Basic Breakdown of the Playoffs *Helpful Links Provided*
It is officially playoff time in Washington! This is the time that people have been waiting for all year in Washington. Based on the league or district, teams are either in their league playoffs or District playoffs as of today. It has been reported that some games have been cancelled and moved out a day or two due to snow, but the playoffs will carry on nonetheless. As we move into the early part of the playoffs, its important to understand the general terminology and schedule for all of it.
League playoffs:
Some leagues will have their own separate playoff to crown a league champion, but more importantly to qualify and seed teams for a district playoff. Some teams will not qualify for districts. The Metro League has league playoffs before the Sea-King District Tournament, for example. Some leagues, such as the Greater Spokane League, will head right into Districts and qualification and seeding will be based off of regular season finish.
Districts:
Districts are essentially teams from multiple leagues in a general region, battling it out for a shot at the final 16 team regional. Districts are called “Sections” in some other states. Based on a team’s result at districts, then their WIAA RPI and district finish will result in a seed for regionals. Most teams will be knocked out at this point, however.
Regionals:
A 16 team regional in each class will take place. It is a one game setup, but not necessarily loser out. For those ranked high enough in the RPI (Top 8), they will still remain in the state tournament. If a highly ranked team wins their regional game, they will very likely receive a bye in round one of the state tournament.
State Tournament:
The place every team wants to be in late February/March. The State tourney is a 12 team setup. 8 teams will play on day one and the top 4 teams will receive a bye. There is no double elimination for winning it all. The winner will be the lone undefeated team at the state tournament. 6 teams will “place” though.
The Washington Prep Athletics Network has every league, district, regional and state playoff game spelled out:
Head over to the WIAA RPI rankings to follow along game by game leading all the way up to regionals:
http://www.wiaa.com/DirRPIz14.aspx?SPID=13
For more information on how the RPI works, head here: