In Illinois in the 1930’s, there was a period of time when the team who took second in the Regional tourney also advanced to the Sectional level. The IHSA has made adjustments throughout the years.
Up until the 1990’s, the IHSA assigned teams to a particular Regional, and a specific site. The frustration coaches, players, and fans had with this setup was that sometimes the two best teams in that whole area of the State might be in the same Regional. For example in the boys 1976 Regional at Galesburg, they sent Richwoods (#1 in the State) to play Galesburg (#7 in the State.) Coaches pushed for a change in format that would allow a chance to separate the best teams. The idea was to have the Galesburg vs Richwoods matchup take place on a neutral site at the Sectional level.
Obviously the other major frustration was that the assignment of the Regional site was arbitrary on the part of the IHSA. Why should a team who has gone undefeated during the season like Richwoods have to play Galesburg on Galesburg’s home court.
In the 1990’s for about a decade and half, the IHSA came up with Sectional complexes. All of the coaches in a Sectional complex (usually 15-17 teams) would meet and seed every single team. Unless there were some geographic concerns that led to minor adjustments, #1 played #16, #2 played #15, #3 played #14, and so forth. For the two games of the Regional, the highest seeded team always hosted- it was a system that rewarded teams for their success during the regular season. The best teams were spread out, so if seeds held true, the best four teams would meet at the Sectional level, and usually at a neutral site. If there was an upset in the Regional, the highest seed would host the next game.
Sometime around 2010, the IHSA did away the Sectional complex and went to a modified system. It is still being used. The IHSA assigns the site so you have a situation like a couple years ago when we were #1 seed but sent to play at #3 seed, which can be a tough chore many times. And after the seeding was done, the IHSA could choose because of geography to scramble the teams. So one year our Regional had the #1, #3, #5, and #7 seeds. The other Regional had #2, #4, #6, and #8 seeds. My point would be that the IHSA can selectively adjust things to make one route much more difficult than another route. It was always nerve wracking after the seeding came out to try to figure what the IHSA would choose to do with pairings.
Moline and UTHS, and a group of coaches in southern Illinois have all come up with a proposal that would address many of the concerns, and is a proposal popular with basketball coaches in Illinois. The proposal takes away the concern of the IHSA arbitrarily assigning the site of Regionals. It would go back to what was a popular system- after the coaches seed their Regional, the highest seeds would always host. So when you have a great team, you are rewarded by hosting.
Basketball coaches have pushed to return to highest seed hosting. When schools vote this Fall, let’s hope the IHSA member schools will step up and approve this change.
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