Belated Bull Session Week Eight
November 3, 2024
We are finally here! It’s the first week of the playoffs, and while this round isn’t always great, there will be some classic games, and it only gets better after that….With the playoffs beginning, I still wish they had four groups in the public instead of the current five. Too many teams qualify that do not deserve to be there. When there were four groups, we had eight per section times four, equaling 32 per group. Multiplying by four groups equals 128 teams. The current five-group format brings 160 teams. Most, if not all, of the extra 32 teams do not belong, I’m sorry. Some low-seed teams win a game, but I stand by what I believe….This past weekend, the lower-seeded teams were 11-69. Six wins were by the fifth seed, three by the sixth seed, and two by the seventh seed. The seventh seed wins were by River Dell and Delsea, teams accustomed to success. Games between the 1-and-8 seeds had a combined score of 762-141 in favor of the top seed. Most of the lower-seeded teams were programs that have experienced success, such as Kingsway, Willingboro, Jackson, Delsea, Woodbury, River Dell, and Shabazz. I was also at a 4 vs. 5-seed game between 5-seed Chatham and 4-seed Wayne Valley and Chatham convinced me they belong in the semifinals. I considered attending 5-seed Shabazz against 4-seed Caldwell, and Shabazz won, 36-33….I am one who advocated sight-team fields but with four groups. I always believed teams who missed out on the old four-team formats deserved the chance to compete in the playoffs and if that meant teams who filled out the field with three or four losses, so be it. It gave those teams with 1 and 2 losses deserved that chance….I’ve been busy and it gets harder to get this column on time, Thank you for your patience….That’s all for this week! I will be back with more bull soon!