Football playoff scenarios

Posted Nov 6, 2009 by Adam Adkins

Updated Nov 6, 2009 at 03:47 PM

Tonight is a big night in Hillsborough County football. This is the final week of scheduled district play, meaning tonight will mark the close of the races for state playoff berths - well, unless of course a district tiebreaker is needed on Monday.

Robinson, Jefferson, Tampa Catholic and Sickles have already secured playoff berths. As for the rest of the county teams which still have postseason hopes, we broke down the scenarios in each district in last Sunday’s Tampa Tribune. If you’re curious what it will take for your team to reach the postseason, you can find our breakdown HERE.

As for those district tiebreakers: the full breakdown is available on the FHSAA website in the Football Manual. Here is the short version (as short as I can explain it, anyways). All district tiebreakers will be Monday night at 7 p.m.

The host team, which will be determined via best regular-season winning percentage of teams involved, will receive a first-round bye. The remaining two teams will play in Game 1 (all games are one quarter in length). The winning team will move on to play the host team.

If the tiebreaker is to determine the district runner-up, the winner between the host team and Game 1 winner gets that playoff spot.

If the tiebreaker is to determine the district champ and runner-up, the scenario is as follows: if the host team defeats the Game 1 winner, the host team is district champ and Game 1 winner is runner-up. If Game 1 winner defeats the host team, the Game 1 winner is the district champ, and the host team would face the Game 1 loser to determine the runner-up.