Metrowest Playoff Seedings – Frequently Asked Questions

Beginning with the 2008-2009 season, Metrowest implemented a new playoff format. The new format resulted in extremely close and competitive games, and was tremendously successful. Therefore, this format has been continued for the 2009-2010 playoff season. Below are answers to frequently asked questions about the grouping and seeding of teams in this year end tournament.

Q1. Why was this change implemented?

A: When Metrowest first began, all grades played down to ONE champion. In other words, when there were only 2 divisions per grade (a large town division and a small town division), and at playoff time the divisions would ‘cross over’ at semifinal games and establish one champion. While this had the spirit of the movie ‘Hoosiers’, where teams could achieve greatness at the end of the season, the playoffs were marked by many 30 plus point ‘blowouts’. As the league evolved, slowly the crossovers have been eliminated, until last year only the 4^th and 5^th grade had crossover games. The elimination of crossovers reduced the number of lopsided scores at the semifinal round, but one major problem persisted. The actual division alignments are created at the beginning of the season, and although every attempt is made to create competitive, balanced divisions, there are a large number of situations that occur where teams are simply slotted into the wrong group. Often teams will be extremely dominant in a division, or alternately, teams may simply be overmatched. By realigning divisions at playoff time, several things can be accomplished.

1. Teams that are clearly superior in talent to their regular season opponents can be afforded the opportunity to compete against teams they are competitive with.

2. Teams that are overmatched during the regular season can be merged into a division where they can compete in more closely contested games. This is a huge positive for teams that go winless during the season and can be somewhat ‘down trodden’ by mid-February. The hope is that by re slotting these teams in a more balanced manner it will rejuvenate the enthusiasm that might have been lost between tryout time in October and the end of the season.

3. In general smaller playoff groups are formed. In the ‘crossover’ days, often a playoff group would have as many as 35 teams. In the new format, nearly, if not all, groups will be sixteen teams or less. This means that no more than four games will be required to establish a champion. When 35 teams played down to a champion, as many as 6 games might have been required for a team to complete its quest. Most people feel that this is a much more manageable number of games to conclude the season so that the players can move on to spring sports and activities.

Q2. Who determines the realignments?

A: A group of town coordinators. A town coordinator was assigned for each grade. Typically a coordinator is chosen who is familiar with the teams in that grade level. The coordinator reviews the standings and results and presents to the entire group his or her recommendation, and a final decision is made by the group as to the placements of the teams in the various groups.

Q3. My team went 12-0 during the regular season, and now we find ourselves at the lower end of a much more difficult division. Aren’t my kids being penalized for doing well?

A: We think just the opposite. By going 12-0 your team has already demonstrated that they are talented. We look at the upward movement as a reward for your success in the regular season, and an opportunity for your team to learn just how far they have progressed. Defeating a set of teams for a second time doesn’t really prove anything. Its just a ‘rerun’ of what the past 12 weeks have established. Almost any knowledgeable basketball coach will tell you that the best way to improve is to play against better players. Because we have at least 4, sometimes 5, divisions of play at each grade, we can provide those teams that excel an opportunity to get to the next level by competing against stronger talent. Obviously there is a top team in Division 1 and a bottom team in the lowest division, but for the majority of teams we can provide an opportunity for a team to stretch during the playoffs; or for those teams who may not have fared well during the regular season, an opportunity to compete at a more realistic level.

Q4: With teams from different divisions, how do you determine the seedings?

A: We learned a great deal from the first year of the seeding process, and this year we are taking a completely objective and consistent approach to seedings, as follows.

If teams are grouped from 2 divisions, the highest ranked team from the higher regular season division will be seeded number 1, and the highest ranked team from the lower division is ranked number 2, and then teams are alternated until all teams receive their seed.

If two equal divisions are grouped (North/South designations), the team with the overall best record of the teams in this group will receive the higher seed, and then teams are alternated until all teams are seeded. If the two highest teams among these groups have the same record, head to head among those teams is used to determine the higher seed.

If three or more divisions are represented in a group, the seeds are staggered in a similar manner with the higher division’s entry getting the top seed.