Baseball could be using an RPI system for postseason qualification in 2016. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
AURORA — Baseball looks to be taking a significant step next season.
On Thursday, an ad-hoc committee made up of representatives from classes 3A through 5A met at the CHSAA office to talk about postseason format. They ultimately recommended that the baseball committee adopt the use of a Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) formula to set the postseason fields for the 2016 season.
The sport was already set to move to an RPI-based postseason format in 2017 as part of CHSAA’s move toward consistency in all postseason formats. But this special committee — which was set up last spring — didn’t want to wait through one more season. An RPI takes a team’s winning percentage into account, as well as the winning percentage of their opponents, and the winning percentage of their opponents’ opponents.
Currently, baseball uses a much-maligned system based on Wild Card points, which award points for victories and defeats. The system’s many flaws were discussed ahead of, and during, the past two postseasons.
Those flaws were discussed again during the ad-hoc meeting on Thursday.
“We believe that this (move to RPI) will tighten down the challenges that we have had with Wild Card points in the past,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Bert Borgmann, who administers baseball. “And it makes sense to go this direction, because we have had to tweak Wild Card points every year for the past few years due to inaccuracies from all aspects of that format that have really been somewhat troublesome.”
The ad-hoc committee reviewed historical RPI data from the 2014 and 2015 seasons, and it showed very favorably compared to the Wild Card system. For example, 80 percent of teams seeded higher than their opponents in the RPI won games in the first round of district play — compared to 65 percent when seeded according to Wild Card points.
The ad-hoc committee’s recommendations only apply to 5A, 4A and 3A for the 2016 season. The formats for 2A and 1A would not be changed next season.
Specifically, the group recommended the baseball committee adopt the following:
- League champions automatically qualify for the postseason.
- The remaining spots to fill out the respective 32-team brackets in 5A, 4A and 3A will be filled based upon standing according to the RPI formula.
- No out-of-state opponents will factor into the RPI formula.
- There will be no specific modifier for inter-classification games, as it is already built into the base formula.
Additionally, the ad-hoc committee recommended the following criteria be used for seeding:
- Standing according to the RPI formula
- Geography
- Head-to-head matchups
- Common opponents
The baseball committee is set to meet on Nov. 17. Should that group adopt this recommendation, it would be forward to the Legislative Council for a vote. If passed there, these changes would go into effect immediately, meaning the 2016 season would be played with an RPI component set to decide postseason qualifiers.
“The (ad-hoc) committee, which has a lot of Colorado baseball people on it, really took some time to explore what they felt would be the right way to approach a lot of the issues that were happening with the Wild Card points system, and the way the seeding came out,” Borgmann said. “What they have recommended, they believe, will correct that. And they believe the baseball committee will see this as the best way to go forward.”
The recommendation to not include out-of-state opponents is a big consideration, but would still allow teams to play out-of-state games. Those games simply wouldn’t count toward the formula, and playing fewer games in the eyes of the formula would not harm a team as the RPI is based entirely on winning percentages.