East Forsyth High School has secured the No. 3 seed in the West region of the 4A high school football playoff bracket.
The Eagles will play at home against No. 30 seed Butler High School on Friday at 7:00 p.m.
Interestingly, if the Eagles win that game, a rematch against the West Forsyth Titans — whom they narrowly beat in a thrilling game to end the regular season — may be waiting.
Bishop McGuinness also qualified for the playoffs, achieving the No. 17 seed in the West in the Class 1A playoffs. The Villains will face No. 16 seed Mountain Island Charter on the road Friday at 7 p.m.
See the full bracket for class 1A through 4A here.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association determines playoff teams through automatic qualifications and wildcard determinations.
Champions in conferences with five or fewer teams automatically qualify for the playoffs. Conferences with six or more teams have both their champion and second-place team automatically qualify.
Wildcard spots are determined based on a calculation called an Ratings Percentage Index:
RPI = (0.3 x WP) + (0.4 x OWP) + (0.3 x OOWP)
WP is Winning Percentage, OWP is Opponents’ Winning Percentage, and OOWP is Opponents’ Opponents Winning Percentage.
The teams with the highest RPIs round out the rest of their classification’s bracket: 32 teams seeded 1-32 in an East region and the same for a West region.
NCHSAA divides high schools into one of four classifications based on size: 1A is comprised of the smallest 25% of high schools in the state and 4A the largest 25%, with 2A and 3A falling in between.
In April, the NCHSAA Board of Directors unanimously voted to expand the number of classifications from four to eight beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. Board members reasoned more classifications meant more equal competition — for example, schools with only 1,600 students would not face a school of 3,000 — and more teams would get the opportunity to play in the postseason.
Find a more detailed breakdown of NCHSAA’s process here.
Copyright 2024 Informed Media Group LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without express written consent.
scopenewsonline.com 