CIC tie-breakers await playoff teams

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — To a lot of high schools, a perfect regular season is worth a banner -- but only a state championship gets you a ring. Saturday offers West High a chance to secure a second straight 8 and 0 season with a victory over Bartlett -- as well as redemption for a first-game playoff loss last year.

This year’s seniors and the Eagles’ coaching staff recall the heartbreak, but one thing will make 2010 playoff preparations easier: West's familiarity with the Bartlett Golden Bears.

“There's a 90 percent chance we'll play West Valley in the first round, they run the same type of offense,” said West coach Tim Davis. “We do get a chance to play two wing-T teams in a row -- that's an advantage for us.”

“This next game, we're just focusing on Bartlett and taking down was is the state championship team right now,” said West offensive lineman Jake Eisses.

Only West and Service have clinched playoff spots out of the Cook Inlet Conference. Four schools all have a shot at the two remaining bids as they enter Week 8.

South, Dimond, Chugiak, and Bartlett are all 3 and 3 in league play. One of those schools is guaranteed to finish 4 and 3, as the Wolverines and the Mustangs square off. Dimond will take on Service while Bartlett battles the Eagles.

There are eight possible scenarios, and the CIC has procedures in place to judge a three-way tie for either third or fourth place.

The first is a comparison of teams’ head-to-head records. If that tie-breaker resolves nothing, the CIC looks at record versus teams above the tie situation. It's important to realize that these tie-breakers are meant to eliminate a team, not qualify one. Once a team is knocked out of a three-way tie, tie-breakers revert to head-to-head comparisons between the two schools left.

If none of the tied teams have a win against someone higher in the standings, factor in points allowed head-to-head, followed by points allowed in all conference games.

In the unlikely event of a tie after all that, the CIC employs one final piece of tie-breaking technology: a coin flip.

Contact Kevin Wells at kwells@ktuu.com