Maybe last year, but what about next year? Who knows what will happen in two years? I'd rather everyone play the same number of games at least. You will never have "balance" so at least go equal numbers. I just hate that a team can win one Region game and get into the playoffs while some teams have to win 3 or 4 to get in.SF Band dad wrote:I disagree. A cross-bracket is a good way to fill-out everyone's schedules but counting them as region games would cause an unbalanced strength of schedule within the region. An extra "region" game against Mann is not the same as one against Hanna.Rebel-Fan-74 wrote:I would love to see the SCHSL do it more like the NFL schedule.
You play 7 "REGION" games even if you have 5 in your Region. So a five team region would be cross bracketed against another 5A schools for three other games that will count toward your Region Finish. That way, every team has the same number of region games.
And when it comes to tougher, a real Region game against Mann counts the same as a game against Hanna, so why differ in cross brackets? It would have been much tougher to get in the playoffs in Region 3, having to fight Dorman, Gaffney, Spartanburg, Byrnes and Boiling Springs than some of the other Regions. I think most of us would have said that Boiling Springs was one of the 16 best teams in 5A, but with the schedule they played and the stacked Region, they were not in the bracket. So finishing in third or fourth in Region Two would have been much easier than Region Three, but we consider that "equal" don't we?
I'm more in favor of getting the best teams in the playoffs. Let's be honest, at this present time, Riverside and J L Mann are games that are about as close to a BYE as you can get. Greenville county doesn't have football in the same class as Spartanburg, York, Cherokee and Anderson counties do. They don't have the facilities and they don't pay the coaches the same way as those counties {Yes, Hillcrest is in Greenville county and they have improved dramatically in recent years}.
There are no clear cut easy ways to do schedules and I know everything I come up with has holes and question marks just like the SCHSL's list. I just rant from time to time. If the cross bracket is random, maybe you luck up and get three games against the "not so good team" but as we know, the better team doesn't always win.