OHSAA pivots from coaches to MaxPreps RPI for basketball tournament seeding
The Ohio High School Athletic Association is changing the way boys and girls basketball teams are seeded for the district tournaments.
After previously relying on coaches to seed the teams, the OHSAA announced Thursday that it would be using a ratings percentage index (RPI) in conjunction with MaxPreps to determine the seedings.
The RPI formula is still being determined, according to the OHSAA. Coaches will continue to choose where their teams are placed on the bracket, starting with the No. 1 seed.
The news brought mixed reaction from central Ohio coaches.
“I don’t support it,” Dublin Jerome boys coach Richie Beard said. “Most coaches that vote have seen the teams play through scouting. I will always trust the coaches’ eyes over a computer algorithm. ... I’m also a traditionalist.”
Jack Purtell, the girls basketball coach and athletic director at Reynoldsburg, said he was “OK” with the decision. Purtell guided the Raiders to the Division I state title in 2022.
“I don’t think it’s going to make a big difference as far as the tournament meeting goes,” he said. “Sometimes there’s teams that win a lot of games that don’t play a very good schedule, and they get ranked higher than teams that are willing to go out and play some people and suffer some losses and have (fewer wins). I think it will be a good thing.”
The Northwest District used a similar computer program, Martin RPI, last season with strength of schedule playing a key role.
“The Northwest District piloted using an RPI last year and the process was successful,” OHSAA executive director Doug Ute said. “The coaches association has wanted to use an RPI for seeding for some time and we are working with them and MaxPreps on the formula now. This will take some work and our schools will need to input scores, but we are pleased to move in this direction for seeding.”
Westerville Central boys basketball coach Kevin Martin said Central District coaches received a sample from Martin RPI for its projected seedings last season and the results were close to the coaches’ voting.
“I’m in favor of them finding something maybe to go along with the coaches,” Martin said. “I’m old school. I enjoyed coaches being in the same room. ... I’ve been disappointed since we went to the online (meetings) and not being able to come back as a group.”
Before COVID forced tournament meetings to be held virtually beginning in the 2020-21 season, coaches would meet in person to determine the district tournament pairings.
The OHSAA determines football seedings and pairings based on the Harbin computer ratings system.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OHSAA to use MaxPreps RPI for basketball tournament seeding
