When the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association announced new region formats and the “Super 6” classification for 2015, it was easy to predict three ways the new playoff system could go.
Cecil Joyce
Good, bad and ugly.
Now that the playoffs are officially here, let’s break down each of those sentiments.
The good: While many naysayers are focused on the negatives from the Class 6A format (where each of the 32 teams in the class all reach the playoffs), there are certainly some major positives.
The biggest improvement isn’t what’s happening in 6A, but rather what’s happening in divisions below it. Class 5A is the biggest benefactor of the new Super 6.
Tennessee high school football playoff brackets
When the playoff system first went to six classifications in 2009, it didn’t take long for people to notice a big discrepancy. Class 5A was weak as a whole. Sure, there were still some quality teams, but overall the 5A playoff bracket seemed more like (pardon the basketball analogy during football season) an NIT tournament compared to 6A’s NCAA Tournament.
There was more than one season where it seemed all of the even classifications (6A, 4A, 2A) were filled with strong teams and exciting playoff races, while the odd classifications (5A, 3A, 1A) paled in comparison.
Honestly, there were numerous teams that made the playoffs each year in 5A (and other classifications below it) that simply weren’t playoff-caliber teams.
Bracket breakdown: State football playoffs
It’s different in 2015. With only 32 teams in Class 6A, many very talented football teams that once resided in the state’s highest classification have moved down to 5A. Included in that list are Centennial, Independence, Oak Ridge, Hendersonville and Brentwood, to name a few.
That has also created a domino effect in lower classifications, making each considerably stronger.
Another good change with the current format is the elimination of the “quadrants.” There were situations where teams (even archrivals) from the same district would play during Week 10 and then match up in the first round of the playoffs the following week. Quadrants were basically teams from the same two districts beating up on each other in the first three rounds.
The bad: Travel. Not that travel is necessarily a bad thing for playoff fans. Some of the best TSSAA state playoffs came in the 1990s when Midstate teams would travel anywhere from Oak Ridge to Chattanooga to Memphis to Jefferson City. There were some exciting games during that run.
However, travel was one of the biggest points of emphasis when football was divided into five classifications (and especially when it moved to six and added quadrants).
The way the first round is set up in the 6A playoffs, there are no Midstate teams playing each other. It’s East vs. Middle or West vs. Middle. Some teams will be traveling as much as five hours for first-round games. Most trips will be at least two hours.
And as a nice segue…
The ugly: The only thing worse than riding a bus five hours to a football game? Riding that bus back five more hours after you’ve been outmatched for 48 minutes.
There are, for lack of a better word, some potentially ugly matchups in the first round, thanks to every 6A school reaching the playoffs. There is an 0-10 team driving to Memphis to battle a 9-1 team that is just three years removed from a 6A state championship. There is a 1-9 team traveling three hours east to battle a nationally ranked squad that has won 40 games in a row and 83 of its last 84.
Those matchups, while giving that “we shocked the world” potential, will likely make for long nights for a lot of players, coaches and fans.
Strap on your helmets and lace up the cleats. This year’s state football playoffs should be an interesting ride, if nothing else.
High School Sports Editor Cecil Joyce can be reached at 615-259-8017 and on Twitter @Cecil_Joyce.