CHS in 'virtual' championship playoff

McLean, VA. - Gannett's HighSchoolSports.net and USA TODAY is kicking off the annual ‘Super 25 Virtual National Championship' football playoffs. HighSchoolSports.net will seed the teams, including Coeur d'Alene High School, in the championship bracket, where teams will then face off in computer-simulated matchups, programmed by mathematician Ken Massey. Massey's computer models were used to create the BCS rankings for college football in 1999.

"We're very excited about this. The rich HighSchoolSports.net technology will allow us to determine the best high school football team in the country, once and for all," says Ben Sylvan, Executive Producer at HighSchoolSports.net

The football championship will include 64 high school football teams, consisting of 50 state championship teams and 14 at-large teams chosen by HighSchoolSports.net. HighSchoolSports.net will post the brackets on January 6, and the winner will be announced at 9 a.m. on January 16 at the following url:

http://www.highschoolsports.net/massey/NationalChampionship/Football/Varsity/Boys/2011/

CHS has earned an opportunity to compete in this unique national title competition. HighSchoolSports.net will present the 2011-2012 championship trophy to the winning school in early February.

"I think that it's only fair to crown a national champion, and with our unique ability using the Massey algorithm we feel that we can offer the most accurate and justified national champion, although the debate will rage on, just as the BCS rankings do in college," said David Scott, Content Manager at HighSchoolSports.net.

HighSchoolSports.net will seed the brackets, initially drawing from 50 state champions and 14 other "at large" picks. Massey's simulations will then determine winners for each round. Massey is professor of mathematics at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn.