High school football: OHSAA changes playoff format

Ohio high school football coaches have been heard. Several significant changes highlighted the Ohio High School Athletic Association playoff regulations that were approved Thursday by the OHSAA Board of Directors. The number of qualifiers per region will be 12 instead of 16, with the top four seeds in each region earning first-round byes. In addition, the first three rounds of the postseason will be hosted by the higher seeded team instead of the first two. From 1999-2019, eight schools per region qualified for a five-week tournament. In early 2020, the OHSAA approved a proposal from the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association to expand to 12 qualifiers per region, which added a week to the postseason. Shortly after that, the COVID-19 pandemic greatly affected high school sports, and the OHSAA allowed every school to participate in 2020 since schools played a varying number of games. The positive feedback from schools that season prompted the OHSAA to expand from 12 to 16 qualifiers from 2021-24. "For the last few years, we have been pleased that more schools experienced the football playoffs, and there were some lower seeds that won playoff games," OHSAA executive director Doug Ute said. "But over the last year, we have received feedback from our schools, with a slight majority favoring 12 qualifiers per region, and we had many conversations with stakeholders around the state that led us to make this proposal to our board. We appreciate the feedback we received and will continue to gather comments moving forward. Like we do with all of our sports, we want to make sure the student-athletes are our No. 1 priority." With the top four seeds in each region receiving a first-round bye, the first-round parings include the No. 12 seed playing at the No. 5 seed, No. 11 at No. 6, No. 10 at No. 7 and No. 9 and No. 8. In the second round, the No. 1 seed will host the winner of No. 12 vs. No. 5, the No. 2 seed will host the winner of No. 11 vs. No. 6, the No. 3 seed will host the winner of No. 10 vs. No. 7, and the No. 4 seed will host the winner of No. 8 vs. No. 9.