Missing the playoffs for some high school sports may be a thing of the past.
The Utah High School Activities Association board of trustees last week unanimously approved to incorporate a Ratings Percentage Index in state tournaments for a slew of high school sports, meaning every program will appear in the postseason. The initiative will begin in the fall 2019 season, coinciding with the most recent 2019-2021 alignment.
The sports affected by the change are baseball, basketball, football, lacrosse, soccer, softball and volleyball.
The RPI generates a score based on a team’s record, the record of their opponents, and the records of the teams their opponents play. The weight of each of those measures counts for 40, 40 and 20 percent, respectively, of the RPI score.
“This new approach in qualifying and seeding will bring added excitement to state tournaments as teams earn seeding based on overall season performance and not just region competition,” UHSAA Executive Director Ryan Cuff said in a news release.
Cross country, tennis, wrestling, and track and field will use the region-qualifying format, while golf, drill and swimming will use different methods to qualify teams for state tournaments, per the release. Every tournament will be conducted similarly, with the potential addition of a round to allow for the increase in team participants.
