Playoff Proposal Pauses
May 10, 2013
During the MHSAA Football Finals at Ford Field last November, I was approached by representatives of the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association with a request to have the MHSAA’s computing capabilities crunch the numbers for a concept that a couple of the coaches association’s members had for revising the MHSAA Football Playoff point system.
Within a few weeks the MHSAA hosted a meeting that brought together the coaches who introduced the concept with our numbers crunchers; and within a few days our staff had outlined the principles, revised the point system and retrofitted it to show how the system would have affected the 2012 playoffs.
There was initial excitement that we might be onto something, but that brief infatuation began to wane as we dug deeper and discussed the plan more widely.
The key ingredients of the proposal are (1) that a school would gain playoff points for every game its opponent wins, whether or not that school defeated that opponent, and (2) that the number of automatic qualifiers would be reduced in favor of a larger group of additional qualifiers based on a revised playoff points system that would favor schools which schedule larger and more successful opponents.
In spite of our staff’s helpfulness in bringing this proposal forward, we’ve lost optimism that it will accomplish what is hoped. Rather than making regular-season scheduling easier, it could make it harder as the “six-wins-and-in” mindset is replaced by the even worse “seven-wins-and-in” mindset. And any system that ignores a minimum number of wins and relies entirely on playoff points is even less fair than the current system to schools in the less densely populated areas of Michigan.
From our retrofitting of the proposed concept to the 2012 season, we know that teams with 6-3 records would be displaced in the playoffs by teams with 4-5 records, which is certain to go down badly and be difficult to explain to those communities. The revised point system would make it even more difficult than the current system for schools in less populated areas to find opponents of the size and strength to generate high playoff point averages without these schools driving 100, 200, 300 or more miles, one way, several times each season. For individual schools and some entire leagues, this will make football scheduling tougher, not easier. It is likely to add stress to those league affiliations, and to football scheduling generally.
In any event, there is no need to rush to 2013 or 2014 a proposal that’s called “Enhanced Strength of Schedule System” because schedules are 99 percent set for 2013 and nearly so for 2014. Even if adopted today, few schedules would be impacted before 2015. If a change like this one is to be implemented, schools must have ample notice, and our technology department must have enough time to program the new point system and then test it through an entire season.
The Representative Council acted wisely on May 6 when it paused the progress of this proposal. Some elements of it may be discussed at the MHSAA’s scheduled meetings this summer and fall.
Hastings at Home in Interstate 8, Preparing to Begin Next Title Pursuit
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
August 22, 2025
HASTINGS – Jamie Murphy remembers the decision as relatively simple.
The decision to move to a fourth conference in 29 years was of particular interest to a Saxons football program which had struggled badly during stints in the Ottawa-Kent Conference White and O-K Gold. So Hastings finally pulled the trigger on moving from the O-K Gold to the Interstate 8 Athletics Conference in 2016, and the results have been no less than stunning for the team.
"I encouraged it," said Murphy, the Saxons' coach since 2013. "This conference is more like the Hastings community. There are towns with one high school, one middle school, three or four elementary schools and the schools are all public … . There are similar dynamics with all of them."
While switching conferences naturally effects all of a school's teams, the results are often most judged by what happens under Friday Night Lights. There the decision to move from 21 years in the O-K White and O-K Gold has been like night and day for Saxons teams. Hastings went 16-26 in six years in the O-K White before compiling a 35-59 mark in the O-K Gold. Over two decades in those leagues, Hastings football teams had only six winning seasons and three of them were with 7-2 regular-season records from 2009-2011.
But that's all changed with inclusion in the Interstate 8, which was formed in 2016. The conference includes four old rivals – Coldwater, Battle Creek Harper Creek, Battle Creek Pennfield and Marshall – which were part of the Twin Valley with Hastings from 1977-94. Saxons football teams went 67-58 over 18 years in that conference.
After a slow start in the Interstate 8 which included a 9-19 conference mark from 2016-19, Saxons teams have won 28 of 31 games the last five years. Included are four straight league titles from 2020-2023, with only a 32-0 loss to Battle Creek Harper Creek a year ago keeping Hastings from a fifth championship. That stretch includes one torrid string where Hastings, which opens conference play Sept. 12 against Jackson Northwest, won 21 of 22 league games from Oct.16, 2000, to Oct. 18, 2024.
"Teams are very similar and there are ups and downs with any high school football team," Murphy said. "But we've been competitive in a league which has always been competitive in the state playoffs. How well you do there speaks volumes for how good programs are."
Interstate 8 teams are a respectable 18-18 in the MHSAA Tournament since 2019, including a 6-5 mark from Hastings.
Murphy said one of the most appealing aspects of the conference is a tight relationship between coaches. Virtually all, he said, have similar philosophies which include an emphasis on supporting multi-sport athletes, work in the weight room in March and April, modest summer programs and making the players a priority during the season. Murphy said coaches freely communicate via meetings, texts and emails with each other up to 10 months a year. Contrast that, Murphy said, with the O-K Conference where a select board determines which schools play in what divisions.
"We all want to keep the sport popular and alive," said Murphy, named a national 2025 Semper Fidelis Coach Award winner for his work upholding the U.S. Marines standard of excellence while developing teen leaders.
First-year Hastings athletic director Mike Mohn wasn't a part of Hastings' decision to move to the Interstate 8, but like Murphy he likes the idea of the similarity between schools, including an emphasis – but not overemphasis – on football programs. Athletic departments rely on income derived from football, and Hastings is no exception. Like many Interstate 8 schools, Hastings' home field, Baum Stadium at Johnson Field, can hold between 2,500 and 2,700 fans, with the home side featuring room for up to 1,600. Mohn said a typical Friday night crowd well exceeds 1,000 fans.
"We have like-minded schools in the Interstate 8," he said. "One of our goals is to build relationships, and we've done that. I think our games are well-attended, we can pack our side of the stadium and they can see a good product on the field. Year-in and year-out, we've been competitive and we're proud of that."
There is good reason to believe Hastings will be in the hunt for a fifth conference title in six years. The team returns 17 letterwinners, including six starters on offense and five on defense. The roster could include five sophomores and help from last year's 5-3 junior varsity club. Among the returnees is junior quarterback Mason Tossava, who ran for 300 yards and passed for 500 more as a sophomore. Hastings lost its top running back from its Wing-T offense, but does return 1,000-yard rushers Cardale Winebrenner and Tyler Frazier. Defensively, two all-conference returnees include cornerback Spencer Wilkins and tackle Trapper Reigler.
"Every year our goal is to win the league and make the playoffs," Murphy said. "That's who we are."
PHOTOS (Top) Hastings coach Jamie Murphy takes a moment for a photo during his team’s weight training session earlier this month. (Middle) Cardale Winebrenner (standing) spots for teammate Trapper Reigler; both are captains this fall. (Photos by Steve Vedder.)