Welcome back, boys and girls. The Playoff Land of Make Believe awaits our arrival.
It is a land of fairy tales: where every 9-1 high school football team, and plenty of 8-2s can practically taste the sweet, untainted air of playoff bliss and get to prove themselves on the field.
It’s a place where many others, out of it in real life, still have a shot to clinch a spot if all goes well. It’s a place where Thanksgiving — the best day of the Connecticut Sports year — remains the last day of the regular season.
The CIAC football committee has approved. We’re one crazy “seasonal” committee and a roomful of PhD’s away from seeing our cares disappear.
Come now, children. Grab your Teddy Bear and your blanket. Sew your shadow to your feet. Take a leap of faith out the window.
Second star to the right. Straight on ’til morning.
Here’s what high school football could really, really, really look like…
CLASS LL
| TEAM | W-L | Bon | Pts. | Avg. |
| 1. Glastonbury | 9-0 | 370 | 1270 | 141.11 |
| 2. Staples | 9-0 | 290 | 1190 | 132.22 |
| 3. Xavier | 8-1 | 350 | 1150 | 127.78 |
| 4. Simsbury | 8-1 | 320 | 1120 | 124.44 |
| 5. Bpt. Central | 8-1 | 320 | 1120 | 124.44 |
| 6. Cheshire | 7-1 | 250 | 950 | 118.75 |
| 7. Ridgefield | 8-1 | 240 | 1040 | 115.56 |
| 8. Hamden | 7-2 | 260 | 960 | 106.67 |
| Windsor | 7-2 | 260 | 960 | 106.67 |
| Manchester | 7-2 | 230 | 930 | 103.33 |
| Greenwich | 7-2 | 220 | 920 | 102.22 |
| Newtown | 7-2 | 200 | 900 | 100.00 |
| Shelton | 6-3 | 180 | 780 | 86.67 |
| South Windsor | 6-3 | 140 | 740 | 82.22 |
Synopsis: One more week left, lots of key games going on. The five teams have practically clinched (including Central). Cheshire controls its own destiny, but could be out with one more loss. Ridgefield’s hanging by a thread to 7. Hamden must win to get in. Otherwise, it’ll be Windsor, Manchester, Newtown and Greenwich (with the best shot) to get in with two losses.
But, if the season ended today (and, remember, it doesn’t so none of this is set in stone), here’s what we would get:
8. Hamden at 1. Glastonbury; 7. Ridgefield at No. 2 Staples; No. 6 Cheshire at No. 3 Xavier; No. 5 Central at No. 4 Simsbury.
CLASS L
| TEAM | W-L | Bon | Pts. | Avg. |
| 1. Masuk | 9-0 | 350 | 1250 | 138.89 |
| 2. Pomperaug | 9-0 | 330 | 1230 | 136.67 |
| 3. Vinal Tech/Cog | 9-0 | 300 | 1210 | 134.44 |
| 4. Conard | 9-0 | 290 | 1190 | 132.22 |
| 5. New Canaan | 8-1 | 320 | 1130 | 125.56 |
| 6. East Lyme | 8-1 | 290 | 1100 | 122.22 |
| 7. Notre Dame-WH | 8-1 | 300 | 1100 | 122.22 |
| 8. St. Paul Co-Op | 7-2 | 270 | 980 | 108.89 |
| Darien | 7-2 | 180 | 930 | 103.33 |
| Fitch | 6-2 | 180 | 760 | 95.00 |
| Branford | 6-3 | 240 | 840 | 93.33 |
| North Haven | 6-3 | 180 | 780 | 86.67 |
| Fairfield Warde | 5-4 | 150 | 660 | 73.33 |
| Wethersfield | 5-4 | 130 | 640 | 71.11 |
Synopsis: Basically a combination of L and MM. This is much, much stronger and exciting field. Everybody at 9-0 has clinched and are jockeying for positioning. New Canaan, East Lyme and ND control their own destiny (many of them are probably in despite a loss anyway). Like the current MM scenario, Darien and Fitch have outside chances to join the field.
But, if the season ended today, here are your matchups
8. St. Paul at Masuk; No. 7 Notre Dame-WH or East Lyme at Pomperaug; No. 6 Notre Dame-WH or East Lyme at No. 3 Vinal Tech/Coginchaug; No. 5 New Canaan at No. 4 Conard
Yeah, a potential ND/Pomperaug quarterfinal isn’t desirable. A win over Hamden would ensure that wouldn’t happen for ND. New Canaan traveling to Conard is tough. But remember, none of this is set in stone. Plenty can happen on Thanksgiving.
CLASS M
| TEAM | W-L | Bon | Pts. | Avg |
| 1. New London | 8-0 | 410 | 1220 | 152.50 |
| 2. Avon | 9-0 | 310 | 1220 | 135.56 |
| 3. Wolcott | 8-1 | 290 | 1150 | 127.78 |
| 4. Berlin | 8-1 | 330 | 1130 | 125.56 |
| 5. Bethel | 7-2 | 220 | 930 | 103.33 |
| 6. Gilbert/NW | 6-2 | 190 | 800 | 100.00 |
| 7. Coventry/WT | 6-2 | 140 | 750 | 93.75 |
| 8. Watertown | 6-3 | 190 | 800 | 88.89 |
| Ellington/Somers | 5-3 | 120 | 660 | 82.50 |
| Ledyard | 5-3 | 140 | 640 | 80.00 |
| Bacon Academy | 5-3 | 120 | 620 | 77.50 |
| New Fairfield | 5-4 | 170 | 680 | 75.56 |
| Foran | 5-4 | 100 | 640 | 71.11 |
| Hillhouse | 5-4 | 120 | 630 | 70.00 |
Synopsis: Shaping up to be the weakest fields (hey, I proposed a three-division solution that would take care of this), but this certainly gives us some more variety. New London, Avon, Wolcott and Berlin have clinched the top seeds. Bethel, Gilbert, Coventry and Watertown are still fighting for spots and positioning with Ellington, Ledyard and Bacon Academy knocking at the door.
Here’s the field if theseason ended today:
No. 8 Watertown at New London; No. 7 Coventry/Windham Tech at No. 2 Avon; No. 6 Gilbert/Northwestern at No. 3 Wolcott; No. 5 Bethel at No. 4 Berlin.
CLASS S
| TEAM | W-L | Bon | Pts. | Avg. |
| 1. Bloomfield | 9-0 | 310 | 1280 | 142.22 |
| 2. Holy Cross | 8-1 | 330 | 1190 | 132.22 |
| 3. NW Catholic | 8-1 | 310 | 1180 | 131.11 |
| 4. Montville | 8-1 | 320 | 1150 | 127.78 |
| 5. Hyde |
8-1 | 290 | 1090 | 121.11 |
| 6. Ansonia | 7-2 | 310 | 1070 | 118.89 |
| 7. Bullard Havens | 8-1 | 200 | 1030 | 114.44 |
| 8. St. Joseph | 7-2 | 220 | 1010 | 112.22 |
| Prince Tech | 7-1 | 180 | 900 | 112.50 |
| East Catholic | 7-2 | 200 | 970 | 107.78 |
| Cromwell | 6-2 | 190 | 790 | 98.75 |
| Woodland | 6-3 | 180 | 830 | 92.22 |
| Canton | 6-3 | 110 | 740 | 82.22 |
| Griswold | 5-3 | 90 | 600 | 75.00 |
| Oxford | 5-4 | 100 | 640 | 71.11 |
| Killingly | 5-4 | 110 | 630 | 70.00 |
Synopsis: Pretty much the same scenario in Class SS, with St. Joseph needing a win over Trumbull to secure its spot in the field (and perhaps leap over a few teams in the process. Give or take, the field is chock full of strong programs and competitive teams. It’s probably the third-best of the bunch.
Here’s how it would shake down if the season ended today:
No. 8 St. Joseph at No. 1 Bloomfield; No. 7 Bullard-Havens at No. 2 Holy Cross; No. 6 Ansonia at No. 3 Northwest Catholic; No. 5 Hyde at No. 4 Montville.
***
Remember, the quarterfinals after Thanksgiving; Semifinals the following Saturday.
Then it’s one massive week of buildup before the glorious Championship Weekend at festive Rentschler Field.
Close your eyes.
Just imagine.
***
It’s time to go now, boys and girls.
Until we meet again for the final pairings.
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Does the amount of CT state-champions in football water down the accomplishment of these high schoolers? It’s not their fault they get to take advantage of the current system.
Comment by MasukRules — November 17th, 2009 @ 9:44 pm
It does. And it isn’t.
Comment by Sean Patrick Bowley — November 17th, 2009 @ 9:45 pm
4 champions is by no means watered down! You guys are crazy. 130 or so schools and only three champions, that would not be fair to kids, nor would any of the coaches agree. Heck the big time coaches don’t even want to play the big boys in their own conference, sans SCC D 1 and ECC Large. Four is good and I guarantee you will see more a few years after this approved.
Comment by John d — November 18th, 2009 @ 7:34 am
big believer in objective measurements and here’s one for all the second guessers about the strength of the SCC. in their latest polls, the CT schools will be most difficult strength of schedule ranked 1 through 9 are all SCC schools.. in order, Cross, Hand, Amity, West Haven, ND-WH, Cheshire, Xavier, Shelton and Hamden.
as for the top ranked schools in most of the high school polls, Glastonbury is 70, Staples 60, Pomperaug 84, Masuk, 75, New London 19 (let’s hear for the ECC – good job Whalers), Conard 119, Bloomfield 145 and Avon 142.
Comment by hoop — November 18th, 2009 @ 8:16 am
I agree with the statement made above by MasukRules. It isn’t anyone’s fault that teams take advantage of the way the system is set up. You do your best within the boundries that have been set for you. That said, I always liked the four class system we had in CT not that long ago. If I recall, they added Class SS and Class MM in order to give addittional teams the opportunity to compete in the postseason. Well here is a way to have the best of both worlds. 8 Teams per class actually gives more teams a chance to play in the postseason than the current LL, L, MM, M, SS, S system AND we are left with only four state champions. Another plus with this system is that the teams from traditionally loaded conferences (SCC, FCIAC, etc.) do not get penalized as much for tough losses. For example, if the current season ended today, one loss teams like Cheshire, Ridgefield and NDWH would be out. I think few people would argue that the playoffs would not be more competitive with those types of teams in the postseason. Each of those teams is good enough to run the table and win it all.
Sean.. Great job with this.
Comment by PantherFan — November 18th, 2009 @ 9:31 am
Sean – while Simsbury has a tough schedule that’s filled with Class LL opponents, they are actually classified as a Class L school for football. Right now, they are ranked fourth and are battling for the last playoff spot with Notre Dame-West Haven.
Comment by simsburyfan — November 18th, 2009 @ 11:41 am
too good to ever happen. we deserve a system which has the best teams playing in late November (but please-not in December ,especially at night,in places like West Haven where the wind chill is always in the single figures.
Comment by hank brown — November 18th, 2009 @ 12:46 pm
Simsbury fan: There is no spoon… There is no spoon… There is no spoon…
Comment by Sean Patrick Bowley — November 18th, 2009 @ 12:52 pm
I like it all but i wouldn’t play all the games at the Rent. I would wait and see who was in the finals. I wish the yale bowl would be used for a final. Like if St Joes vs Ansonia or HC vs Hyde were the final play closer to their area more people would go. I know this is all hypothetical but that would be an awesome day.
Comment by AnsoniaVinny — November 18th, 2009 @ 1:16 pm
Hey Hank Brown’s in da house.
I hear you on West Haven, Hank. They need a dome over that place in December. But let’s use some of that clout with the CIAC and get this proposal pushed through.
Comment by Sean Patrick Bowley — November 18th, 2009 @ 1:27 pm
I get it Sean.
Comment by simsburyfan — November 18th, 2009 @ 1:28 pm
I wish a certain daily newspaper in the capitol city would delve into high school football the way you do. It’s pretty lame up this way.
Comment by simsburyfan — November 18th, 2009 @ 1:32 pm
Actually, simsburyfan, let me qualify — especially for all the newcomers out there (and there seems to be a ton on this site lately):
The new playoff proposal calls for contraction to four divisions. So what we did was take all the current schools and their enrollments and divided it as equally as we could into four divisions. Some current Class L schools didn’t make the Class LL cut this time. That means Simsbury would likely be a Class LL school. Of course, the divisions can and do change every year, so…
But this is why Simsbury is in Class LL in this imaginary land of playoff make believe.
Comment by Sean Patrick Bowley — November 18th, 2009 @ 1:43 pm
Tell all your friends, Simsburyfan
Comment by Sean Patrick Bowley — November 18th, 2009 @ 1:46 pm
I agree with Simsburyfan. I’ve been coming on here for the last 2-3 years. There’s nothing like this up here in central/nothern CT.
Comment by CCC Fan — November 18th, 2009 @ 2:40 pm
Haha. Thanks guys. …Move your teams down here! Plenty of room. We’ll squeeze you in somewhere around Newtown/Brookfield/New Milford/Southbury. Lots of space. Good luck with planning & zoning, though.
Comment by Sean Patrick Bowley — November 18th, 2009 @ 2:44 pm
SPB good to see your still doing your thing. Keep it going strong, and about that West Haven wind chill, i can totally agree with that dome! December 2nd, 2007 the coldest(and maybe worst) night of my life aha. Keep it rollin’
Comment by Alumni 5 — November 18th, 2009 @ 3:14 pm
Yeah… Your boys got you a trophy last year, Alumni 5.
For me, the coldest night I ever suffered through was the 2002 semifinals, Ridgefield at Amity. It was 11 degrees, wind chill of minus-11. They had one of those jet engines on the sidelines. But after two quarters, I couldn’t take it anymore and retreated to the Amity press box. How kicker Dean DeNovio got that rock through the uprights, I’ll never know.
That was the same night of the West Haven-NFA game at Ken Strong Stadium. I heard it was worse there.
Comment by Sean Patrick Bowley — November 18th, 2009 @ 3:20 pm
I bet, well keep me posted through out the night tomorrow. I won’t be able to make it, gotta prepare for my own game on Saturday. Take care.
Comment by Alumni 5 — November 18th, 2009 @ 3:24 pm
Hoop where are you getting your numbers from. New London only has a strenght of shedule of 19? What does that mean? I’m not being confrontational just curious? As far as I knew they played a pretty tough schedule this year. I have to question those numbers.
Comment by John D — November 18th, 2009 @ 3:31 pm
SPB you ever think of starting a CT High School football site. Covering most of the state. You don’t need the CT Post.
Comment by John D — November 18th, 2009 @ 3:34 pm
No offense to Conard, but I hope that they don’t get into the playoffs. I have nothing against the Chieftains, but they could be fantastic martyrs. If a 10-0 team doesn’t get into the playoffs, there’s NO WAY the CIAC can possibly keep the current system.
Comment by Bay — November 19th, 2009 @ 8:35 am
I agree the 2002 Semi-finals were bone hurting cold, Staples brought in temporary lights and Jimmy Hughes ran wild.
Comment by tj — November 19th, 2009 @ 11:45 am
NL has a 152.5 avg for 8 games, that reflects wins & losses of opposition, based on avg. wouldn’t that reflect toughest schedule?
Comment by Wilson — November 19th, 2009 @ 1:51 pm
SPB rember 2003, that was a great championship year, the snow cancellation allowed us to catch most of the games. It was too bad Hughes was hurt that year. those Semi games were very cold. I think it was 7 degrees at the game I was at!
Comment by John D — November 19th, 2009 @ 8:19 pm
note to John D,
if you go to http://www.usatoday.com you can navigate through sports, then high school, then find massey ratings where the national high school rankings are posted. i checked new london’s schedule. while i didn’t look up every opponent’s schedule number, these are the team rankings for the NL’s opponents: bacon academy is 56, woodstock 120, ledyard 32, east lyme 18, fitch 45, montville 7, plainfield 125, griswold 88 and norwich free 98. the team ranking is a composite of their schedule, offense, defense and power. definitions for each are on the massey site. btw, the team rankings here is only based on CT schools.
In CT, the top 5 are 1. ND-WH, 2. Staples, 3. Cheshire, 4. Xavier and 5. New London. The Whalers are ranked 926 in the United States.
hope this helps.
Comment by hoop — November 19th, 2009 @ 10:45 pm
This past weekend November 13, should be the first round of the playoffs.
I would not have a ninth game scheduled, but instead every team in each class would play a team with a similar record.
The top 8 in each division would play a Class quarter-final game on that weekend.
The weekend of November 21 would be the semi-finals of each class.
On Thanksgiving Eve the four class championships would be played. The remaining 120 teams would play their normal rivalry game. The 8 teams that are not involved in the playoffs, would play against each other.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving would be the first final four of CT played at Rentschler Field, with the LL, L, M,S champions seeded 1-4
The following week the true State Champion will be decided on the field, with the winner of that game chosen to go to the Walter Camp dinner.
I would like to have one true state champion in football, and fill Rentschler Field for both the final four, and championship game.
All done by the first week in December
Comment by Rick Swanson — November 20th, 2009 @ 12:54 pm
Hoop, I understand now. the lower the score the stronger the strength of schedule. I was thinking it was the other way around, and that’s why I was confused. We were both stating and thinking the same thing, I just misunderstood. Nice job finding that stat.
Comment by John D — November 20th, 2009 @ 1:55 pm