Boone, Ia (KICD/IHSAA) – It’s officially time to start paying attention to the high school football playoff bubble as the IHSAA released their Playoff Standings. These standings are used to determine who gets in to the playoffs as an at-large or without automatic bid standing in their district. There are two different standing systems used, each class uses one or the other. Those are the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) and the +/-17 point differential.
The Ratings Power Index was a formula that began being used in 2018. According to iahsaa.org It incorporates the team record, their opponents’ record, and their opponents opponents’ record to determine relative strength in a single regular season. Class 5A uses RPI to determine all 16 playoff teams. So, in order to make the playoffs in 5A, a team must be able to be in the top 16 of the RPI. According to iahsaa.org, classes 4A and 3A uses the RPI to determine remining at-large qualifiers, as the district champion and runner-up from each of the six districts will earn automatic qualifying spots. That leaves 4 at large spots in 4A and 3A. So, in order to make the playoffs in 3A and 4A, a team must finish within the top 2 of their District or have a top 4 RPI amongst schools finishing outside the top 2 of their District.
The +/-17 point differential is a little complicated. Instead of doing total point differential, this caps each game at 17 points win or lose. So even if a team wins by 25 points, they only receive +17 to their point differential, while the losing team only receives -17. If the margin is 17 or less, it is added to the point differential as-is. So if a team wins by 13, then they receive +13 to their point differential, while the losing team receives -13. Overtime Contests, no matter what count for +/- 1. The IHSAA takes the average +/-17 point differential for each team. The point of capping at 17 is to avoid schools running up the score in order to bolster their playoff resume, making every blowout worth the same. This system is used to determine at-large bids and tiebreakers in 8-Player, A, 1A, and 2A. In 8-Player, to qualify for the 32 team playoff, a team must either finish within the top 3 in their district to automatically qualify. If a school finishes outside the top 3 in their district for 8-Player, that school must be within the top 2 +/-17 point differential of schools who did not automatically qualify according to iahsaa.org. In Classes A, 1A, and 2A, the top 4 schools of each district automatically qualify for the 32 team playoff, and there are no at-large bids. The +/-17 point differential is only used as a tiebreaker in those classes. For more information you can go to iahsaa.org.
With that being said, here is where our regional schools rank in the current standings. In Class 4A, Spencer is currently ranked #8 in the RPI. In Class 2A, Okoboji’s +/- average is currently -17, Spirit Lake’s is +16.33, and Estherville Lincoln Central’s is +1.33. In Class 1A, Emmetsburg’s +/- average is +5.67, Sioux Central’s is -6.00, and Sibley-Ocheyedan’s is -15.67. In Class A, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn’s +/- average is 16.25, and South O’Brien’s is even at 0. In 8-Player, Harris-Lake Park’s +/- average is currently +13.25, West Bend-Mallard’s is +10.8, and GTRA’s is +11.5. To see the full standings you can go to Iahsaa.org.