Change coming to high school football playoff structure

DES MOINES – Citing player safety, the Iowa High School Athletic Association Board of Control has voted unanimously to reduce the number of football playoff qualifiers in half to 16 teams per class, beginning with the 2016 season.

The regular season will remain a nine-game schedule, with re-districting set to take place again after the upcoming season.

The current playoff format of 32 teams per class, adopted in the 2008 season, will stay in tact for 2015.

Under this season's 32-qualifier format, teams advancing to the semifinals at the UNI-Dome will play four games in 16 or 17 days.

'Today's actions put in place a scenario for the football postseason which allows for one week between games,' IHSAA Executive Director Alen Beste said in a news release. 'The driving force behind this decision is player safety and keeping the best interest of our students at the forefront.'

According to the release, the IHSAA Board of Control discussed the football schedule at a meeting April 29, then sought input from the IHSAA Representative Council, Iowa High School Athletic Directors Association and Iowa Football Coaches Association.

Representatives from those parties met Monday, and the Board of Control voted on the new format afterward.

This is the first time the high school football playoffs have shrunk. The playoffs began with four teams per class in 1972, expanding to eight teams in 1975, 16 in 1984 for all classes but 4A, which then expanded in 1986, and 32 in 2008.

Football, which is the largest high school sport in Iowa at 20,630 students, is the only high school sport in the state with six classes – 4A, 3A, 2A, 1A, A and 8-player.

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