By Stephen Smoot
Fans must forget some of what they knew about how the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission has crafted its playoff ratings system in the past. The 2024 season brings a new set of rules.
This season, football will start the four class system ranging from Class A to Class AAAA. Wins over Class AAAA teams will earn the victor 15 points. Defeating a class AAA team will get the winner 12, while class AA wins will be worth nine and class A six.
This fall, Pendleton County will play Greenbrier West, East Hardy, Petersburg, Tucker County, Tygarts Valley, Pocahontas County, Mountain View in Virginia (which will likely resume its old name of Stonewall Jackson), Moorefield, and Cameron. From that group, only Moorefield will elevate to Class AA. Perennial power James Monroe and some other strong programs will also rise from Class A to Class AA, however.
Potomac Highlands Class AA powers Keyser and Frankfort will join the ranks of Class AAA.
Classes for state high school sports purposes are generated 80 percent from enrollment score, 10 percent for location, and 10 percent from economic score. Location score is set by the school’s distance from a city of 10,000 or more.
Football, cheerleading, volleyball, baseball, and softball will all join basketball in using the new categories. Cross-country, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, track, and wrestling will not join the new system at this time. School assignments are set until the 2027-28 season.
The big change, besides the introduction of Class AAAA and the resulting reconfiguration, lies in the fact that any win earns a bonus point regardless of classification. Previously, teams could not earn bonus points for victories over schools of lower classification. As Pendleton County High School head coach Zac Smith points out, “It’s not as much of a benefit anymore to play teams above classification.”
The rule change, however, may help teams in lower classifications that struggled to fill out schedules before.
“All other elements of the football rating system will remain the same as previously adopted by the WVSSAC,” stated a May release from that organization.
Another adjustment came in the change of the “mercy rule” adopted for football. In previous seasons, once a team achieved a 35-point lead in the fourth quarter, the game clock ran continuously except through certain points such as after a score. Now, if a team hits a 42-point lead in the third quarter, the clock rule change will kick in at that point.
Neither rule would have kicked in during the improbable comeback against Moorefield last season.
Football playoffs will continue to invite the top 16 teams in each class, providing tremendously expanded opportunities for programs to enjoy the playoff experience.
