Pod System Approved By NCHSAA

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association has approve a Pod format during the 2010 football playoffs. Ever since the playoffs have been that all teams that met the four win rule got into the playoffs there are circumstances where a team from say Topsoil had to travel to Murphy in the first round. That's a long ways for a team that might be 1-9 go and lose 70 to 0.

The idea behind the pod system is you will play teams from your geographical area and after you win your pod you would by the third round be match up against another pod winner. This format is much like the NCAA baseball regional is set up but there is one major difference. There are no other conference members in your regional but if you are going to stay within your local geographical region why then will not all four of the Big East teams be in the same pod.

This is where this pod system sticks in my craw. I can easily see Rocky Mount and Northern Nash playing for the conference title one Friday night and turn around and play each other in the first round. Now that is ridiculous. You say that will never happen. If Northern had of beat Rocky Mount last year the way the other final games play out Rocky Mount would not have made the playoffs. Why then is it now conceivable that one team or the other could win the conference and the other fall to fourth and wind up playing again next week?

I really see a pod having three Big East teams and another in a pod. That would mean if the one seed is a big East, then second team could also be a Big East team, then third could be a Big East squad. The four seed could come from another conference.

That would match a 2/3 Big East opening round game and if the #1 seed the Big East wins then the second round is Big East against Big East. yuks!!!! Thats the first two rounds playing conference members.

I know with our economic conditions in the world today we are having to save at every turn. The easiest way to save is cut out one round of the playoffs and a 1-9 team will not have to travel any where but to basketball practice.

Most of the long drives for teams are mostly in the 1-A where all the 1-A schools are either in the extreme east or extreme west of the state. Eliminate on playoff game in 1-A or if there is a problem in 2-A cut out a game there too.

It seems to me they are taking from Peter to pay Paul but if Paul was only 3-7 last year he shouldn't be in the playoffs anyway.

Case closed!