Conference champ playoff exclusion, price hikes proposed at NCHSAA meeting

Winning a conference championship has been an automatic ticket to a top seed in North Carolina’s high school playoffs.

But that could end in the 2025-26 school year, if the N.C. High School Athletic Association votes Wednesday to revamp the way playoff berths are determined.

In theory, the proposed new system even could leave a conference champion out of the playoff field.

The playoff seeding plan was among a number of topics discussed Tuesday by the NCHSAA board, during the first day of the annual two-day spring meeting.

Another proposal will bring a hefty increase in ticket prices for the playoffs, although it would be the first price hike for playoff tickets in eight years, NCHSAA officials said.

Plans for conducting the playoffs under the state’s new eight-class system are expected to be discussed during Wednesday’s session.

Much of the board’s time Tuesday was spent hearing reports from its various committees.

But the sports committee’s proposal on determining playoff berths grabbed much of board members’ attention.

In recent years, the NCHSAA has used an RPI rating system and has given the top eight or nine seeds to conference champions. The remaining teams are seeded according to their RPI ratings.

Under the RPI system, teams are rewarded for victories, for each time a defeated opponent wins, and each time a defeated opponent’s defeated opponent wins.

The sports committee, headed by Enka High athletics director Brian Carver, is proposing that the RPI system be replaced by a similar MaxPreps system — and that seeding be done completely with the MaxPreps rating. Conference champions would not automatically get one of the top eight or nine seeds.

Board members brought up two concerns:

▪ A conference champion, in theory, might not be in the top 32 or 48, if it has only a few conference games and a weak nonconference schedule.

▪ Conference champions might get a lower playoff seed than the second- or third-place teams in their conference, depending on the strength of nonconference schedules.

Carver conceded that the new system could result in a conference champion being left out of the field but called the scenario “very unlikely.”

“It’s difficult to imagine a conference champion not being in the top 48 teams,” he said.

Board member Larry Williford, principal at Farmville Central High, proposed changing the language to guarantee that all conference champions are in the playoffs. But other board members said that would penalize a team that had earned a postseason berth.

Either way, board members conceded, the proposal will lessen the important of conference championships.

“You will have cases where a team that finished second or third in a conference gets a higher seed than the champion, because it played a tougher nonconference schedule,” said Sam Jones, principal at West Stokes High.

The proposal will remove point differential from the MaxPreps rating system, to prevent teams from feeling a need to run up the score on opponents.

Ticket price hike

While board members disagreed on the details, it is clear that fans will be paying more for playoff tickets, starting next fall.

The finance committee, headed by Henderson County Schools Superintendent Mark Garrett, proposed a series of price hikes and said the NCHSAA hasn’t raised the cost of a playoff ticket since the 2017-18 school year.

And several board members noted that most schools charge more for regular-season tickets than the NCHSAA charges for playoffs.

The board also is expected to approve a policy change, which had been encouraged by several state legislators, to require schools to offer a cash-pay option. Many schools across the state, including most in the Charlotte area, require fans to buy tickets in advance or on their phones.

Early-round playoff ticket prices for most sports are $7, with an $8 cost for football. In most cases, according to the proposal, the price will climb to $11. Tickets for first- and second-round football playoff games will be hiked to $12.

“Those are some hefty jumps,” Williford said. “I’m concerned about the students. You don’t want to price the students out of the games.”

But other board members said playoff ticket prices need to be increased, because the cost of hosting games has increased considerably since the last ticket price hike.

“We had a lot of schools that didn’t break even in the playoffs this year,” said Andy McCormick, principal at Union Pines High.

Board members left open the possibility that increases will be scaled back slightly when they take a final vote on the issue Wednesday.

“But I don’t believe there is any way we cannot increase prices,” Garrett said.

The plan to require cash payment options split school systems. Some board members said their schools lack the cell service or Internet signal required to conduct online payments. But Cabarrus County Schools athletic director Bryan Tyson, who represents several Charlotte-area counties, said schools in his region prefer not having to deal with cash.

Other news

▪ The board approved the addition of three new NCHSAA members for 2025-26, including The Math and Science Academy of Charlotte. That school essentially replaces Valor Prep, which closed its Concord campus in late 2024. The Math and Science Academy of Charlotte is planning to move its middle/high school campus to the Valor Prep site. The other new NCHSAA members are Macon Early College and Onslow Early College.

▪ The board heard that the number of regional tournaments in several sports (swimming/diving, golf, wrestling, cross-country, track and field, tennis) will be trimmed next year, with the NCHSAA moving from four to eight size classifications.

▪ Policy committee members said a decision on whether to recognize flag football as a championship sport will be delayed until next December. NCHSAA officials said they continue to have a difficult time determining if enough schools are sponsoring the sport. NCHSAA policy requires at least 25 percent of members to sponsor the sport for two years. The hope is to sanction flag football in time for the 2026-27 school year.

▪ Tabled a decision on lowering the threshold of the “mercy rule,” which requires a running clock when teams build large enough leads in football and basketball. NCHSAA officials say they want to discuss the proposal with the basketball coaches association.

▪ Delayed a decision on allowing a shot clock to be used in some games during the 2025-26 basketball season. The sports committee said more study is needed on the proposal.