COLUMBUS, Ohio - While selection to the Ohio High School Athletic Association's football tournament is still based on a computer ranking system, a change in the awarding of second level points has occurred this season.

As a direct request from the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association Tournament Committee, and approved by the OHSAA Board of Control, a new divisor is used to determine second level points that is based on the number of games that opponents have played to date. For each open date that an opponent has had to date, a smaller divisor is used to calculate second level points.

Before any games are played, the computer assumes that the opponents on each school's schedule will play a full complement of games and assigns the divisor of 100 (10 weeks times 10 opponents = 100). After each week of the season, for each open date that occurs for an opponent that a school has played to date, the computer subtracts the divisor by one. In other words, if week five has just been completed and all five of a school's opponents have played a full complement of games, then the divisor remains at 100, and second level points are divided by 100. If one opponent on a school's schedule to date has had an open date, then the divisor reduces by one to 99, and second level points are divided by 99. If two opponents on a school's schedule to date have had an open date, then the divisor reduces by two to 98, and second level points are divided by 98, and so on. The second level points are then multiplied by the factor 10 in order to move the decimal point higher so that the averages are comparable to those in past years. First and second level point averages are then added together for an average total.

The following is an example of how the points are awarded and how to read the OHSAA Computer Rankings:

KEY
Wins over a Division I school - 6.0 points
Wins over a Division II school - 5.5 points
Wins over a Division III school - 5.0 points
Wins over a Division IV school - 4.5 points
Wins over a Division V school - 4.0 points
Wins over a Division VI school - 3.5 points

COMPUTER RANKINGS EXAMPLE

• Team A, a Division III school, is 3-0.
• Each opponent Team A has defeated is Division III.
• Opponents 1 and 2, which Team A has defeated, are each 2-1, with their victories coming over Division III schools.
• Opponent 3, which Team A has defeated, is 1-1, with its victory coming over a Division III school. Opponent 3 has had one open date.

First level points - 15.0 points {3 wins times 5.0 points (for defeating Division III opponents)} divided by 3 (the number of games Team A has played thus far) = 5.0000 first level points.

Second level points - 10.0 from Opponent 1 {2 wins times 5.0 (for defeating Division III opponents)}, 10.0 from Opponent 2 {2 wins times 5.0 (for defeating Division III opponents)} and 5.0 from Opponent 3 {1 win times 5.0 (for defeating a Division III opponent)} for 25.0 points. These 25 points are then divided by 99 (since Opponent 3 thus far has had an open date) and multiplied by 10 = 2.5253 second level points.

Total Points: 5.0000 (first level points) plus 2.5253 (second level points) = 7.5253

NOTE: Say during week four, Opponent 1 has an open date. Then the second level points divisor for Team A after week four becomes 98, since Opponent 3 has had one open date and now Opponent 1 has had one open date.

HOW TO READ YOUR OHSAA COMPUTER RANKINGS

• To find out what the first level average is, divide the 15 points by the number of games Team A has played to date (15 divided by 3 = 5.0000)
• Next, subtract the 5.0000 from the total average of 7.5253. This number (2.5253) shows what the second level average is.
• So, 5.0000 first level points plus 2.5253 second level points = 7.5253 total points.
• To find out what divisor was used to determine second level points, divide the total level-2 points (25.0000) by the second level average (2.5253). So, 25.0000 divided by 2.5253 = 9.8998138. This means the divisor used was 99, which shows that one of Team A’s opponents has had an open date.

NOTE
Please keep in mind that forfeitures of games, cancellations of games and the filling of open dates all greatly impact the rankings from week to week. In addition, results reported to the OHSAA are occasionally reversed. These are corrected once accurate information is relayed to the OHSAA.