Week 7 is just about the time to start to seriously keep an eye on the playoff races. The state races have still a ways to go before we can truly look at scenarios. But it’s not too early with the league championship games, at least in an overview. don’t expect anything too specific.
Here we go.
The FCIAC
New Canaan, Staples and Darien are in the driver’s seat. One team will get bumped down with the conclusion of this week’s mega-match in Westport.
New Canaan has games with big point potentials in the coming weeks. The Rams round out their FCIAC regular season vs. Wilton (3 FCIAC wins), vs. Stamford (3 wins), vs. Trumbull (2 wins). They’ll clinch if they win out.
Staples or Darien can pick up a ton of points with a win on Saturday, so the victor will be in great shape if it wins out.
After Darien, Staples wraps up with Warde (3 wins) and Westhill (0 wins). After Staples, Darien wraps up with Trinity Catholic (2 wins) and Bassick (0 wins).
Greenwich will likely need some help. The Cards wrap with Westhill (0 wins, McMahon (3 wins) and Danbury (2 wins) Even if it finishes the season unbeaten in the FCIAC, it would only get in if they are one of two unbeaten teams remaining after Week 9.
The FCIAC Championship game will be held Friday, Nov. 18 at Trumbull’s McDougall Field, 7:30 p.m.
Note: To the uninitiated, these are “FCIAC” playoff points. Not CIAC playoff points. Only FCIAC games count.
The SWC
It’s a little more clear-cut. The top-two records get in. Only if there’s a tie will things get slightly messy.
Masuk and Bunnell are the league’s only remaining unbeaten teams. If they win out, they will face each other at Bunnell on Nov. 17 for the title.
Newtown’s only realistic shot is to beat Brookfield this weekend, and then beat Bunnell on Nov. 9. That would drop Bunnell to one loss and Newtown holding the head-to-head tiebreaker.
If Brookfield defeats Newtown this weeked, the race is all but over. That would give Newtown two league losses. Bunnell, holding a tiebreaker over Pomperaug, would qualify if it wins out.
Pomperaug‘s only realistic chance is to win out, and that includes beating Masuk. That would at least force a three-way tie and the playoff points would be in their favor.
The SWC Championship will be held Thursday, Nov. 17 at Bunnell, 7 p.m.
The NVL
Thankfully, the league came to its senses and made head-to-head the first tiebreaker in determining division champions. Last year’s controversy was silly and unnecessary.
So, it’s quite simple nowadays.
In the Brass Division, Wolcott is the only thing standing between Ansonia and a division clinch. The teams play next week. Ansonia can start printing NVL title tickets with a victory there.
The Copper Division is slightly more muddled, but not by much.
Holy Cross controls its own destiny.
The Crusaders wrap up the season with games against Sacred Heart, Woodland and St. Paul. They already own the tiebreaker over Torrington and, with a victory over Woodland next week, would be the likely division champion.
Torrington and Woodland need help.
Torrington finishes division play with Kennedy and Sacred Heart.
Woodland finishes division play with Naugatuck, Holy Cross.
A Woodland win over Holy Cross could set up a three-way tiebreaker for the division title. We assume that would be broken by overall NVL record. But we’re not sure yet. Anyone from the NVL feel free to chime in here.
The NVL title game is Thursday, Nov. 17 at Municipal Stadium, 6:30 p.m.
CIAC Playoff Points
And, in the interest of keeping everyone up-do-date on statewide happenings, here’s how the state playoff races are shaping up.
If the playoffs started today:
- CLASS LL: No. 8 West Haven at No. 1 Xavier | No. 7 Norwalk at No. 2 Conard | No. 6 Glastonbury at No. 3 Staples | No. 5 Pomperaug at No. 4 Norwich Free Academy
- CLASS L: No. 8 Coventry/Windham Tech at No. 1 Windsor | No. 7 Farmington at No. 1 Hand | No. 6 Darien at No. 3 Bunnell | No. 5 New London at No. 4 New Canaan.
No, there’s no Masuk out there. Masuk is biding its time at the No. 9 spot. But rest assured, if Masuk finishes unbeaten, it will get in. One loss would be a killer. But you knew that.
- CLASS M: No. 8 Enfield at No. 1 Ansonia | No. 7 Ledyard at No. 2 Ellington/Somers | No. 6 Waterford at No. 3 Wolcott | No. 5 Berlin at No. 4 Cheney Tech.
- CLASS S: No. 8 Bloomfield at No. 1 Capital Prep/Classical | No. 7 North Branford at No. 2 Coginchaug | No. 6 Northwest Catholic at No. 3 Cromwell | No. 5 Valley Regional/Old Lyme at No. 4 Holy Cross.
Still long ways off so don’t get too crazy.
To bring my level of clarity to the oh-so-popular NVL Copper Division race, I think Torrington would win a three-way tie among Torrington, Holy Cross, and Woodland (if all three teams are 7-2, 5-1 after Week 9). This is because Torrington’s loss to Ansonia came in what is technically a nonconference game (the teams agreed to fill their nonleague opening with each other). Therefore, Torrington would be 7-1 in the NVL while Holy Cross and Woodland would be 6-2.
The problem is the league’s tiebreaker criteria are a little vague. “Overall record” doesn’t specify whether overall league record or overall overall record is counted, and the fifth criterion (record against top teams in the league) is extremely vague.
I will hopefully have a sure answer for this before this week’s games. For what it’s worth, I don’t think we’ll have a three-way tie because I don’t see Holy Cross losing any of its remaining division games, including its game against Woodland in Week 8.
sean, can I get some predictions out of you?
Where’s New London?…They beat Greenwich good, and I believe are still undefeated…I’m not too familiar with that eastern part of the state, but is NFA that much better than New London?, or maybe they beat them last week?, and I missed the results…
@Hilarious – like what? Who’ll go to these games? I’d say Staples-New Canaan; Masuk-Bunnell; Ansonia-Holy Cross.
Sean,
How is a league championship played before the FCIAC season is over?
What brilliant mind came up with this format?
Darien vs New Canaan, Greenwich vs Staples play week after championship?
Your thoughts
FCIAC fan
It’s all about the playoff points, the thanksgiving games don’t matter because of who beat who and the wins they have over divisional teams. I see it being Masuk/Bunnell , Darien/New Canaan , Ansonia/Holly Cross. Yeah, I know that Darien ,Staples is gonna be the game of the week. Darien keeps finding ways to win.
Regarding score management, why not implement a White Flag (mercy) rule whereby 1) the official score freezes once the score margin surpasses 50, and 2) the scoreboard score, which is no longer official, will only change when the losing team scores. This solves many problems: 1) If coaches truly feel a need to give their starters more playing time, they can’t be accused of running up the score, 2) if the winning JV kids are still better than the other team, they get the thrill of scoring even if it doesn’t officially count, and 3) if the losing team’s starters start running up the score on the winning team’s JV, the coach has no fear of his team’s defensive stats being tarnished (kids and coaches have pride in such things). A running clock short-changes everyone.
Another side benefit is that the above rules can be applied at any point in the game if mutually agreed upon. I mention this because there are sites that rate teams based on their stats with no allowance for whether they were done vs starters or scrubs and thus coaches might feel obligated to keep starters in well after the game is decided when they’d rather not. Ditto if they think it might affect their poll ratings. The White Flag rule solves this dilemma as well. What’s the downside?
Jeff. Youre too much of a liberal. Go play the piano.
The top team that Torrington “Scorrington” will have played in leauge will be Wolcott. Ansonia, because Torrington voluntarily scheduled them, is considered an out of leauge opponent. That means the top team that Torrington will have played by week 9, outside of WRHS and HC, is 5-1 Wolcott. A team Scorrington laid the smack down on in Week 2, 66-28. I have also heard playoff points may play a role in determining this tie-breaker. Let’s hope that if it did come down to a three way tie, that Torrington did get to go, because that’s the best game the NVL has to offer. HC did beat Torrington, but I don’t think anyone would have the Crusaders giving points in a rematch.
Lol – This has nothing to do with “feelings”. It’s about efficiency, stats, safety, etc.
@FCIAC Fan asks why they play the league title game before the season’s over.
Quick history lesson:
Once upon a time, for a loooonnng time, there were no state playoffs. So the FCIAC, in its infinite wisdom, decided it would crown a champion with a title game. The FCIAC title game was one of the state’s premier showcases, producing some memorable clashes of its powerhouses. It was basically a state championship game, played on Thanksgiving Day. An awesome set up.
After about 15 years, the CIAC set up its state championship games (no semifinals, just the top two in each class). The FCIAC continued to play its title game on Thanksgiving. It even added a short-lived semifinal round.
But in 1993, when the superconferences came into being, the league honored the money-making Thanksgiving Day rivalries its new schools brought into the league. So the title game was moved up a week (winners of the two, 9-team divisions would face off). The same thing happened in the SWC.
It seems odd to have the FCIAC championship game stuck in between “the regular season” and the T-day “rivalry” game. But what we really need for CT football is a better state playoff system now that stronger programs are being developed throughout the state.
The CIAC should really look at expanding the playoffs to 32 teams per division, but with only two divisions (“large” and “small”). Each small school would be allowed to play up if they elected (like an Ansonia, given they could compete at the big school level). The regular season would be cut back to 8 games with non-playoff teams matched in T-day “rivalry games”. That way all teams would get at least a 9 game season; the state finalists having to play the current 13 game total. The qualification for making the playoffs would come from a computer ranking per division that factored in strength of schedule. More teams would qualify for the playoffs than currently (64 vs 32) and CT would get a true state champion. The difficulty is weaving in the conference championships.
@JB Steve? Steve Filippone? Is that you???
In case of a three-way tie in the NVL Copper that cannot be settled by head-to-head, overall NVL record, or record against Nos. 4-7 in the division, the tie will be broken by CIAC playoff points (followed by playoff ranking and CIAC tiebreaker points, if need be).
Holy Cross should be able to win without this three-way tie happening, but who knows.
I can’t say I disagree with JB, he’s absolutely right, but how would you do it? New York Football… some teams are already done… like done… they play 7 games and thats all…. and It’s a shame. I think minus the league championship games – this is a good system because it has games scheduled and no matter what, teams will get 10 games a season.
And lots of these schools need the gate money on thanksgiving.
SPB, what do you propose?
What do I propose? I got my playoff system installed. Plus one division of course, but I’m not complaining (much).
Connecticut doesnt need more playoff teams. It’s fine the way it is. The only thing I might propose is, if you want to play a league title game, you have to do it on Thanksgiving. Play your rivalries the weekend before.
I’m greedy, though. I love the end of the season on Thanksgiving Day. It’s most teams’ Super Bowl. And I love all the playoff scenarios and intrigue that goes with it.
I just think our regular season alignments are too weak. The kids can’t get better if they are just walking through 9 games to get to real competition. And then schools, like McMahon, play a beast of a schedule and their only reward is to spoil Greenwich’s FCIAC title hopes? That McMahon team deserves more. It could give a ton of highly rated CT teams a fabulous test. And the kids would flourish because “we made States”. They might even win a couple playoff games and achieve something like “District IV Champion”.
But I also see SPB’s view. The traditions would be really hard to depart from and I have to agree that the the intrigue is fun. But I just think our overall HS football would rise a notch with the extra competition and incentives of making the playoffs. States like Ohio, Texas, Michigan, Florida have moved that way.
Pat,
You are correct that NY only plays 7 games that have meaning but they do play crossover games against each other if u were eliminated or didn’t qualify for playoffs so most times teams are getting 9 games. I think those games are no different than Immaculate vs ND FFLd both 0-9 playing out the string to say they played 9-10 games. Those 2 teams would be better off just playing the 7 LOL.
The FCIAC Thanksgiving rivalries are indeed fabulous, especially this year, and hugely meaningful for the playoffs as well. The FCIAC championship can be decided in numerous ways without the need for an extra game. 1) If the top two teams happen to be playing on Thanksgiving, there’s your championship. 2) If the top two teams happen to meet (again) in the playoffs, there’s your championship, 3) If the top two teams had already met in the regular season, the winner is deemed champion, 4) If one of the top two teams has less losses, they are deemed champion, 5) In all other cases, do what the Ivy League does and crown co-champions. If the FCIAC depends on the championship game for revenue, take a small cut from each Thanksgiving game.
However, the only purpose to do this would be to give the kids a breather at the end of the season in preparation for the playoffs. Three playoff rounds seems to be plenty.
I think it is great how Masuk is not even in the top 8 for class L. It just shows the weakness of their schedule and how many teams have a harder schedule. With that being said I think that Masuk is the best team in that class, if not the best in the state. Once they get in I see them rolling through the playoffs onto another state championship
@Jeff – It’s a fair point, getting rid of the league title games. The extra round of playoff is plenty football. Leagues just don’t want to get rid of that revenue (and tradition). They’ll jump through hoops to make it work.
SPB, if it’s all about money, I see no resaon why the CIAC, with its windfall from additional playoffs games, couldn’t just subsidize any leagues hurt by the loss of a so-called championship game. I want to reiterate that there will still be an FCIAC champion crowned every year, and all the pride and tradition that goes along with earning it, just that the crowning process will have changed slightly to give the kids and coaches a chance to catch their breaths and heal for the arduous playoff run.
The problem is the leagues are too damn big.
The tradition is the hardest thing to overcome. The T-day games are great, no doubt. And I think the conference championship is an important thing to the schools. But what if L and LL were combined into one division and then limit L/LL type teams to only 2 regular season opponents from the M or S levels? The L/LL division would need to expand the playoff teams to 16, but could keep the total season game count the same by eliminating the “bye” week.
The CIAC needs to move the state finals out of hartford. No one goes it’s to far for the average fan to drive when no son or daughter is involved with the schools. The crowds for the games last year were awful. If Masuk vs NC was at Ken strong 8,000 would have come just like they did for the NB/Greenwich game and the Xavier/Southington game a few years back. The surface stinks and the food prices along with the tickets does not allow many students to go and enjoy themselves. The way the Big East is going Uconn won’t even need a field to play on !! LOL
I know the kids get to play in a college stadium but I’m a throwback guy who likes to hear the band noise and students cheers back and forth. None of that happens up there. I hope it pours the days before so they move the games back to shelton and West HAven or SCSU, or Trumbull or anywhere else.
The biggest joke of all these games is the fact that Anonia has to play Holy Cross again a team that they already beat by 40 to say they are NVL champs. When is the NVL gonna get it and scrap the divisions and title game. Ansonia really buried Woodland and a 5-5 Kennedy team in years past, games that had no intrigue at all. The game needs to not be played anymore it’s all strictly about money. In the other two leagues it usually works out great.
@Brian- Agreed! The basketball finals at Mohegan are a great idea, because its easy to fill a smaller arena and give the game an exciting atmosphere. Rentschler is just too big for that to happen. Find a neutral site in between both schools playing in the finals, pack the stands and create a worthy atmosphere. Ansonia and St. Joe’s fans had to drive 40 minutes each last year, when the schools are only 10 minutes apart. Play that game at Trumbull and you get 50% more fans.
I agree with Brian that the CIAC’s vision to move the state finals to East Hartford is proving to be misguided. Last year’s game played in near-freezing conditions was ruined by the field’s stupid policy of no entry. I for one would have warmed up in the car for 30 minutes and returned for the St. Joe’s game.. but no… no entry. It’s not like there were thousands of fans outside waiting for me to give them my ticket! and food prices, well what else can be said? Give me high school refreshment stands with parent clubs helping out with reasonable prices any day. I heard this morning that I will be able to buy an more expensive ticket this year to watch the game inside the glassed-in seating areas. Now that really solves the heat problem – just pay more money for a ticket. Bring back the finals to West Haven, SCSU, Trumbull HS. The fans are the customers… the CIAC should be listening to them.
If the four final games are played at separate sites and at times that allow a casual fan to get in multiple games if they so wish I don’t care where they play. The notion of trying to build the schedule around geography is a good effort.
That being said…..having easy access to parking, food and bathrooms at the Rent was really nice. I attended both the Masuk/NC and St. Joe’s/Ansonia. I had a good time. I enjoyed it. I didn’t enjoy the chicken tenders. Not really the CIAC’s fault.
Bob – its going to be freaking cold no matter where in CT they play the game. Anyone remember the Seymour/Tolland game in Trumbull a few years back? Wow. Other than Ansonia and New Canaan, for most schools a trip to the finals is a fairly rare occurrence. This is CT. We all have cars, a trip to the Rent is just not that big of a deal.
Now, they should consider allowing reentry…especially if the temp is below 35 degrees that day.
the thing is, the state game is for the KIDS! not the cold parents, ask any player, they would rather play at uconn than trumbull anyday. so what if people are cold and have to drive a bit, its for the kids
I like some of those matchups in the Staes already.
Hopefully Masuk makes it just to see how goood they are or aren’t.
Being in the Navy i never get to get back up to watch anyone play so hearing who thinks who is better is great.
But i am a Valley Guy and would love some of the Bigger schools go to Ansonia and play a game.
Welcome, Jesse. Plenty of videos for ya. More as we move toward states. …Masuk will get in, guaranteed, if they go undefeated. Could be trouble with one loss since their opponents so far have not produced victories.
Thanks SPB!
I have followed your blog for some years now getting my CT HSFB fix.
I would really like to see the top teams in each class at the end of th eyear play each other for an over all champ but that would never happen.
Some of these schools from around the State need to play each other more often. Ansoni-New London-Bloomfield-Greenwich-Staples and so on. It would really let us get a better perception of some of these schools.
Brian,
The problem with playing the state games at the sites you recommended is you can only see one afternoon and one night game. Sometimes they schedule great games opposite one another. By having the games in Hartford we get to see all the state finals.
Jeb,
Then just play at ken strong stadium on the same schedule as uconn. 10am 2pm and 6pm is plenty of time to get traffic in and out.90 percent of the people leave after their school is done playing. Only nuts like us stay in the 30 degree temps to watch all 3 !!