The Ohio high school football playoffs will look different starting this fall.
On Thursday, the Ohio High School Athletic Association announced that the state playoffs will now take 12 qualifying teams per region, rather than 16.
It's a move that the coaches association had voted for multiple years ago, but their voices weren't reacted to until this point.
“For the last few years, we have been pleased that more schools experienced the football playoffs, and there were some lower seeds that won playoff games,” said Doug Ute, OHSAA Executive Director, in a news release. “But over the last year, we have received feedback from our schools, with a slight majority favoring 12 qualifiers per region, and we had many conversations with stakeholders around the state that led us to make this proposal to our board.”
The OHSAA had been in a status quo for two decades, as from 1999 through 2019, eight schools per region qualified for the playoffs.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed things, as the 2020 playoffs allowed everyone to participate.
Coming out of that season, the OHSAA chose to land on 16 qualifying teams per region.
It created quite the mismatches. No. 1 seeds went 111-1 in four seasons, and in 2024, they had an average margin of victory in the first round of 42 points, per the Sandusky Register.
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The 16-team regions also meant that squads that made the state championship game played 16 games (plus two scrimmages) with no byes.
The new system will create byes for the top-four seeds in every region, with 5-12, 6-11, 7-10 and 8-9 seeding matchups in the opening round.
Only one No. 16 seed upset a No. 1 seed in the four years of the format: In 2021, Milan Edison stunned Bellevue, 23-22, in a matchup of two northern Ohio schools.
Unless the OHSAA decides to shift back to larger seed pools again in the future, that'll remain the only such upset.
There will still be seven divisions, with four regions per division, meaning the qualifying schools in each division will now be 48 instead of 64.
The defending state champions entering the new season are Olentangy Liberty, Avon, Columbus Bishop Watterson, Indian Valley, Ironton, Coldwater and Maria Stein Marion Local.
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