Playoff standings update: A look at Groups 1, 2 and 3… and why the newest NJSIAA playoff changes may be a compromise that sticks

Following our look earlier this week at the NJSIAA playoff standings in Groups 4 and 5, we’re looking at the remaining groups – 1, 2 and 3 – with an eye on how the changes the state instituted this year will look under the current standings.

No longer snaking brackets, which resulted in even seeding in the sections, the NJSIAA still has the top two seeds as the No. 1 seeds in each section, but they are assigned to sections based on geography. The northernmost teams will be in North 1 and Central, while Southern teams will be in North 2 and South.

Then, the remaining 14 teams are divided by geography, with the Northernmost seven teams going in North 1 and Central, the Southernmost teams going in North 2 and South. Those teams are then ordered by UPR.

It’s a compromise to those who want the best 16 teams in each supersection to qualify, but also is a nod to issues about long travel to games, especially in the South/Central sections, which account for more than half of the state geographically, with North supersection teams are typically more condensed in a smaller area.

More on that later.

Here’s a look at how things would shake out in each section in Groups 1, 2 and 3 based on the current standings on Gridiron New Jersey, which handles all the official calculations for the NJSIAA. Keep in mind, much of this will change buy Cutoff Weekend.

Group 3

We’ll break down the South sections here, which are fairly balanced. Remember, after the top two seeds, the remaining 14 teams are assigned to a section by geography rather than seed, then ranked by UPR. So, this one “worked out” and is fairly balanced.

The last column, “N Rank” is the Northing rank. Larger Northing numbers are more north teams. Smaller is more South. We ranked them to make it easier to see. But you’ll notice, of the next 14 teams to qualify, the Central section has the top seven Northing teams, South has the next seven.

And the balance is there. Central has four of the top eight seeds, so does the South! It’s a little more unbalanced in the North half of the state. North 1 has three of the top eight, while North 2 has five. Not bad, but not perfect either.

Group 2

The North again has a 3/5 scenario of top eight seeds, but the bottom is very unbalanced. South Jersey Group 2 has seven of the top eight seeds, while Central has just one, the overall two-seed Rumson-Fair Haven. Now, we can get into the compromise.

When the UPR system was developed in 2018, the idea was to get the “best 16” in each half of the state. The idea being that South Jersey could have a lot of strong teams and some could get left out, while Central might have weaker teams, or vice versa.

The idea was to get the best 16 in. Some even called for the best 32 statewide, but that never made it to fruition.

This year, sorting by Northing was introduced, which cut down on travel. None of those teams in South 2 will have to go too far. But, it’s a beast of a section.

Still, what if we went to pre-determined Geographic sections? Let’s take a quick detour before we get to Group 1, and take a look at south 5 again.

It’s a very unbalanced section, too, heavy in the South with strong teams. But if we went with pre-determined sections, some of those teams would get bounced. In this example, overall 13-seed Atlantic Tech would be out, as would 15-seed Jackson Township.

Who’d get in the playoffs instead? South Brunswick, the 19th overall seed. This is the main reason why people like the “top 16” method instead of top out out of pre-set sections.

The current setup is a good “compromise” between best 16, but also cutting down on travel.

Back to the look at sections…

Group 1

These sections also are fairly balanced, and we’ve found few examples – South 4 and South 2 supersections, two of ten overall – with drastic differences. But to save travel? It seems like a good tradeoff to us.