Not so fast: 1-to-32 seeding process not set in stone

After what appeared to be almost universal consensus to putting all eight classifications of the IHSA playoffs into a 1-to-32 seeding format, it appears that there was some dissent to the idea and those concerns will be addressed according to the minutes of the most recent IHSA Board Meeting.

The board approved a non-consent item in its February meeting to allow all eight classes to be seeded from 1-to-32 beginning in 2022.

But according to a statement made by IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson not everyone was on board with the move.

“Following the decision in February, some Board members heard feedback from constituents in their respective areas expressing concerns over the potential for extreme travel, and the financial implications that can come along with it,” ,” Anderson said in a release. “The Board recognizes there is validity in those concerns. They have asked our staff to gather more information and data for the Board to review.

“There is past precedence in the IHSA playoff process for modifying seeding in the event of extreme travel. For example, what we could look to do is begin with 1-32 seeding, but if it creates extreme travel in a certain class, we may then revert that class to North/South 1-16 bracketing if it alleviates those travel concerns. We aren’t yet at the point of defining what “extreme travel” is or might mean for this scenario, but will get to work on studying the issue and providing a recommendation to the Board ahead of the 2022 season.”

This isn’t the first time there has been talk of an extreme travel provision in the bracket make-up. There were several seasons where brackets were either placed in 1-to-16 brackets or a pair of eight-team quadrants. The condition for the brackets staying away from quadrants was that there were no more than one game in the 1-to-16 bracket that required a drive of 150 miles or more. If there were, the brackets would be placed in eight-team quadrants. It was possible to have one bracket of 1-to-16 and another with a pair of eight-team quadrants.

[ What would have 1-to-32 brackets looked like in 2021? ]

As Anderson stated, there’s no specifics yet on how extreme travel will be defined in this reimagining of the bracket. But it is worth noting that the classes most likely to be subject to the travel restriction definition will be the smallest classifications, as they tend to have more geographic representation in all parts of the state.

Class 5A and Class 6A seem to be the classes most likely to be able to stay in the 1-to-32 bracketing system to join Class 7A and Class 8A, but there are certainly scenarios where they too could be forced back into 1-to-16 bracketing.