Week 8 Football Playoff Listing
October 9, 2012
Here is a list of Michigan High School Athletic Association football playing schools, displaying their win-loss records and playoff averages through the seventh week of the season. Schools on this list are in enrollment order. An asterisk (*) beside a record indicates that a team has eight or fewer games scheduled. A carrot (^) beside a school’s name indicates that a team is one win away from playoff qualification.
Those schools with 11-player teams with six or more wins playing nine-game schedules, or five or more wins playing eight games or fewer, will qualify for the MHSAA Football Playoffs beginning Oct. 26-27. Schools with 5-4, 4-3 or 4-4 records may qualify if the number of potential qualifiers by win total does not reach the 256 mark. Schools with six or more wins playing nine-game schedules or five or more wins playing eight games or fewer may be subtracted from the field based on playoff average if the number of potential qualifiers exceeds the 256 mark.
Once the 256 qualifying schools are determined, they will be divided by enrollment groups into eight equal divisions of 32 schools, and then drawn into regions of eight teams each and districts of four teams each.
Those schools with 8-player teams will be ranked by playoff average at season’s end, and the top 16 programs will be drawn into regions of eight teams each for the playoff in that division, which also begins Oct. 26-27. All 8-player teams, regardless of win total, are listed below.
To review a list of all football playoff schools, individual school playoff point details and to report errors, visit the Football page of the MHSAA Website.
The announcement of the qualifiers and first-round pairings for both the 11 and 8-player playoffs will take place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 21 on the Selection Sunday Show on FOX Sports Detroit. The playoff qualifiers and pairings will be posted to the MHSAA Website following the Selection Sunday Show.
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11-Player Playoff Listing
1. Utica Eisenhower ^, 2772, 5-2, 75.571
2. Sterling Heights Stevenson, 2766, 6-1, 88.714
3. Clarkston, 2721, 7-0, 100.571
4. Howell, 2692, 4-3, 56.857
5. Grand Blanc, 2644, 4-3, 59.571
6. Macomb Dakota, 2608, 6-1, 88.714
7. Lake Orion, 2565, 7-0, 102.857
8. Rockford ^, 2526, 5-2, 73.571
9. Troy, 2502, 4-3, 58.286
10. Clinton Township Chippewa Valley ^, 2462, 5-2, 74.143
11. Dearborn Fordson, 2442, 6-1, 95.143
12. Holland West Ottawa ^, 2262, 5-2, 69.714
13. Northville ^, 2220, 5-2, 72.000
14. Detroit Cass Tech, 2200, 6-1, 87.571
15. Canton, 2166, 4-3, 52.714
16. Monroe, 2154, 6-1, 79.571
17. Detroit Catholic Central, 2060, 4-3, 54.952
18. Plymouth, 2050, 6-1, 80.857
19. Salem ^, 2039, 5-2, 74.143
20. Livonia Stevenson, 2005, 6-1, 86.286
21. Holt, 1992, 4-3, 56.571
22. Hartland, 1932, 7-0, 99.429
23. Warren Mott, 1879, 7-0, 88.000
24. Livonia Churchill, 1877, 7-0, 105.143
25. Macomb L'Anse Creuse North ^, 1853, 5-2, 71.857
26. Saline, 1849, 6-1, 88.429
27. Grandville, 1846, 4-3, 52.714
28. Dearborn, 1790, 4-3, 61.571
29. Rochester Hills Stoney Creek, 1777, 4-3, 52.429
30. Flint Carman-Ainsworth, 1772, 6-1, 78.571
31. Grand Ledge ^, 1743, 5-2, 67.429
32. Rochester ^, 1725, 5-2, 68.000
33. Traverse City West ^, 1720, 5-2, 70.857
34. White Lake Lakeland ^, 1700, 5-2, 70.857
35. Harrison Township L'Anse Creuse, 1680, 4-3, 52.000
36. Ann Arbor Pioneer, 1670, 4-3, 61.000
37. Davison ^, 1664, 5-2, 64.571
38. Grosse Pointe South, 1648, 6-1, 85.143
39. Walled Lake Northern ^, 1599, 5-2, 75.714
40. Temperance Bedford, 1581, 4-3, 52.286
41. Walled Lake Western ^, 1553, 5-2, 71.000
42. Brownstown Woodhaven, 1520, 6-1, 85.286
43. Ypsilanti Lincoln, 1520, 4-3, 52.857
44. Wyoming, 1515, 4-3, 44.905
45. Dearborn Edsel Ford, 1508, 4-3, 55.143
46. Midland, 1485, 7-0, 99.429
47. Oxford, 1481, 4-3, 58.000
48. Port Huron ^, 1473, 5-2, 64.857
49. Traverse City Central, 1429, 6-1, 86.000
50. Oak Park, 1391, 7-0, 108.571
51. Lansing Everett, 1359, 7-0, 109.714
52. Grosse Pointe North, 1353, 4-3, 55.571
53. Midland Dow, 1350, 4-3, 52.857
54. Birmingham Seaholm, 1349, 6-1, 87.571
55. Battle Creek Lakeview, 1347, 4-3, 56.571
56. Garden City, 1344, 4-3, 53.286
57. Portage Central ^, 1340, 5-2, 66.857
58. Muskegon Mona Shores, 1337, 4-3, 53.429
59. Birmingham Brother Rice ^, 1336, 5-2, 75.714
60. Portage Northern, 1328, 6-1, 79.714
61. Caledonia, 1308, 6-1, 81.857
62. Wyandotte Roosevelt, 1304, 6-1, 84.143
63. Farmington Hills Harrison, 1302, 4-3, 57.714
64. Detroit Martin Luther King, 1287, 4-3, 53.857
65. Detroit Cody ^, 1282, 5-2, 65.600
66. Farmington, 1278, 6-1, 85.429
67. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, 1278, 4-3, 57.143
68. Taylor Truman, 1253, 6-1, 85.286
69. Swartz Creek, 1223, 7-0, 96.000
70. Southfield, 1218, 4-3, 63.429
71. Fenton, 1202, 6-1, 80.714
72. Grand Rapids Northview, 1180, 6-1, 82.714
73. Lowell, 1177, 6-1, 86.571
74. Bay City Western, 1171, 7-0, 86.857
75. Gibraltar Carlson, 1160, 4-3, 50.714
76. Muskegon, 1144, 7-0, 109.714
77. East Lansing ^, 1142, 5-2, 65.286
78. Mattawan, 1124, 7-0, 96.000
79. Allen Park ^, 1120, 5-2, 66.571
80. Marquette *^, 1112, 4-3, 58.857
81. Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills, 1109, 4-3, 62.714
82. Lapeer West ^, 1101, 5-2, 72.286
83. Detroit Renaissance, 1094, 4-3, 49.714
84. Redford Thurston ^, 1088, 5-2, 65.571
85. Auburn Hills Avondale, 1080, 6-1, 78.429
86. St. Johns ^, 1068, 5-2, 67.429
87. Zeeland East, 1067, 7-0, 97.143
88. Byron Center, 1032, 4-3, 54.714
89. Detroit East English, 1030, 6-1, 80.857
90. Owosso, 1012, 4-3, 51.143
91. Lansing Waverly, 1011, 4-3, 45.714
92. Mason ^, 969, 5-2, 56.286
93. Petoskey, 967, 4-3, 57.857
94. Milan, 959, 7-0, 88.000
95. Sault Ste. Marie, 959, 4-3, 46.914
96. Grand Rapids Christian, 954, 6-1, 86.286
97. Cedar Springs, 950, 4-3, 40.429
98. DeWitt, 931, 6-1, 86.571
99. Fruitport, 929, 7-0, 83.429
100. Orchard Lake St. Mary's, 926, 6-1, 95.143
101. Bloomfield Hills Lahser ^, 925, 5-2, 66.714
102. Linden, 923, 6-1, 82.857
103. Niles, 920, 4-3, 50.429
104. Hazel Park, 909, 4-3, 52.000
105. Stevensville Lakeshore, 906, 7-0, 109.714
106. St. Clair, 901, 7-0, 90.286
107. Haslett, 894, 4-3, 55.429
108. Tecumseh, 887, 6-1, 74.714
109. Sturgis, 882, 4-3, 51.000
110. Carleton Airport ^, 868, 5-2, 60.714
111. Detroit Central Collegiate, 868, 4-3, 50.714
112. Charlotte ^, 851, 5-2, 64.286
113. Chelsea, 851, 4-3, 59.000
114. Hastings, 850, 6-1, 72.857
115. Plainwell ^, 832, 5-2, 65.714
116. Cadillac ^, 820, 5-2, 65.000
117. Edwardsburg, 805, 6-1, 65.857
118. North Branch, 803, 4-3, 46.429
119. Hamilton, 801, 4-3, 50.000
120. Marysville ^, 794, 5-2, 64.429
121. Zeeland West ^, 791, 5-2, 68.714
122. Battle Creek Harper Creek ^, 780, 5-2, 73.429
123. Spring Lake, 778, 4-3, 49.143
124. Three Rivers, 760, 4-3, 44.429
125. Ogemaw Heights, 759, 4-3, 54.143
126. Goodrich ^, 748, 5-2, 59.714
127. Harper Woods Chandler Park Academy *, 729, 5-1, 67.524
128. Hudsonville Unity Christian, 727, 4-3, 50.714
129. Marshall, 723, 4-3, 48.143
130. Dearborn Heights Robichaud, 720, 7-0, 99.429
131. Big Rapids, 706, 6-1, 60.286
132. Croswell-Lexington, 704, 7-0, 86.857
133. St. Clair Shores South Lake, 704, 6-1, 76.143
134. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 701, 7-0, 93.714
135. Otsego, 698, 6-1, 68.000
136. Detroit Country Day, 685, 6-1, 84.714
137. Comstock Park, 678, 6-1, 75.286
138. Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 674, 7-0, 85.714
139. Armada, 667, 4-3, 47.571
140. Whitehall, 663, 4-3, 41.714
141. Grand Rapids South Christian, 660, 4-3, 47.714
142. Battle Creek Pennfield, 656, 6-1, 61.429
143. Richmond ^, 656, 5-2, 64.143
144. Grosse Ile, 649, 6-1, 70.571
145. Saginaw Swan Valley ^, 642, 5-2, 61.857
146. Paw Paw, 639, 7-0, 77.714
147. Allendale, 636, 6-1, 77.286
148. Williamston, 636, 4-3, 46.857
149. Cheboygan ^, 631, 5-2, 67.143
150. Marine City, 629, 6-1, 81.714
151. Alma ^, 614, 5-2, 60.714
152. Saginaw Valley Lutheran ^, 608, 5-2, 41.571
153. Dowagiac, 605, 7-0, 80.000
154. Livonia Clarenceville ^, 597, 5-2, 57.286
155. Clawson, 582, 4-3, 45.714
156. Remus Chippewa Hills, 581, 4-3, 43.429
157. Essexville Garber, 572, 4-3, 45.429
158. Clinton Township Clintondale, 570, 7-0, 81.143
159. Lake Fenton, 564, 6-1, 72.714
160. Grant, 562, 4-3, 47.714
161. Freeland ^, 561, 5-2, 65.286
162. Kingsford, 559, 6-1, 79.571
163. Portland, 555, 6-1, 73.857
164. Gladwin ^, 547, 5-2, 60.571
165. Almont, 543, 4-3, 53.429
166. Flint Powers Catholic, 542, 7-0, 97.143
167. Menominee, 539, 6-1, 85.286
168. Macomb Lutheran North ^, 537, 5-2, 58.714
169. North Muskegon, 532, 4-3, 44.286
170. Standish-Sterling Central ^, 532, 5-2, 59.286
171. Hopkins, 531, 7-0, 80.000
172. Detroit University Prep, 528, 6-1, 65.81
173. Grayling, 516, 7-0, 76.571
174. Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard, 515, 6-1, 74.000
175. Allen Park Cabrini, 512, 6-1, 61.429
176. Olivet ^, 509, 5-2, 50.714
177. Frankenmuth, 507, 7-0, 85.714
178. Newaygo, 507, 6-1, 64.857
179. Grand Rapids West Catholic, 503, 4-3, 56.339
180. Ida, 503, 4-3, 41.857
181. River Rouge, 495, 7-0, 75.810
182. Manistee, 493, 4-3, 42.029
183. Carrollton, 492, 6-1, 61.429
184. Lansing Catholic, 487, 6-1, 74.857
185. Reed City, 480, 7-0, 86.857
186. Dundee ^, 476, 5-2, 52.571
187. Muskegon Oakridge, 474, 7-0, 78.857
188. Kingsley ^, 473, 5-2, 48.143
189. Jackson Lumen Christi, 472, 7-0, 92.571
190. Buchanan, 467, 6-1, 65.857
191. Leslie, 467, 7-0, 74.286
192. Clare ^, 465, 5-2, 58.762
193. Roscommon, 461, 4-3, 39.905
194. Kalkaska ^, 459, 5-2, 41.714
195. Millington, 459, 6-1, 71.714
196. Lakeview, 457, 4-3, 40.857
197. Warren Michigan Collegiate, 446, 6-1, 68.143
198. Harper Woods, 440, 4-3, 36.457
199. Boyne City, 437, 7-0, 66.286
200. Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central ^, 437, 5-2, 61.000
201. Negaunee, 433, 7-0, 78.857
202. Elk Rapids, 432, 4-3, 39.857
203. Manistique, 430, 4-3, 38.571
204. Beaverton, 422, 4-3, 36.571
205. Hemlock, 421, 6-1, 79.714
206. Shelby ^, 417, 5-2, 61.000
207. Detroit Consortium ^, 416, 5-2, 49.381
208. Vassar, 416, 6-1, 55.714
209. Clinton, 413, 7-0, 75.429
210. Maple City Glen Lake, 409, 7-0, 64.000
211. Michigan Center, 406, 7-0, 69.714
212. Manchester ^, 404, 5-2, 48.429
213. Calumet, 402, 4-3, 45.857
214. Ithaca, 402, 7-0, 84.571
215. Montrose Hill-McCloy, 400, 6-1, 70.571
216. Niles Brandywine ^, 396, 5-2, 45.714
217. Grass Lake, 395, 6-1, 64.857
218. Hillsdale, 391, 7-0, 80.000
219. Madison Heights Madison, 391, 6-1, 75.571
220. Ecorse, 390, 4-3, 38.952
221. Montague, 390, 6-1, 67.143
222. Laingsburg, 388, 4-3, 37.286
223. Sanford Meridian ^, 388, 5-2, 50.190
224. Jonesville ^, 383, 5-2, 54.857
225. Cass City, 379, 4-3, 38.000
226. Constantine, 371, 6-1, 56.857
227. Grandville Calvin Christian ^, 371, 5-2, 50.714
228. Watervliet, 369, 7-0, 62.857
229. Schoolcraft, 366, 7-0, 83.429
230. Blissfield, 364, 4-3, 48.143
231. Byron Area, 364, 6-1, 54.571
232. Iron Mountain, 354, 4-3, 44.571
233. Reese, 350, 7-0, 73.143
234. Union City ^, 350, 5-2, 44.429
235. Burton Bendle, 348, 6-1, 50.000
236. Pellston, 347, 4-3, 22.000
237. Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian, 346, 4-3, 34.857
238. Saginaw Nouvel ^, 344, 5-2, 75.629
239. Carson City-Crystal ^, 337, 5-2, 45.571
240. Hartford ^, 337, 5-2, 59.857
241. Marlette, 336, 4-3, 37.000
242. Flint Hamady, 334, 4-3, 38.857
243. Whittemore-Prescott ^, 328, 5-2, 49.286
244. Sandusky, 327, 4-3, 41.571
245. Dansville ^, 323, 5-2, 50.429
246. Springport, 319, 4-3, 38.143
247. Bridgman, 318, 4-3, 39.857
248. Lawton, 317, 6-1, 68.000
249. Lake City, 316, 6-1, 52.476
250. Pewamo-Westphalia ^, 316, 5-2, 51.714
251. Manton, 315, 4-3, 29.000
252. Madison Heights Bishop Foley, 309, 4-3, 42.143
253. Ishpeming, 307, 6-1, 62.571
254. Detroit Douglass, 306, 4-3, 50.857
255. Unionville-Sebewaing, 303, 4-3, 36.143
256. Evart ^, 302, 5-2, 41.762
257. Traverse City St. Francis, 299, 4-3, 44.571
258. Detroit Loyola, 298, 7-0, 83.429
259. Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest *, 298, 5-2, 48.143
260. Lincoln Alcona ^, 292, 5-2, 44.429
261. Genesee ^, 288, 5-2, 38.857
262. Mancelona, 288, 7-0, 62.857
263. Royal Oak Shrine Catholic, 284, 4-3, 47.429
264. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, 283, 6-1, 54.286
265. Reading, 283, 6-1, 58.714
266. Decatur, 277, 6-1, 52.143
267. Britton Deerfield, 276, 4-3, 44.429
268. Ubly, 275, 4-3, 37.000
269. Brown City, 272, 4-3, 44.286
270. Gobles, 271, 6-1, 49.857
271. Ottawa Lake Whiteford, 268, 6-1, 60.286
272. Hudson, 264, 4-3, 40.429
273. Waterford Our Lady ^, 263, 5-2, 51.857
274. Mayville ^, 258, 5-2, 48.571
275. Melvindale Academy for Business & Tech ^, 254, 5-2, 52.714
276. New Buffalo, 250, 4-3, 31.000
277. Marcellus ^, 249, 5-2, 35.857
278. Harbor Beach, 245, 6-1, 60.143
279. Johannesburg-Lewiston ^, 243, 5-2, 39.048
280. Vestaburg ^, 242, 5-2, 45.857
281. Coleman, 239, 4-3, 36.714
282. New Lothrop, 237, 7-0, 67.429
283. Bessemer *^, 233, 4-2, 36.095
284. L'Anse, 233, 6-1, 48.429
285. Petersburg-Summerfield, 232, 4-3, 37.000
286. Stephenson ^, 229, 5-2, 43.286
287. Merrill, 228, 4-3, 37.286
288. Manistee Catholic Central, 219, 4-3, 30.143
289. Mendon, 216, 7-0, 67.810
290. Beal City, 213, 7-0, 82.286
291. Pittsford ^, 213, 5-2, 38.857
292. St. Ignace La Salle, 207, 7-0, 50.286
293. Lutheran Westland, 204, 4-3, 45.857
294. Mio, 203, 4-3, 30.905
295. AuGres-Sims, 199, 4-3, 31.762
296. Pickford ^, 197, 5-2, 47.429
297. Onaway ^, 194, 5-2, 39.143
298. Powers North Central, 194, 4-3, 29.429
299. Central Lake, 193, 4-3, 30.762
300. Fowler, 186, 6-1, 66.000
301. Climax-Scotts, 183, 7-0, 51.429
302. Muskegon Catholic Central ^, 181, 5-2, 53.171
303. Morrice, 171, 4-3, 30.571
304. St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic, 171, 5-1, 45.524
305. Colon, 164, 4-3, 30.524
306. Crystal Falls Forest Park, 164, 6-1, 46.571
307. Baldwin *, 160, 5-2, 41.571
308. Lake Linden-Hubbell, 159, 4-3, 26.500
309. Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart, 121, 6-1, 64.857
310. Iron Mountain North Dickinson *, 112, 7-0, 64.000
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8-Player Playoff Listing
1. Deckerville, 194, 6-1, 51.143
2. Marine City Cardinal Mooney, 185, 3-4, 22.029
3. Battle Creek St. Philip, 182, 4-3, 32.000
4. Kinde-North Huron, 180, 3-4, 21.029
5. Kingston, 175, 4-3, 28.600
6. Cedarville, 169, 7-0, 59.810
7. Tekonsha, 163, 1-6, 11.000
8. Carsonville-Port Sanilac, 162, 4-3, 33.714
9. Bellaire, 161, 5-2, 37.976
10. Peck, 156, 6-1, 45.743
11. Ewen-Trout Creek *, 146, 1-6, 9.476
12. Brimley *, 145, 1-5, 9.262
13. Eben Junction Superior Central *, 132, 4-2, 34.524
14. New Haven Merritt *, 130, 1-4, 10.000
15. St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran *, 118, 1-4, 8.543
16. Litchfield, 115, 1-6, 8.714
17. Rapid River, 115, 6-1, 45.048
18. Portland St. Patrick, 104, 7-0, 53.714
19. Akron-Fairgrove, 95, 5-2, 34.514
20. Caseville, 90, 0-7, 2.857
21. Engadine *, 89, 3-3, 23.857
22. Rock Mid Peninsula, 87, 2-5, 17.417
23. Waldron, 87, 5-2, 35.571
24. Posen, 84, 2-5, 15.548
25. Burr Oak, 79, 3-4, 19.000
26. Owendale-Gagetown, 60, 5-2, 34.371
27. Flint Michigan School For The Deaf *, 45, 1-4, 8.114
Inside Selection Sunday: Mapnalysis '16
October 24, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
There was a wheel and something that looked like a magic wand. Another started out looking like the head of a caterpillar.
A number of Michigan football teams realized their sky-high dreams with Sunday’s playoff selection announcement on Fox Sports Detroit.
But earlier that day, as is the case at the end of each fall, shaping this season’s tournament at times looked a little like finding pictures in the clouds.
Beginning last night and into this morning, MHSAA staff have been busily gathering game days and times for this weekend’s opening round. We’re assigning officials for those contests. Schools are preparing for what likely will be one of their biggest crowds of the season. And, of course, teams are preparing for what surely will be one of their most memorable games.
But before all of that could begin, we met Sunday morning with nine maps of Michigan and 272 dots that needed to be organized to set another playoffs in motion.
As we’ve done the past five seasons, we’ll explain our most difficult decisions in this Mapnalysis 2016 breakdown of how we paired 272 teams that will play next month for championships across nine divisions. For those familiar with our playoff selection process, or who have read this report in the past and don’t want a refresher on how we do what we do, skip the next section and go directly to the “Observations & Answers: 2016.” For the rest, what follows is an explanation of how we selected the playoff pairings during the morning hours Sunday, followed by how we made some of the toughest decisions and a few thoughts on the breakdown of the field.
Ground Rules
Our past: The MHSAA 11-player playoff structure – with 256 teams in eight divisions, and six wins equaling an automatic berth (or five wins for teams playing eight or fewer games) – debuted in 1999. An 8-player tournament was added in 2011, resulting in nine champions total each season.
The first playoffs were conducted in 1975 with four champions. Four more football classes were added in 1990 for a total of eight champions each fall. Through 1998, only 128 teams made the postseason, based on their playoff point averages within regions (four for each class) that were drawn before the beginning of the season. The drawing of Districts and Regionals after the end of the regular season did not begin until the most recent playoff expansion.
In early years of the current process, lines were drawn by hand. Dots representing qualifying schools were pasted on maps, one map for each division, and those maps were then covered by plastic sheets. Districts and Regionals literally were drawn with dry-erase markers.
Our present: After a late Saturday night tracking scores, we file in as the sun rises Sunday morning for a final round of gathering results we may still need (which can include making a few early a.m. calls to athletic directors). Re-checking and triple-checking of enrollments, what schools played in co-ops and opted to play as a higher class start a week in advance, and more numbers are crunched Sunday morning as the fields are set.
This season, there were 218 automatic qualifiers by win total – only two more than the record low set a year ago – with the final 38 at-large qualifiers then selected, by playoff-point average, one from each class in order (A, B, C, D) until the field was filled. For the second consecutive season there were only four Class D additional qualifiers with 5-4 or 4-4 (playing eight games) records from which we could choose – so after those four we added 12 teams from Class A and 11 each from Class B and Class C.
Those 256 11-player teams are then split into eight equal divisions based on enrollment, and their locations are marked on digital maps that are projected on wall-size screens and then discussed by nearly half of the MHSAA staff plus a representative from the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association. Only the locations themselves are marked (by yellow dots) – not records, playoff point averages or names of the schools or towns. In fact, mentions of those are strictly prohibited. Records and playoff points are not part of the criteria. Matchups, rivalries, previous playoff pairings, etc. also DO NOT come into play.
The same process is followed for organizing the 8-player bracket, with the difference that the 16 teams are selected purely on playoff-point average.
Geography rules: This long has been rule number one for drawing MHSAA brackets in any sport. Travel distance and ease DO come into play. Jumping on a major highway clearly is easier than driving across county-wide back roads, and that’s taken into consideration. Also, remember there’s only one Mackinac Bridge and hence only one way to cross between peninsulas – and boats are not considered a possible form of transportation. When opponents from both peninsulas will be in the same District, distance to the bridge is far more important than as the bird flies.
Tradition doesn’t reign: Every group of 32 dots is a new group – these 32 teams have not been placed in a bracket together before. How maps have been drawn in the past isn’t considered – it’s hard to say a division has been drawn in a certain way traditionally when this set of 32 teams is making up a division for the first time.
Observations & Answers: 2016
First things, first: Congratulations to five first-time playoff qualifiers – Bloomfield Hills, Detroit Delta Prep, Southfield Arts & Technology, Southfield Bradford and Wyoming Tri-unity Christian. Bloomfield Hills (Lahser and Andover) and Southfield Arts & Technology (Southfield and Southfield-Lathrup) were created by mergers of previous schools. Southfield A&T and Detroit Delta Prep are eligible for tournament play this season for the first time. Bradford and Tri-unity Christian both started programs during the latter half of the 2000s; Tri-unity qualified in 8-player after moving back to that format from 11-player this fall. Of 617 varsity football programs that played games this season (including five not eligible for the playoffs as either a first-year program or with an enrollment too high for 8-player), all but 18 have made the playoffs at least once going back to the first series in 1975.
Tie it up: We had a few ties in a few ways this season. In two situations, we had multiple teams with the same enrollment at a line between divisions. In those cases, the teams with the higher playoff point averages go to the larger divisions – so Ferndale went to Division 2 and East Lansing to Division 3 to settle one tie, and Lansing Sexton went to Division 4 and Dowagiac to Division 5 to settle the other. The additional tie came in 8-player football, with Portland St. Patrick and Wyoming Tri-unity Christian both having the same playoff point average, the same opponents’ winning percentage and drawn into the same District. A coin flip was used to determine St. Patrick as the top seed and home team both this week and next if it advances and plays the Defenders.
Local really is the rule: Division 3 provided us with a fine example to help show that we work to draw maps locally and beginning with the earliest rounds. There were at least three ways to separate the schools in Region 3 District 1: East Lansing, DeWitt, Fowlerville and Mason. DeWitt, as the westernmost of the group, could’ve been drawn southwest with R2D2’s Vicksburg, Battle Creek Harper Creek and Coldwater, replacing Chelsea. Doing so would’ve literally split the state’s regions down the middle along U.S. 127, which is a favorable picture. But protocol is to favor local matchups at the earliest rounds, and it just didn’t make sense to take DeWitt away from three schools mere minutes away when subbing it in for Chelsea would’ve created a wash in terms of travel for the other three teams in R2D2.
Sometimes, there’s no choice: But keeping a group of four local teams together often is impossible. Remember, 32 dots usually are spread out at least all over the Lower Peninsula. In Division 4, we had Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Wyoming Godwin Heights, Wyoming Kelloggsville and Grand Rapids South Christian stacked nicely along U.S. 131 – but had to send southernmost South Christian down with Benton Harbor, Three Rivers and Hudsonville Unity Christian because there was no other grouping for Allendale, which is about 20 miles west of Grand Rapids. Another incident of splitting up near-neighbors happened in Division 2; we had Lowell and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central next door to each other, but no other Grand Rapids area teams qualify. By only a few miles, Forest Hills Central is south of Lowell – so although the Rangers had shorter drives than Lowell to possible opponents both north and south, they went into a group with Portage Northern, Portage Central and Battle Creek Lakeview, and Lowell went north to join Greenville, Traverse City West and Traverse City Central.
Why coast to coast: It wasn’t lost on the committee that teams waking up looking at Lake Huron traveling to play on Lake Michigan isn’t the greatest scenario. But it was the best of the options, and we stayed consistent by setting up a possible two District trips across the Lower Peninsula. Tawas will journey to Maple City Glen Lake in Division 6 this week. With wins this week, Lincoln Alcona could end up heading to Frankfort for a Division 8 District Final. Those trips aren’t ideal, but they did allow us to keep northern Lower Peninsula teams together – and in reality, aren’t too different than when teams from the Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula match up the first week, as will be the case in Division 4 (Whitehall to Escanaba), Division 5 (Kalkaska to Menominee and Grayling to Kingsford), Division 6 (Charlevoix to Negaunee and Boyne City to Calumet) and Division 8 (Gaylord St. Mary to Newberry).
It’s just the math: The one unexpected oddity of this week’s matchups is Canton going back to Northville for the second week in a row, and after beating Northville 42-27 last week. But math does rule, and Northville does have a higher playoff point average despite that Week 9 loss; the Mustangs beat five teams that finished with winning records, while Canton beat three – which of course is no fault of the Chiefs. It's just the way – rarely – things work out.
At the end of the day …
In six years of being part of these discussions, this weekend’s at least seemed to be the most extensive. We had two and three versions of multiple divisions before deciding which we believed to be the best.
Only one division map – 8-player – was an absolute slam dunk. The rest received plenty of scrutiny from a committee that now includes veterans going back to the beginning but also has had some new eyes join in over the last couple of years. That variety of viewpoints certainly pays off.
And wow, did we fall into some incredible first-week matchups:
• Rockford and Hudsonville in a rematch of the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red-deciding game of Week 9 (a Hudsonville 14-7 win).
• Traverse City West vs. Traverse City Central for the first time in playoff history (Central won 10-8 in Week 3).
• Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood at Detroit Country Day in a homecoming for longtime Yellowjackets coach Joe D’Angelo.
• Constantine at Schoolcraft in a matchup of longtime southwestern rivals (Schoolcraft won 20-10 in Week 8).
• Cedarville at Engadine in arguably the most intriguing of three all-U.P. 8-player matchups (Engadine won 52-42 in Week 7).
Truly, at the end of November, the best teams will have to beat the rest to finish as champions – regardless of maps, matchups, weather and anything else that won’t really factor into what eventually is settled on the field.
For many high school sports fans, it’s the favorite time of year. Join us now as we prepare for kickoff.
The MHSAA Football Playoffs are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) The Division 1 bracket mapped out on the Lower Peninsula. (Middle) The Division 3 map keeps four mid-Michigan teams together.