GEFA Reveals New Point System For Playoffs

March 12, 2023 GEFA Staff

POTTSVILLE - Today the owners of the Great Eastern Football Association had their annual season kickoff prep meeting. A lot of topics are discussed at this meeting (matching helmets/facemasks, film, referees, etc.). One of the biggest topics this year though? The new playoff system. For the first time since 2018, the GEFA is bringing back the top eight playoff system. What does the mean you ask? The top eight teams make it to the playoffs regardless of conference.

Why would the owners bring back the top eight playoffs? What could possibly be the main reason to do so?

We asked Brian Rodgers of the Tomahawks that question. "The reason why we went top eight was to get better games in the playoffs." Brian explained. "We didn't want to see a team barely make it into the playoffs because they were the fourth seed in their conference. I think one of the biggest reasons we do top eight as well was to make all the games count."

For far too many years our playoff system was conference based which meant our crossovers were glorified scrimmages.

"I wasn't happy with the playoff system last year. We were still doing the same playoff system we were using for the covid seasons. We couldn't justify all the players who got injured in a crossover game which was essentially meaningless," President James Simerson said.

For the first time in a long time crossover games matter but how did they make them matter? The league agreed upon a point system, loosely based off of the way the PIAA high school does there.

Here's the example we were given based off the Wilkes-Barre Warriors schedule a season ago.

Win - 100 points per win then 10 bonus points for your opponents wins.

Which means for every win you receive, you earn hundred points. You earn bonus points (10) for every game your opponents win.

Loss - 0 points per win then 10 bonus points for your opponents wins

Don't win any games? You can still earn points based off of how your opponents do. You earn ten points for every game your opponent wins.

Here's the Warriors schedule and results:

Vikings (8-2) - L - 80 points

The Warriors lost to the Vikings in this game but still received 80 points due to the Vikings overall wins.

Hitmen (10-0) - L - 100 points

Comanche (7-3) - W - 170 points

The Warriors defeated the Comanche which gave them 100 points for the win plus an additional 70 points in bonus points due to the Comanche overall wins.

Mustangs (0-10) - W - 100 points

Here's where it gets interesting. The Warriors defeated the Mustangs but received zero bonus points due to the Mustangs being winless.

DBacks (6-4) - L - 60 points
Wildcats (3-7) - L - 30 points
Cyclones (10-0) - L - 100 points
Savages (5-5) - W - 150 points (KEY WIN)

This game was a huge win for the Warriors because the Savages ended up 5-5 as well with the same amount of points. This game would have been to determine the 8th seed had the playoffs been by top eight last year. Both teams would have been on the bubble but the Warriors would have eliminated the Savages due to the first tie breaker, head to head.

Shock (1-9) - W - 110 points

Nightmare (4-6) - W - 140 points

5-5 record - 1040 total points, divided by 10 (games) move the decimal point - 10.4 points

Now, that we saw how the point system works let's see the Tie Breakers. Every season it is almost inevitable there would be teams tied. How do you determine who moves on and who doesn't? A couple years ago the Tomahawks lost to the Maniacs but defeated the Wildcats who defeated the Maniacs in a three way tie. Tie breakers were out. Conference records were out. So it went by point differential which eliminated the Wildcats.

This year's tie breakers are as follows:

1. Head to Head competition
2. Conference record
3. Win % of common opponents
4. Win % of regular season
5. Point differential of regular season

So there you have it. Stay tuned to May 13th as we reveal which teams sit on top of the point rankings and who is on the bubble.