02/04/13 – Board of Control approves change in 3-team district regulations for BA, BK, FP, SO and VB effective 2013-2014

February 4, 2013 Athletic Department Blog Updates

At its meeting last week, the KHSAA Board of Control approved a staff recommendation to give teams in three-team districts options as to the scheduling of required games. Three-team districts in baseball, basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball will continue to be seeded by rule. However, the districts will decide (by majority vote) if they play each other twice, or once during regular season.

1. For districts that play only once, the only conceivable tie is a three-way tie with each team having a 1-1 record. If that is the case, the district shall be decided by blind draw of those three teams, with the first team drawn being the number one seed.
2. For districts that play twice each year, the system (including tiebreakers) remains the same as it is in 2012-2013.

As districts conduct meetings to decide scheduling and site selection plan options for next year and beyond, discussion should include these decisions as well for all that are aligned in a three-team district. District managers will report the information on KHSAA Form GE54.  Discussion should also be held for those that are in a four-team district, in the event that it is felt the viability of one of the teams is in question. Should a four-team district drop to a three-team district due to the loss of a team during the season, the district would automatically become seeded and it is imperative to have made the one or two game decision prior to that time.

Below is listed the formal wording of the rule within the revised competition rules.

1. For district tournaments with three teams, the district tournament shall be seeded in accordance with the following three-team seeding rules:
   1. Through the conclusion of the 2012-2013 school year, teams in three-team districts shall play each other twice during the regular season, with provisions and tie-breakers listed below. Beginning in 2013-2014, the competing teams within a district shall, by majority vote prior to the start of the regular season, determine if the schools are required to play each other once or twice during the regular season. These games will produce a uniform means of ranking the teams by seed within these districts.
   2. The team with the highest seed (one seed) receives a bye in the district tournament, and advances to the championship game.
   3. The remaining two teams would play in the first round of the district tournament with the loser of that game being eliminated.
   4. In the case of a two-way tie for the district winning position, the tie-breaking mechanisms (in order) shall be:
      1. In districts that have decided to play each other only once in district play, the winner in the game played between the tied district opponents would have the higher finishing position.
      2. In districts that have decided to play each other twice in district play, the winner in the second game played between the tied district opponents would have the higher finishing position.
      3. In the case of a three-way tie for the district winning position, the tie would be resolved in the following manner. If any of the tie-breakers results in one of the teams being ahead of the other two, the tie is broken. If any of the tie-breakers result in two teams remaining ahead of the third, then the two-way tie breaker shall be used to determine the winner between those two.
   5. In districts that have decided to play each other only once in district play, the tie shall be broken by blind draw. The team drawn first in the draw shall be considered the highest seed (one seed).
   6. In districts that have decided to play each other twice in district play, the tie-breaking mechanisms (in order) shall be:
      1. If the tie remains between all three teams, the record in the second game played against all district opponents involved in the tie.
      2. If the tie remains between all three teams, the record in the first game played against all district opponents involved in the tie.
      3. If the tie remains between all three teams, then the total points allowed in all seeded games shall be the next tie-breaker.
      4. If the tie remains between all three teams, then the total points allowed in the second of each of the seeded games shall be the next tie-breaker.
      5. If the tie is still unbreakable, then a blind draw among the three teams shall break the tie. In this case, the team drawn first in the draw shall be considered the highest seed (one seed)
      6. Additional tie-breaking mechanisms could be added, and would be uniform for all three-team districts.
   7. In the event of game re-scheduling or cancellation, the original game schedule shall determine which game is “second” for tie-breaking purposes.