(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
AURORA — The baseball committee wants to move to RPI, and wants to do it in the 2016 season.
The committee on Tuesday forwarded a proposal that the sport move to the use of an RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) system for postseason qualification in all classes this spring. That recommendation will now move to the Legislative Council at its next meeting in January.
If approved there, the RPI system will replace the Wild Card points, which have come under fire over the course of the past two seasons.
“The committee felt like the number of issues that have been created by Wild Card points and the manipulation of the out-of-state records necessitated it,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Bert Borgmann, who oversees baseball. “They also felt a desire to try and exhibit the RPI going forward, and so the committee decided it would push for a change immediately believing it was in the best interest of baseball.”
This recommendation was first made by an ad-hoc committee in September.
RPI is slated to be a staple of postseason qualification across all team sports beginning in 2016-17. But, if this movement is not derailed at Legislative Council, baseball would become the first to implement the system in Colorado.
The second major recommendation from the baseball committee was the decision to not count out-of-state opponents toward the RPI formula. Those out-of-state games would still count toward the games limit, however.
“There was a lot of discussion about that,” Borgmann said. “It felt like there were two options: to use the soccer and softball model [which slightly adjusts the factors for all out-of-state opponents across the board], or not use them at all.”
It was a 7-4 vote, and committee decided to recommend not counting them toward the RPI formula.
“Some of the other states finish before Colorado, some after,” Borgmann said. “They did not feel like they were playing on an even field with that.
“There was also concern last year about the accuracy of the out-of-state records,” he added. “Therefore, because of the uncertainty of all of the results and the many differences in which seasons end around the country, the committee decided to start with in-state results only (in the RPI).”
The baseball committee has recommended the following for the use of RPI:
- In 1A, each of the four district champions would automatically qualify for the state tournament. The remaining four spots would be selected based on the RPI standings. The eight-team field would then be seeded according to the RPI. The seeding committee would seek to avoid first-round matchups of teams from the same district, if possible. The district format would remain the same.
- In 2A, District 3 and District 5 would be combined to play together due to the reclassification of a number of teams. That leaves seven districts in the classification. Each district champion would automatically qualify for the regional tournament. The remaining nine spots would be filled based on the RPI standings. The 16-team field would be seeded by the RPI, with an attempt to avoid district matchups in the first round if possible.
- In 3A, the top two teams from each district would qualify for the regional field. The remaining 20 spots would be determined by the RPI. However, if any of the three 3A teams playing in the 4A/3A Colorado 7 League win the league, or finish in second place outright, they would also automatically qualify. Thus, anywhere from 12-14 teams can gain automatic spots, with the remaining 18-20 being filled by the RPI. The 32-team regional field would be seeded by the RPI. The bottom eight seeds could be adjusted due to league matchups and/or geography.
- In 4A, 10 league champions, including that of the 4A/5A Southwestern League, would automatically qualify for the postseason. The rest of the field would be determined via the RPI. The eight hosts teams would be decided by the league champions with the highest RPI. Then, teams Nos. 9-32 would be seeded by the RPI, with possible first-round adjustments due to league matchups and geography among the bottom eight seeds. If a 3A team wins the Colorado 7, there would be no automatic qualifier from that league in 4A.
- In 5A, the eight league champions would automatically qualify for the postseason. The remaining teams to fill the 32-team field would come from the RPI. However, there is no guarantee of a regional host as league champion. Instead, teams Nos. 1-8 in the RPI would host regionals. Teams Nos. 9-32 would be seeded by the RPI with a committee that seeks to avoid first-round league matchups. Geography would not be a consideration.
- In 3A, 4A and 5A, the use of a preset bracket at the state tournament would continue.