Print
E-mail
Comment
Puzzling tiebreaker puts Eagles in playoffs
 |
| Whitfield |
On Saturday, Nov. 8, Atascocita’s football team clinched its first-ever playoff berth with a resounding victory over Kingwood.
Eagles fans all over should be proud of their team’s accomplishment. For much of the season, Atascocita looked simply dominant. The Eagles have shown poise and character on both sides of the ball, weathering some tough moments to come out on top.
The only question is, given the events of last weekend, how on earth did Atascocita get into the playoffs?
This is not a column condemning Atascocita football or its players and coaches. Of all the teams in our coverage area, the Eagles have shown remarkable determination, and their transformation from a football also-ran to a playoff team is remarkable.
No, this column is about the way in which Atascocita got into the playoffs. It seems confusing and somewhat unfair, but here is the scope of it.
Two weeks ago, Kingwood beat Aldine in a 33-28 thriller. That victory clinched a playoff spot for the Mustangs regardless of what happened in the final week of the regular season.
If that’s correct, then the only two teams left to contend for a playoff spot were Atascocita and Aldine, both of which came into the final game of the season with a 2-3 record in district play.
On Oct. 17, Aldine beat Atascocita 14-10 at Thorne Stadium. If those two teams really were the only two teams competing for a playoff spot, then Aldine should have been able to clinch with a simple victory in its season finale.
With the Mustangs going up against a winless MacArthur team, it was safe to presume Aldine was going to the playoffs. As expected, Aldine beat MacArthur by 20 points, which seemingly made the Atascocita-Kingwood game meaningless in terms of the postseason picture.
But no, that was far from the case. Atascocita only had to win by five points to claim the point-differential tiebreaker. Despite having already beaten the Eagles earlier in the season and beating its final opponent by nearly three touchdowns the day before, Aldine’s fate was still out of its own hands.
Now, it’s possible that Kingwood really didn’t clinch a playoff spot after beating Aldine and there was a chance, no matter how remote, that the Mustangs were not going to make the postseason. If that’s the case, then this entire column is moot.
But it’s hard to believe that Kingwood’s coaches would be wrong about such a crucial detail. So that leaves us with the Eagles and those other Mustangs.
The point-differential tiebreaker is a necessary evil in football. It places too much importance on margin of victory, which encourages teams to run up the score on weaker opponents when they have the chance.
Whenever possible, tiebreakers should involve head-to-head records of some kind. Why go to the point differential? How is it fair that Atascocita goes to the playoffs over Aldine despite losing to the Mustangs?
Oh well, that’s just how it is. Both teams knew the rules well before last week’s games. Atascocita did what it had to do to clinch a playoff spot, and the team should be commended for doing so. The Eagles had a fantastic season.
But something doesn’t seem right with this playoff system, and if there are some angry people at Aldine High School this week, it is perfectly understandable.
Something has to change.
Eagles fans all over should be proud of their team’s accomplishment. For much of the season, Atascocita looked simply dominant. The Eagles have shown poise and character on both sides of the ball, weathering some tough moments to come out on top.
The only question is, given the events of last weekend, how on earth did Atascocita get into the playoffs?
This is not a column condemning Atascocita football or its players and coaches. Of all the teams in our coverage area, the Eagles have shown remarkable determination, and their transformation from a football also-ran to a playoff team is remarkable.
No, this column is about the way in which Atascocita got into the playoffs. It seems confusing and somewhat unfair, but here is the scope of it.
Two weeks ago, Kingwood beat Aldine in a 33-28 thriller. That victory clinched a playoff spot for the Mustangs regardless of what happened in the final week of the regular season.
If that’s correct, then the only two teams left to contend for a playoff spot were Atascocita and Aldine, both of which came into the final game of the season with a 2-3 record in district play.
On Oct. 17, Aldine beat Atascocita 14-10 at Thorne Stadium. If those two teams really were the only two teams competing for a playoff spot, then Aldine should have been able to clinch with a simple victory in its season finale.
With the Mustangs going up against a winless MacArthur team, it was safe to presume Aldine was going to the playoffs. As expected, Aldine beat MacArthur by 20 points, which seemingly made the Atascocita-Kingwood game meaningless in terms of the postseason picture.
But no, that was far from the case. Atascocita only had to win by five points to claim the point-differential tiebreaker. Despite having already beaten the Eagles earlier in the season and beating its final opponent by nearly three touchdowns the day before, Aldine’s fate was still out of its own hands.
Now, it’s possible that Kingwood really didn’t clinch a playoff spot after beating Aldine and there was a chance, no matter how remote, that the Mustangs were not going to make the postseason. If that’s the case, then this entire column is moot.
But it’s hard to believe that Kingwood’s coaches would be wrong about such a crucial detail. So that leaves us with the Eagles and those other Mustangs.
The point-differential tiebreaker is a necessary evil in football. It places too much importance on margin of victory, which encourages teams to run up the score on weaker opponents when they have the chance.
Whenever possible, tiebreakers should involve head-to-head records of some kind. Why go to the point differential? How is it fair that Atascocita goes to the playoffs over Aldine despite losing to the Mustangs?
Oh well, that’s just how it is. Both teams knew the rules well before last week’s games. Atascocita did what it had to do to clinch a playoff spot, and the team should be commended for doing so. The Eagles had a fantastic season.
But something doesn’t seem right with this playoff system, and if there are some angry people at Aldine High School this week, it is perfectly understandable.
Something has to change.
Submit a Comment
|
You must be logged in to post a comment.
|
Not yet a registered member?
Click here to become one. Comments to stories and articles on the Web site are not edited or pre-approved before appearing online. Readers posting comments are solely responsible for those comments. Comments must be germane to the story to which they apply. Online comments that are libelous, profane or personally attack another site participant can be reported as abuse using the link provided on each comment. Comments reported as abusive will be reviewed and may be removed from view, as will off-topic comments. BE CIVIL. Individuals continually posting abusive comments to the site may have their registrations revoked. |
bartin12 wrote on Nov 12, 2008 12:28 PM: