Southern Section commissioner points out first-round disparities in playoff competition

In his latest commissioner’s message, Rob Wigod of the Southern Section pointed out statistics that show competitive equity problems in the current playoff competition.

According to his statistics, the average margin of victory in the opening round of the Pac-5 Division football playoffs was 37.75 points. It was 37.25 in the Inland, 27.62 in the Southern and 25.62 in the East Valley.

In boys’ water polo, the average margin of victory was 9.75 goals in Division 1, 8.50 in Division 5, 10.25 in Division 6 and 7.37 in Division 2.

On Jan. 27, member schools are scheduled to vote on a proposal that would change the way teams are placed in the playoffs. Currently, for most sports, they are placed in divisions based on what league they are in. The proposal would put teams in division based on two years of past performance, and it wouldn’t matter what league they play in.

“What this data clearly indicates is that there is a very large gap, across the spectrum of sports and divisions, in the competitive levels of the teams that enter our playoffs under our current system,” Wigod said.

“By placing an entire league into a particular division, we see that it creates numerous scenarios where every team from that particular league does not belong in that particular division and the results of that situation are difficult for everyone involved: the winning team, the losing team and those who are there to watch it all happen.”

For the latest on high school sports, follow @LATSondheimer on Twitter