Ever since the Week 5 games controversy developed, I have spent countless hours on the phones with FCIAC football coaches and administrators. Beyond trying to find out who was at fault for the miscommunication, I think the one thing that has come out of all this is the recognition that the current playoff system stinks and a new one is in order.
As anyone who follows college football can tell you, a format based on points and strength of schedule is awful. The problem is having a 19 team league and the limitations due to Thanksgiving games.
I plan to write a column next week with my own proposal for a new system. It is hardly perfect, but perfection is unattainable in this case. I think it is more palatable than the current one and to anything else I have heard.
Before climbing out on the limb I was wondering if anyone out there has any ideas that are worth consideration. Remember there are a lot of constraints, but if you can think of something better than what we have now please send them along. I’ll post them and who knows, maybe you can offer me something better to propose for my column. If so you will get full credit.
Dave great job with your new blog.
I am a former CT High School and College football player. I also gave coached the game for over 10 years in Fairfield county.
We recently moved to Central PA and I have been following how they set up the season and playoffs.
In PA they finish the regular 10 game season this weekend. The largest classes get 16 teams in state playoffs with most teams playing for something, still in their last week of play. (check 16 deep in class LL’s) It rewards the teams who have a 500 or better record. The smaller classes get 8 teams in the state playoffs. In ALL other CT high school sports teams with winning records make states.
It is not about Thanksgiving Game gates – league champs -AD’s – Principals – or coaches -
The game is about the kids -
Start rewarding kids, who play a sport that demands much of their time, heart and soul.
I can’t beleive there is so much hate for the FCIAC Championship Game on Thanksgiving
I may be a little bias…but having played in it twice and attended several times when my team was not in it, I can honestly say it was the highlight of the football sesaon…there were not only fans of the two competing teams, but many of the players from the FCIAC and tons of locals who went to Boyle every thanksgiving
For every Darien/New Canaan game that there is on Thanksgiving, there are two games that mean nothing and have very limited attendance…i’d bet there are many teams in the FCIAC who made more money on the split then they do on their thanksgiving day game now (granted there were less teams in teh early 90s)
Let’s not pretend that there are a ton of rivalries in this county that get played out on thanksgiving…it is a few games…plus the staples/greenwich game which has ended up being the championship game a few times
As the famous Lou Socci once said, you’re either on the inside of the fence on thanksgiving day at Boyle, or you’re in the stands eating a hot dog
Thanks for writing. FCIAC fan definitely thought out his proposal carefully, but I think it has a few gaps. The first is the elephant in the room: there is absolutely no way teams will agree to move their rival games away from Thanksgiving. Right now, to too many coaches, that is more important than the championship game, though in philosophy I agree with you.
Second, I don’t think there is any way to have anything but a two division format and have the winners play for the title. Most coaches agree on that. I also want to do everything possible to get away from a point system. It is like the BCS in college football, and that has been a disaster.
I also don’t like the 3-4 game. No one will care about it and there is no need for it.
A lot of your points are good. Right now I have a proposal for a column that will probably run on Wednesday that while not perfect is the best I have come up with. A few coaches liked it even with said flaws, which are inevitable with 19 teams.
Everyone else out there keep those ideas coming. I would love something more equitable than my idea if possible.
Dear Dave:
Thanks for your continued and thorough coverage of the “Week 5 Controversy”. FCIAC Fan offers a very well-thought plan, however I disagree with one point…The Thanksgiving “rivalry” games cannot be replaced by a stand alone championship at a neutral site. The thanksgiving game is one of the biggest gates at any of the member schools with returning alum and relatives from out of town who might otherwise never see their grandsons, nephews etc. play. It is a great display of both school and town spirit (as well as a nice bump to the coffers of the athletic programs!) Unless my team is on the field, I’m not travelling to a neutral site on Thanksgiving Day to watch a game I have no connection to – although I would definitely attend on another day when I don’t have a house full of guests and a meal to prepare.
I might suggest starting the season 1 week earlier, and, to correct the current imbalance – make the 11th “non-league” games (New Jersey, Florida, Massachusetts)the only games that don’t count towards FCIAC standings. It encourages seeking strong opponents in the bye week, and doesn’t punish the schools who may not have the travel budget for the extra game.
Just an opinion.
Dave,
As a long-time FCIAC fan/watcher/football parent, here’s my notion for a better FCIAC scheduling and championship system.
In the following proposed layout I base the scheduling on a total of ten games played but with the FCIAC championship contenders decided after nine games, and then each team’s Thanksgiving “rival” game played roughly ten days later. However, I have problems with that setup (as it is now) and will suggest changes below. But sticking with the current championship/Thanksgiving arrangement:
1) First, the 19 FCIAC teams would be divided into three divisions of six/seven/six teams. These would be Div 1, Div 2, and Div 3, and inclusion in each division would be based on winning percentage calculated as an average of the previous TWO seasons.
(IMPORTANT POINT: The reason you average two seasons rather than simply last year’s season alone is to smooth out the jumps either up or down in ranking based on a single breakout/falldown season.)
But for simplicity’s sake, let’s just set up the three divisions based on 2007 alone (per MaxPreps ’07 FCIAC rankings):
Div 1: Greenwich, NC, Staples, Central, Wilton, St. Joe’s.
Div 2: Norwalk, Trumbull, R’field, Westhill, McMahon, Darien, Warde
Div 3: Danbury, Trinity, Bassick, Ludlowe, Stamford, Harding
Now, the scheduling:
1) Each team plays every other team in its division once. This automatically gives the Div 1 teams a tougher “core” schedule (based on the the previous two seasons’ standings) and the Div 3 teams an easier “core” schedule.
2) That so-called “core” schedule would mean teams from Div 1 and Div 3 each have five divisional opponents (leaving five more weekends to fill with non-divisional opponents and/or the traditional Thanksgiving rival) and the Div 2 teams would have six divisional opponents (leaving four more weekends to fill).
3) Then out-of-division games would be scheduled along these lines:
* Div 1 plays 3 games vs Div 2 and 2 games vs Div 3 (total 10 games)
* Div 2 plays 2 games vs Div 1 and 2 games vs Div 3 (total 10 games)
* Div 3 plays 2 games vs Div 1 and 3 games vs Div 2 (total 10 games)
4) IMPORTANT: in keeping with current FCIAC championship/Thanksgiving procedures (which I don’t like) each team’s Thanksgiving rival would be set aside as an automatic 10th game that, as now, would not count toward FCIAC’s. That rival’s Divisional Affiliation (Div 1, 2, or 3) would be credited as one of the designated matchups with a team of that caliber.
NOTE: I like the CIAC procedure of adding bonus points for every win obtained by an opponent you defeated, so that could be added to this system as well.
Now, let’s see how this system might have played out in ’08:
1) Let’s presume (and I know it’s far from settled yet) that NC is the best team in Div 1. It automatically would have had to play Greenwich, Staples, St. Joe’s, Wilton and Central. It would have drawn three games from Div 2 (including its rival, Darien) and two games fro Div 3.
2) And let’s presume Trinity Catholic (again, just throwing out a name here) would have been the best team in Div 3. It might feast on most of the competition in that Division but it would still have to go out of division and play two teams from Div 1 and three from Div 2. Not easy.
Now, for myself, I strongly believe the rivalry games should be played on the 10th weekend and the FCIAC championship should be a stand-alone Thanksgiving event. In addition, I would hold a Wednesday night Boyle Stadium game between the #3 and #4 team in the standings. This could be given a separate trophy and would signify that the winner had had a successful year, though not an FCIAC championship. It could be a very competitive game with a nice crowd.
I know there are issues with the odd number of FCIAC teams that would involve some filling of bye weeks for some teams, and also that the three Stamford teams would have to play each other every season to determine a city champion. But in general, I believe this system is easy to set up (it could be calculated immediately after the season ends, so teams know well in advance who their next year’s opponents will be) and it would give the struggling programs a core of potentially competitive games and the elite programs the sort of demanding schedule that enables them to qualify for states if they happen to win some big games.
But really, what do I know . . .