Hoops, Hockey Prep for Playoff Changes
December 12, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The introduction of limited seeding at the District level for girls and boys basketball, and a shift in the postseason schedule for ice hockey, are among changes that will be noticed most this season by those who compete in and follow the 12 winter sports for which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors postseason tournaments.
Girls basketball’s first games tipped off Dec. 2, followed by boys basketball openers Dec. 9. This winter, for the first time, the top two teams in every basketball District will be seeded and placed on the opposite sides of their bracket, making the District Final the earliest round they could play each other. Those top-seeded teams will be determined using the Michigan Power Ratings (MPR) computer formula based on regular-season results against other MHSAA Tournament-eligible teams and opponents’ strength of schedule. (Games against out-of-state or non-MHSAA opponents will not count in the MPR formula.)
The MHSAA will draw all brackets 15 days before the start of District play. After the top seeds are determined and separated to opposite sides of the bracket, the draw process will place the remaining teams on the bracket based on a randomly-selected order determined earlier in the season. MPR also was used to similarly seed Districts for boys soccer for the first time this past fall and in the spring for boys lacrosse.
Also undergoing a change this winter, the MHSAA Ice Hockey Tournament will be played over three weeks rather than two as in previous seasons. The traditional dates for the start of the regular season and Finals will remain the same, as will the total number of regular-season games allowed. However, the MHSAA Tournament will begin on the third Monday before the Finals instead of two weeks before, and the extended postseason schedule places the maximum of six games that may be played from the start of Regionals through Finals over 20 days instead of the previous 13.
While those changes will affect tournament structures, a handful of others affecting daily competition will be particularly noticeable as well this winter:
• As with Lower Peninsula girls swimming & diving season in the fall, a pair of changes for LP boys and Upper Peninsula girls will take effect this winter. For swimmers, the definition of a legal finish has changed to include a competitor touching any part of the finish end of the lane, not just the touch pad. In diving, the degree of difficulty was adjusted for back and reverse somersaults to provide consistency with difficulty of other dives.
• In hockey, the allowed stick length for a non-goaltender has been extended to 65 inches with a blade no more than 12.5 inches long and between 2-3 inches high. The allowances for a goaltender’s stick also were adjusted – the widened portion up to 28 inches from the heel and to 3.5 inches in width, with a blade at maximum 15.5 inches in length. These changes were made to accommodate the greater average height of today’s athletes.
• In girls competitive cheer, non-braced static inversions will be allowed only with the following stipulations: the original base or spotter maintains constant contact with the flyer, prior to the static inverted position the flyer must originate from below shoulder level, and the inversion must dismount to the cheering surface, cradle, any waist-level position or a non-inverted stunt at shoulder level. Also, twists from inversions and inversions released to extended level are illegal.
• A new rule in wrestling will allow for additional time to evaluate head and neck injuries. If an injury occurs involving the head, neck, cervical column and/or nervous system and an appropriate health care professional is present, that caregiver may request the traditional 90 seconds of injury time be extended up to a maximum of five minutes to evaluate the injury. Before that time expires, the wrestler must be ready and able to continue the match or it will be defaulted.
• Also for wrestling, a new criteria has been added to the tie-breaking system used when a dual meet finishes in a tied score. The new sixth criteria “f” states that the team giving up the fewest forfeits during a match shall be declared the winner.
The 2019-20 Winter campaign culminates with postseason tournaments beginning with Girls & Boys Skiing Regionals on Feb. 10, and wraps up with the Boys Basketball Finals on March 28. Here is a complete list of winter tournament dates:
Girls Basketball
Districts – March 2, 4 & 6
Regionals – March 10 & 12
Quarterfinals – March 17
Semifinals – March 19-20
Finals – March 21
Boys Basketball
Districts – March 9, 11 & 13
Regionals – March 16 & 18
Quarterfinals – March 24
Semifinals – March 26-27
Finals – March 28
Girls & Boys Bowling
Team Regionals – Feb. 28
Singles Regionals – Feb. 29
Team Finals – March 6
Singles Finals – March 7
Girls Competitive Cheer
Districts – Feb. 21-22
Regionals – Feb. 29
Finals: March 6-7
Girls Gymnastics
Regionals – March 7
Team Finals – March 13
Individual Finals – March 14
Ice Hockey
Regionals – Feb. 24-March 4
Quarterfinals – March 7
Semifinals – March 12-13
Finals – March 14
Girls and Boys Skiing
Regionals – Feb. 10-14
Finals – Feb. 24
Girls & Boys Swimming & Diving
U.P. Girls & Boys Finals – Feb. 15
L.P. Boys Diving Qualification Meets – March 5
L.P. Boys Finals – March 13-14
Wrestling
Team Districts – Feb. 12-13
Individual Districts – Feb. 15
Team Regionals – Feb. 19
Individual Regionals – Feb. 22
Team Quarterfinals – Feb. 28
Team Semifinals & Finals – Feb. 29
Individual Finals – March 6-7
2019-20 Classifications Announced
April 8, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Classifications for Michigan High School Athletic Association elections and postseason tournaments for the 2019-20 school year have been announced, with enrollment breaks for postseason tournaments posted to each sport’s page on the MHSAA Website.
Classifications for the upcoming school year are based on a second semester count date, which for MHSAA purposes was Feb. 13. The enrollment figure submitted for athletic classification purposes may be different from the count submitted for school aid purposes, as it does not include students ineligible for athletic competition because they reached their 19th birthday prior to September 1 of the current school year and will not include alternative education students if none are allowed athletic eligibility by the local school district.
Traditional classes (A, B, C, D) are used only for MHSAA elections and football playoff purposes – in 11-player to determine opponents’ point values, and in 8-player to determine if schools are eligible to compete in the MHSAA Playoffs (only Class D teams may participate in the postseason). All other sports’ tournaments will be conducted with schools in equal or nearly equal divisions.
To determine traditional classifications, after all counts are submitted, tournament-qualified member schools are ranked according to enrollment and then split as closely into quarters as possible. For 2019-20, there are 748 tournament-qualified member schools with 187 schools in each class.
Effective with the 2019-20 school year, schools with 863 or more students are in Class A. The enrollment limits for Class B are 395-862, Class C is 189-394, and schools with enrollments of 188 and fewer are Class D. The break between Classes A and B decreased 22 students from 2018-19, the break between Classes B and C decreased three students, and the break between Classes C and D is five students fewer than the current school year.
Schools recently were notified of their classification. MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said schools may not subsequently lower their enrollment figure. However, if revised enrollment figures are higher and indicate that a school should be playing in a higher division, that school would be moved up.
Schools have the option to play at any higher division for a minimum of two years, but must exercise the option by May 1 for fall sports, August 15 for winter sports and October 15 for spring sports.
The divisions and qualifiers for the MHSAA Football Playoffs will be announced on Selection Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019. Visit the respective sport pages on the MHSAA Website to review the divisional alignments for all other MHSAA-sponsored tournament sports.
Among teams that will be playing in new divisions in 2019-20 are two reigning MHSAA champions. The Rochester Adams girls swimming & diving team will be moving into Lower Peninsula Division 1 this fall after winning Division 2 in 2018. The Saugatuck boys cross country team will move into Lower Peninsula Division 3 after winning Division 4 last fall. Additionally, two-time reigning Division 3 girls soccer champion Flint Powers Catholic is playing in Division 2 this spring, but will move back into Division 3 for the 2020 season. There will be a guaranteed new champion in Division 1 boys bowling in 2020 as this winter’s winner Farmington Hills Harrison will be closing after this school year.
A complete list of school enrollments used to determine classifications for the 2019-20 school year can be found on the Enrollment & Classification page of the MHSAA Website.
The new classification breaks will see 17 schools move up in class for 2019-20 while 12 schools will move down. (Note: This list does not include schools opting up in class/division for tournaments, which can be found on the Administrators page of the MHSAA Website, under Enrollment, Classification, Co-Ops):
Moving Up from Class B to Class A
Battle Creek Harper Creek
Dearborn Divine Child
Marysville
Parma Western
Pontiac
Stevensville Lakeshore
Moving Down from Class A to Class B
Clio
Grand Rapids Christian
Ortonville Brandon
Owosso
Redford Union
Moving Up from Class C to Class B
Adrian Madison
Dearborn Advanced Technology Academy
Flint Hamady
Moving Down from Class B to Class C
Detroit West Side Academy
Leslie
Moving Up from Class D to Class C
Adrian Lenawee Christian
Benton Harbor Countryside Academy
Deckerville
Kingston
Lutheran Westland
Mayville
Merrill
Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary
Moving Down from Class C to Class D
Big Rapids Crossroads Academy
Britton Deerfield
Dryden
Eau Claire
Newberry
New Postseason Eligible Tournament Schools in 2019-20
Southfield Manoogian
Flint New Standard
Midland Calvary Baptist Academy
Starr Albion Prep
Whitmore Lake Livingston Classical
Enrollment Breaks by Classes – 2019-20
(Number of schools in parentheses)
Class A: 863 and above (187 schools)
Class B: 395 – 862 (187)
Class C: 189 – 394 (187)
Class D: 188 and below (187)
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.