North Carolina changes high school sports playoff plans for 2020-21 season
The N.C. High School Athletic Association announced changes to its 2020-21 sports season plan Tuesday, including that all team sports will have 32-team playoff brackets.
Football, it said, will be subdivided into two 16-team brackets for each classification.
Conferences with up to six teams will get one playoff spot. Leagues with seven to eight teams will get two and those with nine or more teams will receive three spots. The NCHSAA said conference win percentage will determine wild-card spots. It also said a predetermined bracket would be used to minimize travel.
Football playoffs begin April 16 and will go four rounds, finishing with state finals May 8. Basketball begins Feb. 23 and finishes March 6.
Other changes include:
▪ The NCHSAA will now allow 25 people in an indoor venue and 50 outdoors for skill development sessions.
▪ Season limits were changed from 10 to 14 meets for swimming, cross-country and track and field.
▪ Cross-country can have a maximum of four schools per contest, limited to seven players per team. Schools can have nine runners at meets with three schools and up to 14 for meets with two schools.
▪ Boys and girls golf and tennis teams can play practice together when seasons overlap. Virtual swim meets will be allowed, provided teams compete against each other in the same week. For tri-meets, a maximum of 30 boys and 30 girls will be allowed
▪ Scrimmages with more than two teams are not allowed, and only two teams are allowed on site at any given time, per sport. All teams are allowed one scrimmage that can last up to two hours.
▪ The date for the cheerleading invitational was changed from May 1 to May 22.
This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 1:19 PM.
