Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

2/4/2009 - Expanded Brackets A Home Run

Somewhere, Chuck Tepper must be scratching his head.

You see, Tepper, Vernon’s longtime football coach, had lobbied the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association last fall to allow football teams with 6-2 or 5-3 records at the state tournament cutoff to qualify for the tourney no matter how many power points the schools had accumulated.

The request was denied and the Vikings, along with several other schools, like DePaul Catholic of Wayne, were on the outside looking in despite having teams that had the potential to make a deep run in their respective sections. (But that is a blog for another time).

Now, Tepper had to watch the state announce this week that it will expand its state tourney brackets to 16 teams for seven sports starting next fall in a one-year pilot program. This will allow for teams with under .500 records to earn a bid.

As of now, the teams in the seven sports---boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls tennis, field hockey, softball and baseball---need a .500 record by the state-assigned cutoff date to qualify.

The state also decided to expand boys and girls swimming to eight teams, regardless of record. Swimming brackets are based on a power-point system and that system will still be used to seed the teams 1-through 8.

The idea to expand the brackets was first introduced last month and was championed by Steve Timko, the executive director of the NJSIAA, not a bad guy to have on your side when lobbying the NJSIAA.

“I’m pushing for brackets to be filled with 16 teams, whenever possible,” Timko told the Star-Ledger Thursday. “Some of the new super conferences will have teams playing in stronger divisions that have sub- .500 records, but are stronger than teams that are above .500 in other divisions.”

Timko was alluding to the seven new super conferences formed by the state in its realignment plan which will go into effect next September. The 10 schools that comprise the Sussex County Interscholastic League will be broken up and will play in the newly-formed Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference and placed into divisions based on size and location.

Over the years I have done my fair share of bashing the NJSIAA and how it operates, which, of course, I felt it deserved. But I have to hand it to the gang at Robbinsville on this one---they hit a home run.

Now even with the expanded brackets, you will always have “bubble teams”, but if you can’t make the top 16 in your section, do you really deserve to play in the postseason? I think not.

The expansion should also limit schools from scrambling to get independent games on or near the cutoff date. Although, it did make for a great story last year when Newton’s softball team qualified after playing Sussex Tech indoors on Friday at 10 p.m., two hours before the cutoff, to get in.

The Braves proved they belonged in the tourney and knocked off two higher seeds before being ousted. But Newton AD Kurt Walton wouldn’t have had to go through all that trouble if the bracket was 16 teams.

And the expansion also levels the playing field a bit in the sections. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen sections in one part of the state have just four teams qualify, while others, 16. Is it fair for the one section to only need two wins for a title, while another has to go through a four-game meat grinder? The answer is a simple, no.

When it comes to grouping schools by size and assigning sections by location, the state has always done a pretty good job of keeping on top of it. In fact, when the state a few years ago abandoned its section alignment that was based strictly by county, it was applauded and has worked out well, in my opinion.

Don Smolyn, Lenape Valley’s Hall-of-Fame football coach and AD, led the charge on realigning the sections based on geography and the state reevaluates its sections each year. The funny part about Smolyn leading the cause is that it seems like Lenape Valley, located in Stanhope, is located right on the fault line when it comes to shifting sections. The Pats have jumped back-and-forth between North 1 and North 2 the last few years.

And I have to give credit to the state for addressing the needs of some of the sports that do not have widespread participation, like field hockey, wrestling, volleyball, lacrosse and ice hockey. Those sports have their own classifications when it comes to the state tournament and it has definitely leveled the playing field.

So a big thumbs-up to the state for realizing that it will be a brave new world in high school sports in New Jersey next year and for taking a proactive stance before schools starting complaining that they are being shafted because of their new division.

But I get the feeling that won’t help Chuck Tepper sleep any better at night.

TOURNEY TIME… And speaking of states, the boys and girls hoops cutoff is Saturday and there are a couple teams on the proverbial bubble which should make for a great day of hoops in the SCIL.

On the boys side, Jefferson (17-2), Sparta (14-3), Pope John (13-4), Vernon (9-7) and Wallkill Valley (9-6), by virtue of its thrilling 37-34 win over Hopatcong on Pat Nyhius buzzer-beating 3-pointer off the glass, have made the states.

The loss ended Hopatcong’s dreams and Lenape Valley’s bid to make the states was ended by Newton the other night, so the boys side is pretty much set. Jefferson will be either a No. 2 or 3 seed in North 1, Group 2 and the Falcons have all the ingredients of making a serious run to the section final.

Sparta can make some noise in North 1, Group 3 if Sean Rossi gets hot, plus Sparta’s big men, Nick Lenker and Kyle Mascilak, provide match up night mares for a lot teams with their size.

Pope John is in a killer section in North Non-Public A, but the Lions are starting to come around just like they did last year at this time. They have knocked off two good clubs in Delbarton and Jefferson this week, plus who can forget their thrashing of St. Joe’s of Montvale in the states last year?

Vernon is still in search of its first state tourney win since 1979 and although I think Matt Ferguson is a great coach, I don’t think this is the year the Vikings will get it in North 1, Group 4. And if the seeding shakes out, Wallkill could see Jefferson in the early rounds, but it will be tough for the Rangers without their top player, Dave Braun, who has a hamstring injury.

As for the girls, High Point (14-3), Pope John (13-6), Wallkill Valley (11-7) and Sparta (10-6) are in. But perennial qualifier Jefferson (8-10), and Bill Foley’s Vernon club (8-8), need to do some work.

Jefferson needs to beat Hopatcong tonight and High Point Saturday to get in, a very tall order. The Falcons should get by Hopatcong, but High Point will be very tough. The Falcons will count on their home-court advantage and the fact that strange things happen when SCIL games are played on Saturday afternoons.

Vernon also has a tough road to get back to states after missing the tourney the last two seasons. It faces PJ tonight, and if Vernon loses, it will have to beat a scrappy Wallkill team Saturday at home. The Vikes lost by two the last time the teams played.

It should be a great Saturday. And if hoops aren’t your thing, you can check out the SCIL Swim Festival at Sussex Tech which is always a fun day or follow the High Point wrestling team’s winter tour (has High Point wrested any independent home matches this year?) which stops at Randolph for a great quad which also includes state power Eastern.

So if you have the mid-winter blues, Saturday will serve as the perfect tonic for what ails you whatever your taste in sports.

That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.

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Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

2/4/2009 - Expanded Brackets A Home Run