On Thursday, the Board of Directors for the South Dakota High School Activities Association will vote on a Sweet-16 playoff format in basketball and volleyball for Class B and Class AA.
Many have asked the question, what does this mean? What would change?
First for Class B…
Post-season action would go on as planned through district play until there are two teams left in each of the eight regions. Then the remaining sixteen teams will all be re-seeded No. 1 – No. 16 for a lone play-in round to determine the eight teams who will advance to the state tournament.
Class A underwent this format already this past season in volleyball and basketball, and because of its success, the other two classes are now considering it.
Proponents of the Sweet-16 format in Class B say it’ll make the state tournament games more competitive, while opponents say the state tournaments could lose that regional representation.
Class AA is a little bit different as there are only 17 teams in both basketball and volleyball. The top sixteen teams at the conclusion of the regular season, based on seed points, would qualify for the Sweet-16 play in round. All eight winners of that round would then advance to the state tournament.
At the April SDHSAA Board of Directors meeting, the members passed both proposals during their first readings. Class B passed with an 8-1 vote, while Class AA passed 6-3. If the motions pass the board again tomorrow, they’ll go into effect for the 2017-18 school year.
SDHSAA Meeting Agenda: Link
Thursday’s meeting starts at 10 am CT, and an audio stream of the meeting can be found on the South Dakota High School Activities Association website.
