THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: State boys tourneys, chalk, and what's next

Nearing the end of the Idaho High School Activities Association’s two-year trial in using MaxPreps rankings to seed state tournaments in team sports, no one still seems to know what the heck formula MaxPreps uses for its rankings.

But most agree — whatever it is, it’s still better than the old way.

In the recently completed state boys basketball tournament, two No. 1 seeds (Lake City in 5A and Hillcrest in 4A) won state titles, as did two No. 2 seeds (Sugar-Salem in 3A and Bear Lake in 2A) and two No. 3 seeds (Kendrick in 1A Division I and Lakeside in 1A Division II).

No. 1 seeds played in every title game, but went just 2-4.

The best “underdog” showing in the boys tourney was by No. 7 Meridian, which upended No. 2 and defending champion Owyhee in the first round and reached the title game before falling to Lake City.

COMPARED TO the state girls tournament in February …

The boys tourney was a little more chalk, with all but two of the 18 total top-three seeds in the six classifications finishing in the top three. Of the 30 teams in six divisions seeded 4-8, only six brought home trophies.

In the girls tourney, the champs were three No. 1 seeds, two No. 3 seeds and a No. 6 seed.

Two of the six No. 1 seeds lost in their third-place games.

Through two years of doing this, there haven’t been many people grumbling about their team getting a way-too-low seed and a too-early matchup with a high seed.

If any.

SO WHAT happens next?

The IHSAA will decide soon whether to keep using the MaxPreps rankings to determine state seeding in volleyball, soccer, basketball and softball.

The other option is to go back to the way it had been done for years, trying to match district champs vs. non-district champs in the first round. But some classifications have five district champions, and in an eight-team tourney, simple math says two district champions have to meet in the first round. And that sometimes resulted in the best two teams in a classification meeting on the opening day.

And nobody wants that.

The third option is … what?

The bigger change seems to be from folks wanting to tweak the format to allow more teams a chance to get to state through an expanded “play-in Saturday.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.