NEBRASKA PREP REPORT

Every time we get ready for high school playoffs and the teams are challenging to advance the question arises -- How do the wildcards and playoffs work? ..... How will it impact my team? ...... Can we get to the State Playoffs, our record is 6-19?

Well --- in basketball every team does have a chance to make it to the state championships. It starts in the smaller classes (C-1, C-2, D-1, D-2) with sub-districts .... BUT if you lose and your wildcard points based on season long play if high enough then you still have a chance to go to to state even if you do not qualify to go to district action .... Class A and B join the smaller classes in district play.

Six (6) District champions and 2 wildcards advance to State Tournament action in Lincoln. There they play a single-elimination tournament for the state title.

This is from the NSAA Manual on Wild Card Criteria.

The results of only those games played against varsity teams of schools in Nebraska and of schools in states contiguous to Nebraska will be used to:

1. Calculate wild card point averages.

2. To determine the win and loss record for designating a team as a first, second or third division team.

All games played by a school’s varsity team regardless of the location of the opposing school or whether the team is varsity or non-varsity will count toward the number of permitted contests in a particular sport.

All Classes

1. Six teams will qualify for the state tournament by winning the championship of their respective district tournaments.

2. Two additional teams that fail to qualify through district tournament competition will be chosen as wild card qualifiers to complete the eight-team state tournament field.

3. These two wild card qualifier teams will be selected in the following manner:

a. Only the contests between varsity Nebraska teams and varsity teams from states

contiguous to Nebraska will be considered when calculating the wild card point averages.

b. Points will not be awarded for playing out-of-state opponents from states that are not contiguous to Nebraska, nor will points be awarded for playing non-varsity teams. Such games, however, shall count as one of the total number of contests permitted.

c. The results of all contests played through the district tournaments shall be used.

**** d. This includes regularly scheduled contests, tournament contests, intra-conference playoffs, and district contests.

**** e. Class C1, C2, and D1 teams must play a minimum of 6 teams/contests classified at their classification or above to qualify as a wild card qualifier. Only those games/events scheduled prior to the start of the season and submitted to the NSAA on the school’s official schedule (and subdistrict and district games) will count toward one of the 6 required at or above their classification.

3. FORFEITS: Teams shall receive wild card points for forfeited losses if the forfeit was due to extenuating circumstances (such as weather) between the two schools. No wild card points shall be awarded for losses when the forfeit is required by the Executive Director or Board of

Control; an appeal to the Executive Director would be heard if the infraction leading to the NSAA-required forfeiture was self-reported by the school.

4. The following point evaluation scale will be used to determine a team's total points:

..............1st - 2nd - 3rd Division

Victory Over .50 ... 45 ....40

Loss To ..... 38 ... 33 ....28

a. A first division team is a team, which has won more than 66% of its matches played.

Examples: 20-0, 19-1, 18-2, 16-4, 14-6.

b. A second division team is a team, which has won at least 34% but not more than 66% of its matches played. (Examples: 13-7, 12-8, 11-9, 10-10, 9-11, 8-12, 7-13.)

c. A third division team is a team, which has won less than 34% of its matches played.

(Examples: 6-14, 5-15, 4-16, 3-1)

7. No points are deducted for playing teams that are classified below your classification.

8. In competition with schools one classification above yours, 2 bonus points will be awarded.

9. In competition with schools two classification above yours, 3 bonus points will be awarded.

10. In competition with schools three classification above yours, 4 bonus points will be awarded.

11. In competition with schools four classification above yours, 5 bonus points will be awarded.

12. A team's wild card point average will be determined by dividing the total number of points by

the number of contests played.

13. The two teams failing to qualify through district competition in their class, but having the highest wild card point averages based on the year's record after the completion of all the district tournaments will be selected as the wild card qualifiers.

14. If a tie exists for one or both of the qualifying spots, the following procedure will be used to select the team or teams.

a. If only two teams have identical point averages and are tied for one of the qualifying spots and the teams have played each other, the team that won the contest or the majority of contests between the two teams in question will qualify for the state tournament.

b. If the two teams have not played each other or if more than two teams are tied, step “c” will be used to determine which team qualifies for the state tournament.

c. If two or more teams have identical wild card point averages and are tied for one or both of the remaining qualifying spots, the team or teams playing the greatest number of first division teams will be selected. If only two teams remain after this step and the two teams tied have played each other, step “a” will be used to determine the qualifier for the state tournament.

d. If a tie still exists, the team's opponents' wins and losses will be totaled and the winning percentages calculated. The team whose opponents have the highest winning percentage based on this calculation will be chosen.

e. If a tie still exists, the representative will be decided by a coin flip in the NSAA office.

NOW, we all understand how a team can make the playoffs and win the state title.

Can someone tell us how many wildcard teams have won the state basketball title (boys and girls)? And Who was the last team to win as a wildcard - remember the girl's tournament is a week earlier than the boy's.