NJSIAA introduces new playoff-seeding system for football
The new system likely will replace the Born Power Index, which drew criticism last year for lack of transparency and reliance on margin of victory.
Before the 2018 football season, the NJSIAA introduced a system for seeding the playoff fields, with a heavy reliance on the Born Power Index.
The new format worked like a charm, according to many observers of the sport, using Born’s algorithm in combination with the traditional power-point system to reward stronger teams with berths in the respective fields and higher seeds within the section.
“Shawnee was a great example,” Westwood athletic director Dan Vivino said of the Renegades, who qualified for the South Jersey Group 4 tournament with a 2-6 record and won the sectional title. “It got it right.”
But for NJSIAA officials as well as administrators and coaches, there were two problems. One was transparency.
“It was a black box,” NJSIAA counsel Steve Goodell said of Born’s proprietary system.
The other issue involved a key aspect of Born’s system, which the former math teacher created in the 1960s and refined over the years: Teams could increase their ranking through winning by a larger margin of victory, creating concerns over sportsmanship.
“That was a non-negotiable,” Vivino said.
At the NJSIAA executive committee meeting Wednesday, Vivino introduced a new system for seeding the playoffs, which likely will take effect in the 2019 season.
The Born Power Index (BPI) has been eliminated and replaced by a new system, the Opponents Strength Index (OSI), under which teams will earn points based on the quality of their opponents.
Margin of victory no longer will be a factor.
“In fact, there’s a side benefit that you really are better off not beating your opponent by a larger margin,” said Vivino, who was part of an NJSIAA committee that authored the new system. “If you’re up 20, put the JV in.”
The NJSIAA executive committee approved the proposal to implement the new playoff-seeding system, along with another significant change to the postseason format, by a 35-2 vote at the meeting at the organization’s headquarters in Robbinsville, Mercer County.
The vote was on the proposal’s first reading. It must be approved again in June to take effect this coming season.
Under the new system, the OSI will account for 60 percent of a team’s United Power Ranking, which will be used to seed the fields. The other 40 percent will be based on a team’s traditional power-point ranking.
“We think we’ve been able to take what worked last year and create this new system and hopefully have it work as well,” Vivino said.
The OSI system will be available for review on the NJSIAA’s website and each team’s UPR will be updated weekly on the Gridironnj.com website, according to Vivino.
The other major change involves the plan to “snake” the playoff fields to avoid having one section overstocked with top teams.
The top 16 teams in each group in the South and North “super-sections” still will qualify for the playoffs. But under the new system, the No. 1 overall seed will be assigned to its natural geographic section and the next two seeds will be assigned to the other section, with every two teams moved into a different section.
For example, if Penns Grove is the No. 1 overall seed in South 1, the Red Devils will be assigned to the South section. But if Salem and Paulsboro are the respective No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, they will be assigned to the Central section.
Under that scenario, the No. 4 and No. 5 will be in the South, the No. 6 and No. 7 in the Central, and so on until the No. 16 winds up in the South with the No. 1.
“We want to avoid a situation, which we’ve had in the past, where the top four teams are in the same section and the No. 5 team ends up walking to a section title in the other section,” Vivino said.