Rick Patrick
ECB Publishing, Inc.
With the high school football season coming to a close, both local teams are hoping to make an impact in their respective state playoff tournaments. As things stand now, both the Aucilla Christian Academy (ACA) Warriors and the Jefferson Somerset Tigers will have a slot in the upcoming playoffs. The Warriors currently sit in the number three slot in Class 2A, Region One. The Tigers are at number six in Class 1A, Region Two. The top six teams in each region earn a playoff berth.
Qualifying and seeding for the state playoff tournament is based on the team's Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). In short, the RPI is a measure of a team's strength of schedule and the team's success rate with that schedule. The RPI is determined by a mathematical formula based on a team's winning percentage and the winning percentages of both their opponent's and their opponents' opponents. A team's RPI= (0.35 x team's winning percentage) + (0.35 x opponents' winning percentage) + (0.3 x opponents' opponents winning percentage).
This formula has benefitted the Tigers. Despite their 1-7 record, their opponents' winning percentage (OPW) is .649. This leads Class 1A, Region Two. The Tigers' OPW is high enough to raise their RPI to .414, which is high enough for sixth place in the region. The Warriors are undefeated, yet their OPW is .320. The Warriors currently have a .600, which places them in the third seed of Class 2A, Region One. If the playoffs were to start today, the Tigers would travel to Perry to play the Bulldogs of Taylor County High School in the first round of the playoffs, on Friday, Nov. 8. The Warriors would host the Eagles of the North Florida Educational Institute, from Jacksonville, Fla.
With one more week remaining in the regular football season, each team's RPI will likely change slightly, however the ranking are not expected to see any major changes. The State Championship game for Class 2A is set for Thursday, Dec. 5, at Gene Cox Stadium, in Tallahassee. The State Championship game for Class 1A is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 7, at Gene Cox Stadium. The times for both games are yet to be determined.