By:STEVE SINISKI
Coaches and athletic directors overwhelmingly voted to increase thenumber of playoff teams in each of the four conferences from four to eight. Expanding the playoffs by one round means each club will play only seven regular-season games, beginning with the openers scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 14.
_ "I_m not as against itnow as I was at first," Section VIII football coordinator Pat Pizzarelli said. _"Only 17 coaches voted against the proposal. We'_re trying it for one year, and we_'ll revisit it after the season. I_m optimistic it_'ll work out._"
Each conference is comprsed of 14 teams, so this season more than half will qualify for the playoffs. The teams that finish between ninth and 14th in the standings are assured of playing an eighth game -- a crossover match against the same place finisher of a different conferenc. On Nov. 6, non-playoff teams in Conferences I and II will square off as well as those in Conferences III and IV.
_ "Every team has a better chance to make the playoffs,"_ Pizzarelli said. _"But a few drawbacks are the power ratings won'_t be as accuratewith seven games, and some teams will finish with an unbalanced schedule."_
For example, for teams seeded No. 8 or lower, the change could mean playing five road games as opposed to only three at home. The No. 12 seeds (Long Beach, Mepham, Great Neck Norh and Oyster Bay) have it the worst -- _they'_ll play four of their first five on the road.
_ "First place was awarded the chance to play at Hofstra, now it just gets another home game,"_ Lynbrook Coach Joe Knoll said, an obvious opponent of the new syste. _"Where'_s the reward for playing the toughest schedule?"_
Not one to hide his disagreement with the installation_ -- even on a trial basis of the new format -- Knoll has no qualms about pointing out that his own Owls were one of several teams throughot Nassau County to fall just shy in their bid to make the post-season. Based on the expanded format, Lynbrook would have made the post-season without so much as breaking a sweat.
"We missed [the playoffs] by two-tenths of a [power] point last year,"_ Knol said. _"We felt we played a good schedule, but unfortunately we lost the wrong game._"
Perhaps the biggest argument against the new system is having the top seed face-off against the No. 8. What'_s to stop a team from completely blowing out an opponentwithout pulling back, as is normally the case in the regular season?
_ "Go look back, and see how many times a fourth seed has beaten a No. 1,"_ Knoll points out. "_And from the other side, what happens [this year] if an eight does beat a one? The top see never gets a chance to play at Hofstra. It becomes just another home game._"
BOX OUT
H: East Rockaway Rocks
Date Opponent Time
Sept. 14 Oyster Bay 3:00pm
Sept. 23 Roosevelt 3:00pm
Oct. 2 @ Mineola 2:00pm
Oct. 9 Malverne 2:00pm
Oct. 16 Seaford 2:00pm
Oct. 23 @ Locust Valley 2:00pm
Oct. 30 @ Clarke 2:00pm
Nov. 6 Playoff/crossover TBA
H: Lynbrook Owls
Sept. 14 Roslyn 4:15pm
Sept. 23 @ Wantagh 4:15pm
Oct. 2 Division 2:00pm
Oct. 9 @ Plainedge 2:00pm
Oct. 16 @ West Hemp. 2:00pm
Oct. 2 Glen Cove 2:00pm
Oct. 30 Bethpage 2:00pm
Nov. 6 Playoff/crossover TBA
