I do not like the new playoff format. The IHSA still seeds a 16- to 18-team sectional, but then fucks with the pairings to produce 4-team geographic regionals. Since there's 18 teams (looking at the Buffalo Grove sectional), they should play-in 17 vs 18 and 15 vs 16 on Monday to see who gets sacrificed to the 1 and 2 seeds (respectively) on Tuesday. Instead, #1 Hoffman Estates draws the winner of the 14-16 game on Monday, and 13 and 15 play in to face the #4 seed (Lake Park). The 17 and 18 seeds don't have to have a play-in game, they get to go right to their games against #2 and #6.
As if the mismatched seed pairings didn't diminish the meaning of seeds enough, they also took away the home-court advantage you used to get from being a high seed. Glenbrook South, the #6 seed, gets to host the first two games it plays. As the #2 seed, we get... nothing. What does it matter where you're seeded anymore? What does it matter whether you play consistently well through the season, or if you have a little hiccup in January? There's no point in trying to earn home games in the playoffs, nor can you delay facing stronger opposition until later rounds.
I shouldn't complain too hard, though. The seeds are still a reflection of how head coaches in your sectional voted. The #1 seed is still considered the best in the field, 8 and 9 the middle of the pack, and so on. The CIF-San Diego Section actually fucks with the seeds themselves! They don't want district or conference rivals meeting in the first round, so they will change your seed in order to change your pairing. That's even worse idiocy.
I'll probably pull the sectional seeds and draw up brackets under the old and new system to compare them later today...
