CIAC to Fill Tournament Brackets with Sub-.400 Teams

More high school teams will have the opportunity to compete for state championships under a new rule recently approved by the CIAC Board of Control.

A joint proposal from the boys and girls basketball and baseball committees would allow teams who win less than 40 percent of their games to still qualify for CIAC tournament action, under specified conditions.

The Board of Control approved the proposal for a two-year trial basis.

The new rule would be in effect for brackets containing fewer than 32 teams. Should less than 32 teams qualify under the 40 percent guideline, the teams with the next best winning percentages would be added to the field until 32 teams are entered.

Brackets containing 32 or more teams are not affected by the rule change.

Had the new rule been in effect last season, 12 additional basketball teams and two more baseball teams would have competed in state tournaments, as follows:

• Class LL boys basketball - 30 teams qualified, Fairfield Prep and Westhill had first-round byes. Under the new rule, Greenwich and Woodstock Academy would have been added with 7-13 records.
• Class L girls basketball - 27 teams qualified, with first-round byes going to Farmington, New Fairfield, Torrington, Capital Prep and Daniel Hand. Under the new rule, Bethel, Masuk, Windsor and Woodstock Academy would have entered at 7-13, with the final slot going to either Branford, Lyman Hall or Stratford at 6-14.
• Class S girls basketball - 27 teams qualified, with first-round byes going to Canton, St. Paul Catholic, Thomaston, Bolton and Notre Dame-Fairfield. Under the new rule, five of six teams that finished 7-13 would have been entered: Derby, Lyman Memorial, Old Saybrook, SMSA, Sacred Heart and Whitney Tech.
• Class LL baseball - 31 teams qualified, NFA had a first-round bye. Under the new rule, either Westhill or Brien McMahon would have been added at 7-13.
• Class S baseball - 31 teams qualified, Stafford had a first-round bye. Under the new rule, either Canton or Immaculate would have been added at 7-13.

On the CIAC web site, it was explained that the new policy “levels the field for all qualifying teams as all teams will now play the same amount of games. This is particularly relevant for baseball with its pitching rule.”

Ice hockey enacted a similar policy beginning with the 2013-14 season. In the two years it has been in effect, 19 teams have competed in postseason play that normally would not have qualified via the 40 percent threshold. Of those 19, just one (Tri-Town in 2014) won a first-round game; 13 of the first-round games resulted in margins of victory of at least three goals, including scores of 10-0 and 11-3.

South Windsor played in the Division I hockey tournament this past winter despite a 3-17 record, or a .150 winning percentage. Three Division III teams (Newtown in 2015, Joel Barlow and NFA/St. Bernard/Bacon in 2014) have been added to tournament fields despite 4-16 records.