The Florida High School Athletic Association's Football Advisory Committee voted unanimously at its annual meeting Thursday to move away from the current playoff power points formula in favor of one that relies on a ratings percentage index (RPI).
According to the Orlando Sentinel, the new system would essentially add a third layer to the power points system used the past two seasons. The RPI ranking will factor in the winning percentage of a team, along with the winning percentages of its opponents and its opponents’ opponents.
The proposed revision eliminates bonus points from the equation and pushes football more in line with a new MaxPreps ranking system set to be implemented in the 2019-20 school year for other sports under the FHSAA umbrella.
For football, the three variables in the ranking process will be weighted as follows: 35 percent for a team’s win percentage, 35 percent for the win percentage of each opponent, and 30 percent for the win percentage of the opponents’ opponents.
Recommendations approved by the football advisory committee must pass through the athletic directors committee on Wednesday and the FHSAA board of directors later this month before being adopted for 2019.
"I like things to be settled on the field," Seminole athletic director Mike Kintz said during the meeting, as reported by the Sentinel. "A system like this does that, and at least allows for some of the geographical rivalries to stay in place. We're headed in the right direction with this."
