Junior football gets confusing

If you were to ask 10 different junior football coaches about the playoff tiebreakers and the seeding procedure before last Friday, you might have received 10 different answers. Confusion abounded as coaches tried to figure out who was in, who was out, and who still had a slim chance. What didn't help was a set of rules with two different tie breakers for the same position.

Check out the football playing regulations. Rule 4 II. e iv (half way down page 4) states the following:

Ties for the last playoff spot(s) between wildcard teams:

1) The result of the game(s) W-L record only, between the tied clubs.

2) Defensive Record to a maximum of 21 points per game.

This will determine all positions.

Seems simple enough; wins then fewest points allowed. Many coaches saw that and went with that. However, further down the same page is section 4 III a. It deals with seeding. Included in this section is the following:

In three divisions the first place team in each division to be seeded 1, 2, or 3,

teams finishing second in each division to be seeded 4, 5, or 6 and teams

finishing third in each division to be seeded 7, 8, or 9 (the ninth seeded team will

not advance). Seeding will be determined by a teams Win-Loss record. If still

tied seeding will be determined by a teams +/- differential, should teams play an

uneven number of games the average +/- will be used.

If you don't see the problem, let me lay it out: One rule says that ties for the last playoff spot between wild card teams (i.e. the 8th spot) are broken by wins, followed by defensive record. The other rule says that 7, 8, 9 (which includes the last playoff spot for wild cards) is broken by wins, then point differential.

Confused? So were a number of coaches and so were the folks on the AllCanadianGridiron message board. Apparently attempts to clarify with the ROPSSAA office were difficult at best, with unanswered e-mails and instructions to consult the regulations. I believe that was the point; the regs were faulty so how could they be consulted? Eventually there were instructions to use point differential, something that the 9th seed might have appealed if it wasn't for the fact that the same team was 8th, regardless of which tie-breaker was used.

But imagine the fallout if that had not been the case. Looks like the coaches have a loophole to clean up at the post season meeting.