This thread (as many do) has gotten way off topic. In the spirit of the direction the thread has seemed to go, I shall follow along as well.
Teams (Fans, coaches, administrators) that don't have participation problems don't like the fact that our schools have chosen to allow teams to opt down. Teams (Fans, coaches, administrators) that DO have participation and numbers problems favor this rule that our schools have adopted.
In my opinion, there is so much information in this thread that it is hard to pick what to respond to. I will take a stab at it.
The problem with the entire playoff system is the fact that there are WAY too many teams that qualify. This thread talks about the teams that are not eligible and how they effect teams that are eligible. I really don't think that Creighton is going to suffer much considering the unnecessary number of teams that are considered playoff worthy. 32 Teams in Class D, and 16 in C is really a little excessive in my opinion. I personally believe there should be 6 Districts, and 2 wild cards in all classes. If there was an 8 team playoff, I would absolutely agree that games against teams that have opted down should not be factored into playoff seeding or qualification.
Safety is absolutely a consideration that should be given during the analysis of teams that are opting down. Case in point, Twin River vs Central City. Twin River is a team that has no business playing 11 man football. 24 players is not enough to be playing 11 man. 3 Quarters into the game, 6 Twin River injuries, 3 players taking ambulance rides to the hospital, and the end result...officials and administrators stop the game.
I agree with whomever made the comment that it is not the players' fault that they have participation issues in their school. Some say that it indeed is their fault. I just don't agree. Some communities just don't have an engaged student body that chooses to embrace certain sports. This is just the way it is. Some of these schools are terrible in Softball, but great in Volleyball from a participation perspective. Some are terrible with football, but are extremely competitive in basketball 6 weeks later. I don't feel that the lack of enthusiasm for a given sport should be grounds for simply eliminating the sport altogether. I think it is wonderful that our schools have chosen to allow teams to opt down to give the limited number of students that do in fact want to participate in these activities the opportunity to do so.
Rankings done by an organization that is completely independent of the NSAA is really of no consequence. If the OWH or LJS chooses to consider opt down teams into their rankings, that is their right to do so. It really bears no weight in the grand scheme of things.
I personally believe the ultimate goal is to offer students the safe opportunity to participate if they so desire. If that means teams dropping down, then so be it. Given all of the variables and factors that must be considered, I believe that our schools are doing a pretty good job of granting these opportunities. Like so many things in life, there is a lot more to it than appears on the surface. The complexity of the task at hand is much more involved than could be imagined.