Back in December, NJSIAA member schools overwhelmingly approved the first step to drastically alter the New Jersey high school football playoff system. On Wednesday, members of the NJSIAA’s Executive Committee gave the N.J. United Playoff Plan the green light. All that’s needed now is a second approval at next month’s meeting for the new format to go into effect for the upcoming season.

The main concepts of the plans outlined at the December meeting remain the same, however, several other components of the new playoff system have now come into focus.

  • The old power point model has been scrapped – partially - in favor of a new ranking system called the NJ United Power Rank. It will be comprised of 60 percent value on the Born Power Index and 40 percent on the current power point ranking. The Born Power Index was created by Bill Born, a retired math teacher and coach, and “has stood the test of time and continues to objectively produce extremely accurate and fair rankings”, the proposal stated.
  • All games prior to the playoffs will count toward a team’s overall ranking.
  • For the traditional component, a team’s final power point total will be divided by the number of games it has played to create a “Power Rank Number”. For example, a team with 160 power points in eight games would have a power rank number of 20. A team with 150 power points in eight games would have a power point rank of 18.75. A team with 175 power points in nine games would have a power point rank of 19.44.
  • Residual points are accrued only from an opponent’s first seven games.
  • The Born Power Index ranking for each team will be available on the BPI website and teams will be ranked each week. The rankings will be available to view online beginning in Week 4, and the final rankings will be set no later than 1 p.m. on the Sunday of Week 8.
  • Sectional finals will no longer be played at neutral sites and will be instead played at the home field of the higher seeded team.
  • The “Bowl Games” or “Super Sectional” games featuring the 20 public school state champions will all be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. The three non-public state finals will also be played at MetLife Stadium.
  • Every team in Non-Public Group III and Group IV will qualify for the playoffs. A committee, on a trial basis, will seed those teams.
  • There will be multiplier points values for public schools who play certain non-public schools. In the Shore Conference, teams who play either Red Bank Catholic, St. John Vianney or Mater Dei Prep would receive 42 points for a win and 28 points for a loss.

Click the link below to view an outline of the entire proposal

The proposal is expected to be approved for the final time at May's NJSIAA Executive Committee meeting. A new era of playoff football appears to be coming soon.

 

Managing editor Bob Badders can be reached at bob.badders@townsquaremedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Bob_Badders. Like Shore Sports Network on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel for all the latest video highlights.

 

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