It’s time for a change in high school football, and it’s time to get every school on the same page. Every year, coaches of large programs preach one ultimate goal to their respective teams: winning a state championship. But what if there was more? For teams like the 2014 and 2015 versions of Colquitt County, who won 30 games in a row and were simply more talented than every team they matched up against during that streak, winning a national championship is achievable. It is similarly achievable for schools like Katy (Texas), Bishop Gorman (Nevada), De La Salle (California), and several others. The disappointing news, however, is that there is no one true, official postseason format to determine who is the best amongst these juggernauts. As a result, teams claim “mythical” national titles, and none of the fans truly know who has the best team in the country.
For example, Colquitt County absolutely dismantled its competition a season ago, but saw Maxpreps.com jump Katy from #3 to #1 to win that site’s national title after the Packers had already gone undefeated and won the state championship in Georgia’s highest classification (Colquitt did, however, win the High School Football America national title). Had there been an appropriate format in place, it would not have been left up to computers to decide which team was the best.
There have been several proposals over the course of the last few years to put some sort of playoff in place, but discussions have not advanced far enough to make this a real possibility. Let’s set aside the monetary possibilities, which are, by the way, expansive due to football’s popularity; the idea is just fun. Can you imagine what it would have been like for the fans of Colquitt, Bishop Gorman, Katy, and others to see their schools on a stage bigger than a state championship can provide?
Admittedly, it would take years to implement a system that every school might agree upon, but here is one possible solution to the problem: an eight-team playoff. In this playoff, the state champions from Georgia, Texas, Florida, and California would all receive an automatic bid to the tournament. So would the defending national champion from the previous year. The final three spots would be determined by the next three highest-ranked teams in a predetermined poll, regardless of what state those teams hail from. This would mean that, although Nevada would not receive an automatic bid, Bishop Gorman would be almost guaranteed an at-large bid. It might also mean that Georgia, Texas, Florida or California could be represented by three teams. Under this system, it would be nearly guaranteed that the eight most talented teams in the country had a shot at winning a national title. This would put an end to multiple schools claiming national championships from the same season, make high school football more like NCAA and NFL football, and give collegiate coaches a great opportunity to evaluate big-name talent on the field against college-like competition.
The logistics of putting a tournament together would be difficult, which is probably why there isn’t a system like this in place. But from the perspective of a high school sports lover, just the idea of such a tournament is incredibly exciting. The thought is almost movie-like, really. The most pure form of football, where the kids that play simply compete for the love of the game and not for money or accolades, would be thrust even further into the national spotlight for a brief period of time.
Those who oppose the idea will likely argue that an extension to the season could lead to more injuries and is more dangerous for the players, but the two schools that make it to the championship will have only played three extra games. With the facilities and level of athletic training involved in even making it into the eight-team tournament, playing three extra games is feasible.
The most legitimate argument against such a tournament would be that high school football isn’t meant to determine which team is best; rather, it is simply meant for kids to have fun, compete, and develop. While this is undoubtedly true and a main reason why high school football is so popular in the first place, the postseason tournament would only affect eight teams. Besides, after a finish like we had last season, where three of the top four schools were 15-0 or better, fans seem to be dying to know who is best, which, currently, leads to arguments with no answer because there is no true way of finding out.
The notion of getting schools like Colquitt County, Katy, Bishop Gorman, and IMG Academy onto the same field in late December and early January is exciting. There are undoubtedly drawbacks and logistical difficulties associated with the idea, but the bottom line is this: The tournament would net a large sum of money; fans would have a blast watching the best high school talent in the country; and the sport could finally have one true, undisputed champion.
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It’s Time For National Tournament To Determine High School Football Champion
Written by Jacob Dennis
