(Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
AURORA — The basketball committee meets on Thursday, and among proposals the group will discuss is an idea that would put all teams from the 4A and 5A classifications on the state tournament brackets.
The exact format would need to be ironed out, but the proposal the group will hear involves a 64-team bracket, with additional play-in games that may be necessary if either 4A or 5A has more teams than that.
The 5A boys are set to have 66 teams in 2016-17, and girls will have 64. 4A is projected to have 69 boys teams and 70 girls teams.
The number of play-in games in each tournament would depend on how many are needed to get to a 64-team field.
Under the new state tournament proposal, after the bracket is narrowed to 64 teams, seeds Nos. 33-64 would play in the first round. Those teams would advance to play seeds Nos. 1-32 in the second round based on a predetermined bracket. This means seeds Nos. 1-32 would have a first-round bye.
Currently, 5A’s boys and girls have a 48-team first with the top 16 seeds receiving a bye. The 4A boys and girls play a 32-team tournament, and no team gets a bye.
“Every team gets to control their own destiny and their play on the court will determine how far they will go,” said Bert Borgmann, the CHSAA assistant commissioner in charge of basketball. “Additionally, the feedback we’ve gotten from schools is that they’d like to finish the season against teams that are closer to their own ability.”
The proposed format would take roughly three-and-a-half weeks as compared to the current three week format.
Teams would be seeded according to the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) formula, with league champions guaranteed a top-32 seed. Seeds Nos. 33-66 would also be determined by the RPI, with slight adjustments based on “reasonable geographic considerations.”
Other items on Thursday’s agenda at the basketball committee meeting:
- Whether or not to keep the current consolation format in 3A. If the consolation format is removed, there is potential to move 3A to the same venue as the 4A and 5A Final 4 events. That proposal, too, will be discussed.
- With 3A now having the most teams (72), they committee will discuss whether or not to expand that tournament from 32 to 48 teams.
- The possibility of moving the 1A and 2A sites closer together, or simply having them at the same site.
- A tweak to the 2A postseason format to account for RPI in the selection of the state tournament fields.
- The host venues of each classification will be discussed in general, as well.
CHSAANow will have complete coverage of Thursday’s meeting.