Marc Narducci:

Much of the excitement of a high school sports season is a team's run toward a postseason berth.

In boys' and girls' soccer, field hockey, tennis, boys' and girls' basketball, baseball and softball, this intrigue will no longer exist next season.

That's because the NJSIAA has relaxed its standards considerably. In a one-year experiment, the NJSIAA is expanding its playoff brackets to 16 teams per group.

Before, teams needed records of .500 or better by a designated cutoff date to earn a postseason berth.

Beginning in the fall, the teams in the above-mentioned sports need to finish only in the top 16 per group to make the playoffs. There usually are 20 to 21 teams per group.

In several groups this year, a 5-14 record in boys' or girls' basketball would have been good enough for a playoff berth.

For so many teams in the past, those that really didn't have a realistic chance at winning a sectional title, earning a playoff bid was a great accomplishment. That no longer will be the case when a team realizes that 6-14 would put it in good position to qualify in many cases.

The NJSIAA regular season will be like college basketball, which really has turned into a six-week season including March Madness.

With the exception of the conference races and teams looking to earn high seeds, the NJSIAA regular season will be just a tune-up for the postseason.

Of course, the NJSIAA doesn't see it that way. Executive director Steve Timko says that this change came mainly because of so many super-conferences that have been formed in North Jersey.

"There could be a 6-8 team from a really strong super conference fighting day in and day out, and that team would be left out of the tournament," Timko said. "Then you could have a team in a weaker conference go 14-1 and get in and not be as good as that 6-8 team."

Our hearts would go out to that 6-8 team, but what are we teaching the athletes by having no standards? That everybody should be good enough to get in?

It's almost like selecting everybody for a Little League all-star team to avoid hurting some youngsters' feelings.

Lessening the standards isn't teaching the athletes anything. It shows them that if the competition is too tough, there is a backdoor to the postseason.

Some skeptics have suggested that the NJSIAA is expanding the field to boost its bank account.

Timko said finances were never a factor in the decision, and he is to be believed.

It says here that expanding the tournament will lose money for the NJSIAA. Timko would not comment on that prediction.

Expanded brackets mean more playoff games in sports that don't charge admission for the opening rounds, such as baseball, softball, field hockey and soccer.

And in basketball, where the NJSIAA does make money, Timko says that the organization gets the profits after the first round. The schools keep the first-round profits.

So, no, money wasn't a factor, even though more teams will be paying that $80 entry fee to compete in the tournament.

Timko and the NJSIAA believe they are being fair to teams that play tough competition.

"We set up super-conferences, and they are developing programs by strength of schedule," Timko said. "I think we have to look at the needs they are looking for because they are helping us out."

That's noble, but it sends the wrong message.

Life is tough and things aren't always easy. Not everybody can make the playoffs, although this new rule is doing its best to dispel that notion.