team from the other district,
  • The second place team will be designated as the home team to play against the third place team from the other district,
  • The third place team will be designated as the visiting team to play against the second place team from the other district, and
  • The fourth place team will be designated as the visiting team to play against the first place team in the other district.

Playoff Brackets – Second Round, All Classes

• In the second round, the winner of the game between slots one (1) and two (2) will play the winner of three (3) and four (4), and so on through the bottom of the original 32-team bracket.
• In all second-round games, the team with the highest seeded position (finishing position in district) shall be designated as the home team for the game.

Playoff Brackets – Third Round, All Classes

• For the region championship (third round), the pairings will be based on the Playoff RPI of the remaining teams as determined at the end of the regular season in all classes with pairings as follows:
  • Highest remaining seed in regions 1-4 will be the home team for the fourth-highest remaining in regions 1-4;
  • 2nd highest remaining seed in regions 1-4 will be the home team for the third-highest remaining seed in regions 1-4;
  • Highest remaining seed in regions 5-8 be the home team for the fourth-highest remaining in regions 5-8;
  • 2nd highest remaining seed in regions 5-8 be the home team for the third-highest remaining seed in regions 5-8.

Playoff Brackets – Fourth Round, All Classes

• For the semi-state round (fourth round), the pairings will be based on the Playoff RPI of the remaining teams as determined at the end of the regular season in all classes with pairings as follows:
• Fourth round playoff games, for the purpose of determining the home team, will be based on Playoff RPI in all classes.
  • Highest remaining seed will be the home team for the fourth highest remaining seed;
  • 2nd highest remaining seed will be the home team for the third highest remaining seed.
• Winners of the fourth-round games will play for the class championships.