System Error - The biggest flaw in the Wildcard Standings

Class A basketball in Nebraska is at its peak currently. So many college opportunities, so much national attention, and competition the state has never seen before. Each school needs every edge they can get in order to win in Class A.

But some schools get the edge in a much easier way.

The current format of the points standing system in Nebraska goes as follows:

A win over a 1st division team (Teams who have won at least 75% of their games) earns you 50 wildcard points.

A win over a 2nd division team (Teams who have won at least 50%, but less than 75% of their games) earns you 47 wildcard points.

A win over a 3rd division team (Teams who have won at least 25%, but less than 50% of their games) earns you 44 wildcard points.

A win over a 4th division team (Teams who have won less than 25% of their games) earns you 41

wildcard points.

A loss to a 1st division team (Teams who have won at least 75% of their games) earns you 39 wildcard points.

A loss to a 2nd division team (Teams who have won at least 50%, but less than 75% of their games) earns you 36 wildcard points.

A loss to a 3rd division team (Teams who have won at least 25%, but less than 50% of their games) earns you 33 wildcard points.

A loss to a 4th division team (Teams who have won less than 25% of their games) earns you 30

wildcard points.

In competition with schools one classification above yours, 2 bonus points will be awarded.

In competition with schools two classifications above yours, 3 bonus points will be awarded.

In competition with schools three classifications above yours, 4 bonus points will be awarded.

In competition with schools four classifications above yours, 5 bonus points will be awarded.

*No points are deducted for playing teams that are classified below your classification.

The last point is the focus of the story today. Teams have no points deducted for playing teams in a classification below them. This means that a Class A team could play an all-Class B schedule, and still gain points like they were beating Class A teams. In other words, this means that Class A North Platte gained as many points for beating Class C1 Mitchell as Bellevue West did for beating Creighton Prep. These 2 wins are clearly not equal when one looks at them, so why should they count just the same in the points standings? Elkhorn, a Class A state qualifying team, played 22 regular season games this year. 3 of those games were against Class A opponents (One against Columbus, who is also one of the teams playing a mainly Class B schedule). They lost to Papillion-La Vista South by 18, beat Columbus by 14, and beat Elkhorn South by 9. Those were the only 3 Class A teams they faced before districts. The other 19 games on their schedule were made up of 17 Class B schools, and 2 Class C1 schools. Elkhorn would finish the season 9th in the wildcard standings. The team right behind them is Grand Island. Coming into districts, Grand Island had won 8 straight games, including wins at Creighton Prep, Kearney, and Pius as well as a win over Class C2 runner-up GICC. They had a really good shot at making state this year. Led by senior Them Koang and sophomore Isaac Traudt, Grand Island was looking like one of the hottest teams in the state. But the points standings still had Elkhorn in front of them. Grand Island’s schedule consisted of 21 Class A teams, 1 Class B team, and 1 Class C2 team. But the 2 lower-classification teams that Grand Island played, 1 qualified for state and lost 1st round to eventual runner-up Roncalli, and the other was runner-up against BRLD, who has won 52 games in a row. So their out-of-class schedule was strong. Grand Island finished 16-7 (67% win percentage) in the regular season, while Elkhorn finished 15-7 (68% win percentage). So one could make the argument that Elkhorn had a higher win percentage, but that’s just by the face of the argument. Now, credit to Elhorn, as they went on to beat 2 Class A teams (Millard West and Lincoln Northeast) and win their district. Elkhorn is a solid team who proved that they could compete in Class A in short spurts, but in order to prove that they can compete in Class A, they need to play a Class A schedule.

So what’s the fix to all of this?

The NSAA rewards teams for playing schools in classifications above theirs. A school can gain as many as 5 bonus points for playing a team above their class. I say that we keep that how it is, but also add the opposite of it. Teams will lose points for playing teams in classifications below them. It

would look something like this.

In competition with schools one classification below yours, 2 bonus points will be deducted.

In competition with schools two classifications below yours, 3 bonus points will be deducted.

In competition with schools three classifications below yours, 4 bonus points will be deducted.

In competition with schools four classifications below yours, 5 bonus points will be deducted.

This will create the incentive to play schools of (somewhat) equal enrollment. This, of course, would have had huge implications on district seeding for this past year. Wonder what it would have looked like? Here it is.

District A-1

District A-2

District A-3

District A-4

District A-5

District A-6

District A-7

This system made minimal changes that would end up having big impacts. But lets take a look at the 4 teams who played a mainly Class B schedule (South Sioux City, Elkhorn, North Platte, and Columbus.)

South Sioux City: Dropped from 30th in the points standings to 33rd. Now plays #4 seed Lincoln East in the A-5 play-in game instead of #4 seed Elkhorn South in the A-3 play-in game.

Elkhorn: Dropped from 9th in the points standings to 15th. Now plays #3 seed Gretna in the A-1 district first round instead of #3 seed Millard West in the A-5 district 1st round.

North Platte: Dropped from 15th in the points standings to 26th. Now plays #5 seed Fremont in the district A-4 play-in game instead of #2 seed Lincoln Southeast in the A-1 district 1st round.

Columbus: Dropped from 16th in the points standings to 23rd. Now plays #2 seed Pius in the A-7 district 1st round instead of #2 seed Kearney in the A-2 district 1st round.

This system would clearly change the landscape of the points standings, moving teams by as many as 11 spots. I feel it would more accurately display the overall strength of a team by making them prove themselves against better competition.