Just sharing with you bloggers a story that ran in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald this morning on the state seedings flap. Sorry, it's a little long, but it offers some insights:
Tribune-Herald
HONOLULU — One thing became obvious during the Hawaii High School Athletic Association boys Division I and II basketball championships this week — the pre-tournament seeding formula is outdated and needs to be replaced.
That was the talk of some coaches, media and fans as seven of the eight seeded teams fell by the wayside by the time the quarterfinals had been played. The unbalanced schedule produced some mismatches and didn’t fully reward the league champions heading into the tournament.
For example, Big Island Interscholastic Federation D-I champion Hilo was awarded the third seed and had to play Interscholastic League of Honolulu powerhouse Punahou in its first game.
The result?
The Buffanblu rolled to a 76-46 win in a physical game and the Vikings were immediately knocked into the consolation bracket.
Moanalua coach Greg Tacon watched his team win the Oahu Interscholastic Association title and then be ousted in the quarterfinals by ILH runner-up Kamehameha.
He concluded that winning the OIA crown didn’t help his Menehune at all and they were given a tougher road to reach the state final than the OIA runner-up.
“What’s that saying when your league runner-up has had an easier bracket in two straight years to get to the finals,” Tacon said. “It tells me that winning the OIA championship doesn’t mean much.
“It just shows that there are a lot of problems with how they’re doing the seedings. In D-I, they should seed all the teams, 1 through 12, and then match them up. The same for D-II, 1 through 8, and let them play.”
That’s what the NCAA does each year with its 65-team tournament. That format has proved hugely successful and showcases the entire field in March Madness.
“If the ILH has the best three teams in the tournament, then seed them 1, 2, 3 and match them up with the other teams,” Tacon said. “The 1 through 12 seedings would be much fairer across the board and still, the best team will win.”
The 12-team seeding format would make it more cut and dried in the selection process, and force the selection committee to do a better job in analyzing each team. Right now, the seeding meeting lasts 60 to 90 minutes with representatives from each league providing input.
The committee then seeds the top four teams in D-I and II. The D-I top seeds draw first-round byes. But by not seeding all the teams and the committee not being provided the updated resumes of the teams, it has become a hit or miss with matching up the rest of the schools.
For example, Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion St. Joseph should have been seeded No. 1 in the D-II tournament, based on its strong resume against not only D-II competition but also against D-I teams.
The Cardinals (27-4 overall) had wins over OIA champion Moanalua and BIIF champion Hilo (twice), and played a strong league season, going 7-3 against D-I schools.
However, the seeding committee opted to seed OIA champion Roosevelt No. 1 and Maui champion Seabury Hall No. 2, with St. Joseph being handed the No. 3 seed. ILH champion University was No. 4.
Based on St. Joseph’s strong resume, there is no way that it should have been seeded lower than No. 2. But instead, Seabury Hall (10-0) was given the second seed despite playing in a weaker league than the BIIF.
St. Joseph then had to play defending state champion Kailua in the first round. The Cardinals couldn’t overcome cold shooting to start the game and lost a close contest, then falling into the consolation bracket.
St. Joe then closed out the tournament by beating both No. 1 Roosevelt and No. 2 Seabury Hall. The MIL champion was 0-2 in the event.
St. Joseph coach Harry Scanlan-Leite agreed with Tacon and others that seeding all the teams is the best way.
“I think that would be the fairest way,” he said. “Hopefully something can happen in the near future so that a lot of other teams don’t get burned.”
Both Tacon and Roosevelt coach Steve Hathaway said they believed St. Joseph should have been the No. 1 seed in D-II.
“I thought we would be No. 2,” Hathaway said. “St. Joseph had a great season and I was pretty sure they’d get the No. 1 seed. For some reason, that just didn’t work out.”
Pahoa, based on playing No. 1 Roosevelt, must have been deemed the eighth team in the draw. But those fired-up Daggers shocked the Rough Riders and went on to win the state D-II crown. They deserved the hard-earned title and proved the committee wrong that they weren’t the eighth best team in the tournament after all.
Of course, some members of the seeding committee, or coaches, or fans can say the seedings don’t matter and the best team will win. But instead of brushing aside those supporters who believe in just seeding all the teams and letting them play, the HHSAA should evaluate the old formula.
Then, in thinking outside the box like NCAA tournament officials, the HHSAA should move ahead with a simple system that makes it totally fair across the board.
“I think seeding all the teams is the better way to go,” Hilo athletic director Leroy Simms said. “But we’ve got to get the idea out there and get people working together. If the HHSAA really wants it to happen, they need to get behind it and submit the proposal to HIADA.”
HIADA is the annual meeting of the state athletic directors who make proposals and discuss other ideas, then pass them along to the state’s principals, who can approve or deny the new proposals.
“The seeding proposal has a lot of merit,” Simms said. “Hopefully someone can get the ball rolling and make this the best situation for all teams involved.”
That’s all Tacon and a lot of the other coaches want, just a simple solution to a selection process that gives each team a fair shot and forces the committee to do their homework a little better than it did this year.