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Balancing Football Playoffs
April 18, 2017
Every time the Michigan High School Athletic Association Football Playoffs have been expanded, two voices have been heard – one complaining that too many teams or divisions have watered down the tournament; the other advocating that every school should qualify for the tournament regardless of its regular-season performance.
The playoffs have expanded from 32 to 64 to 128 to 256 to 272 teams; and for 2017, with the addition of 16 more 8-player teams, to 288 of the 626 MHSAA member schools’ football teams in Michigan.
We have reached the point where 46 percent of the schools which sponsor football qualify for the Football Playoffs, and we are approaching closely the point of qualifying every team with winning records during the regular season.
Those stats sound about right for a collision sport conducted mostly outdoors in a cold climate for teenagers. A longer tournament is unwise; a larger tournament is unneeded.
What is needed and wise is more attention to the regular season, and especially to practices which occur at least five times more frequently than games. That’s where the teaching and learning of football skills and life lessons can be everyday occurrences for every team in Michigan.
![Unforgettable 5ive](/sites/default/files/2021-09/210910_unforgettable5ive_2H.png)
Unforgettable 5ive: 2021 Football Playoff Week 1
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
November 3, 2021
Here's a look at our Playoff Week 1 "Unforgettable 5ive" from MHSAA.tv and MHSAA media partner broadcasts:
► Dearborn Fordson's Alex Osman connects with Antonio Gates Jr. on the overtime touchdown giving the Tractors a 21-14 win over Detroit Cass Tech.
► Crystal Falls Forest Park's Sam McKissack takes it in for the game's only score in an 8-0 win over Lake Linden-Hubbell.
► Nolan Petru scores in the third overtime for Howell in a 35-28 win over Hartland.
► Clinton Township Chippewa Valley's Cephus Harris scores in a 33-0 win over Troy.
► Bay City Western's Eli Meylan hits the game-winning 35-yard field goal in a 25-23 win over Midland Dow.