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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE --October 13, 2000
Contact: John Johnson or Andy Frushour-- 517.332.5046

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Oct. 13 - The announcement of the 256 schools qualifying for the Michigan High School Athletic Association Football Playoffs and the first-round pairings will be unveiled on statewide television at 5:30 p.m. (EDT) on October 22, on the Selection Sunday Show on FOX Sports Net.

The Selection Sunday Show will be a live, 60-minute program which will carry the first announcement of the qualifiers and pairings. The MHSAA will produce the program, with FOX Sports Net providing the vehicle for the statewide distribution.

The program, which will be hosted by Matt Shepard, Trevor Thompson and Mickey York of FOX Sports Net, will also include features on four of the teams qualifying for this year's playoffs, an inside look at the Selection Sunday process in the MHSAA office, and the official announcement of the return of Association's Good Sports Are Winners! Awards program. The Selection Sunday Show is sponsored by Farm Bureau Insurance and Little Caesars Pizza.

Shortly after pairings are announced on the Selection Sunday Show, they will also be released to the media and posted to the MHSAA Web Site - www.mhsaa.com; as well as the FOX Sports Net Detroit Web Site -- www.foxsports.com/detroit. The approximate Web Site release timetable is as follows:

Division 7 & 8 Pairings - 5:45 p.m.
Division 5 & 6 Pairings - 6 p.m.
Division 3 & 4 Pairings - 6:15 p.m.
Division 1 & 2 Pairings - 6:30 p.m.

Host schools will provide game dates and times to the MHSAA for posting on its web site on October 23. Update times are approximately Noon and 4:30 p.m.

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,300 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments conducted in 12 sports for girls and 12 sports for boys which attract over 1.5 million spectators each year.

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