Because in classes A and B you don't have over 10 teams that are at or below .500. Three teams under .500 made it in a 16 team playoff in Class A last year.
I just don't think 32 teams in a class with 53 (Class D1) teams should make the playoffs and nearly half of them are under or at .500. (14 teams in last years Class D1 bracket were at or below .500.)
I just think it should be 16 teams for all classes throughout the state. Get the best teams in and let them fight for it. Instead of having 3-5 Wallace play 8-0 Chambers half way across the state in the first round and losing 60-6. I know blowouts happen in later rounds but they are more prominent in the first round of 8 man football.
I'll agree to disagree. Records are completely irrelevant when it comes to judging the quality of a football team and who is deserving of post season play. Quality of schedule is the more accurate indicator. Any person with a knowledge of sports will agree with that. Look no further than the bowl season. 5-7 Nebraska, San Jose State, and Minnesota all win their bowl games over teams with winning records. Alabama had a loss, Clemson did not.....Alabama won. The records are meaningless. If records were all that mattered the NCAA Basketball committee would give all the at-large bids to the teams from junk conferences with 25 wins instead of the teams like Nebraska that go 18-13 in the Big 10.
Regarding blowouts, I think you need to do a little bit of homework regarding the playoff scores over the last decade. Here are some numbers from the 2015 season regarding scoring margin in each round:
Round of 32
D1- 36.43
D2- 36.43
Round of 16
D1- 28.875
D2- 30.125
To me, there is little to no difference between a 36 point game and a 28 point or 30 point game..
Some more numbers regarding scoring margin....
Round of 8
A- 27
C2- 29
D1- 24.25
D2- 32.25
You will notice that the round of 16 was actually closer than the round of 8 in D2. Pretty solid evidence that shrinking the numbers doesn't generate better games.
Semi-Finals
A- 16.5
C1- 34.5
C2- 28.5
D1- 26
D2- 32.5
You will again notice that the victory margin increased in D2 from round of 8 to round of 4. Again, more evidence that decreasing the teams doesn't generate better games. The same happened in D1.
Five of the 6 classes averaged a 3 score game or more in the semis. 4 of the 6 classes averaged a 4 score game or more in the semis. To say that blowouts are more prominent in the first round of 8 man football is flat out inaccurate.
Here is a fact.... It doesn't matter how many teams you take the playoffs, the best teams are going to blow everyone out (regardless of opposition's record). Aquinas' closest game in C-2 was a 29 point finals win over Oakland-Craig (that win was higher than the scoring average of Northeast Nebraska's proposed first round games in D-1 with 16 teams.....28.875). Aquinas' second closest game was 35 points against LHNE, who went 4-5 on the year. Great teams are miles ahead of good teams. Every year there are 1-4 great teams in each class and then a bunch of good and decent teams. Unless you only take the great teams to the playoffs, expect blowouts throughout the playoffs.