MaxPreps rankings shelved for now
MIAA committee votes to delay use of new system
The months of anticipation surrounding the implementation of MaxPreps this fall was all for naught.
On Thursday afternoon, the MIAA Tournament Management Committee voted unanimously to table the incorporation of the MaxPreps power rating system to seed postseason tournaments until at least the 2020-2021 winter season.
Initially, a motion was made to put off MaxPreps for the entirety of the 2020-2021 school year and wait until the fall of 2021 when the statewide tournament across all sports is set to go into effect. That motion, however, was resoundingly defeated after a number of committee members stated a desire to potentially use the winter and spring seasons to see the viability of the MaxPreps power ratings system before transitioning to the statewide tournament.
“I think there is so much on administrators’ plates right now with the truth being we are not even certain if we are going to have a fall season yet,” Lowell Athletic Director and Tournament Management Committee member Dave Lezinski said. “We’re in uncharted territory, so it’s good for the schools if at least for now we hold off on putting in any power ratings system.”
Individual sports still may transition to MaxPreps this fall if they desire, but it will not be a mandate for the fall season.
There were plenty of fireworks that stemmed from discussions surrounding specific sport divisional alignments set to go into effect in the fall of 2021. Field hockey (four divisions) and basketball, soccer, and girls volleyball (five divisions) all had their alignments approved as they were in line with guidelines sent out by TMC. Debate ensued over how sport committees like football, ice hockey, cross country, wrestling, and indoor track settled on their number of divisions that deviated so drastically from TMC’s guidelines.
Football and boys ice hockey were deemed particularly noteworthy as it pertained to the methodology used by the two sport committees to determine the necessary number of divisions. The TMC guidelines were issued in an effort to generate a sense of consistency across all sports ahead of the start of the statewide tournament.
TMC Liaison Sherry Bryant noted how confusion was shared by many on the committee as to how these sports reached their desired number of divisions.
“We’re trying to get as much consistency as we can across sports,” Bryant said. “Consistent doesn’t mean identical.”
Lezinski, Westford Athletic Director Bob Ware, and Wellesley Athletic Director John Brown, who also serve as members of the ice hockey committee, expressed displeasure that ice hockey’s proposal was being met with consternation after the committee had poured hours into coming up with the right alignments.
“Honestly, to get lumped in with other groups that may have not done this correctly, when there were hours and hours, and days and days of work poured in... that’s frustrating,” Brown said.
Turnover amongst committee members is set to take place July 1 with a handful of ice hockey committee members in particular scheduled to step down. As a result, football, ice hockey, and any other fall or winter sport alignments that are ready for review will be considered at the June 29 meeting so that those members can provide their input while actively serving on the committee.