COLUMBUS — Football’s postseason will look a little different next season.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association’s Board of Directors approved changes for the playoffs Thursday.
There will be 12 teams to qualify in each region, a reduction from 16. The top four seeds in each region will receive a bye in the first round.
The higher seeded team will also host games in the first three rounds, rather than just the first two.
The field was eight per region from 1999 to 2019. The OHSAA was set to make the field 12 in early 2020. With the heavy disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 tournament was open to all teams. For the last four seasons, it has been 16 teams per region.
“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,” said Doug Ute, OHSAA Executive Director in a news release.
“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 number one priority.”
With the top four seeds in each region receiving a first-round bye, the first-round parings include the #12 seed playing at the #5 seed, #11 at #6, #10 at #7 and #9 at #8.
In the second round, the No. 1 seed will host the winner of 12-5; the No. 2 seed will host the winner of 11-6, the No. 3 seed will host the winner of 10-7, and the No. 4 seed will host the winner of 8-9.
If this format had been in place last season, for example, West Liberty-Salem, which was the #2 seed, would have received a bye, while Indian Lake would have still played Versailles.
In the second round, the Tigers would have met #11 Madeira, which beat #6 Williamsburg, instead of #7 Miami East. The Lakers, who were the #5 seed, would have faced #1 Greeneview in the regional quarterfinals rather than #4 Preble Shawnee.