Houston football coach Chris Edwards is unsure whether allowing the winner and runner-up of each district to advance in the playoffs is a good thing or not.
Members schools of the Missouri State High School Activities Association approved the new playoff plan last week. The new football playoff, which passed with a 169-91 vote, will still feature the same three-game district structure. But the winner and runner-up of each district will advance to the playoffs beginning in 2007.
Although the measure may dilute district titles or setup a second-round game between teams of the same district, Edwards pointed out that football is the only sport that includes district play as part of its regular season. He also said the plan, which will be evaluated after four years, would give more kids and communities the opportunity to experience the playoffs.
“There’s good and bad,” Edwards said. “We’ll have to live with it for a couple years and see if it’s positive of negative, then make the adjustments and changes at that point.”
Also approved was a proposal that reduced the number of required practices before preseason scrimmages from 14 to nine. The change will allow the season to begin a week earlier.
“That’s fine,” Edwards said. “Usually by that point you’re ready to knock heads with somebody else a little bit anyway. By the end of that second week, you’re kids are pretty much ready to get going.”
Member schools voted 321-92 against a proposal to split the public and nonpublic schools into separate playoffs for every sport except football.
In all, 30 issues passed, including a new minimum academic requirement that will take effect in July 2009, requiring students pass 3.0 units of credit or 80 percent of the allowable credits the previous semester to be eligible. A new category of membership was also established for schools that do not meet the requirements to become a full member, or choose not to join MSHSAA. The Affiliated Registered Schools will be able to compete against MSHSAA members during the regular season if “specific requirements are met.”