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A Super 8 tournament in football is one step closer to becoming a reality after the MIAA Football Committee voted 13-4 in favor of the proposal. The Tournament Management Committee will vote on it next.

If the TMC passes it, it would then go to the MIAA Board of Directors for a final vote. The plan also extends the regular season a week, and cuts the number of playoff teams nearly in half to eight per division. The top eight teams in each division are determined by power rankings and would qualify for the playoffs, which would begin with the quarterfinal round. Nonplayoff teams would still play a Week 10 game against another nonplayoff team. Everyone would play their traditional Thanksgiving rivalry matchups.

The Super 8 would consist of the top eight teams by power rankings from Divisions 1 and 2. Teams in Divisions three to eight would not be eligible. The number of teams qualifying for the postseason would go from 128 teams to 72. There would be nine state champions.

The push for a Super 8 in all sports in the state has been a topic of conversation in recent years but it is a relatively new conversation in the football community. One that has picked up momentum this off-season.

Today’s vote comes on the heels of the football committee’s request to start the upcoming season on August 21st. The request was denied on the basis of equity in all sports.

The football committee argued that with Rosh Hashanah falling on Sept. 11, the first Friday of games, some schools would want, or need, to play Thursday. By starting August 24th, that leaves exactly the minimum required 15 days of practice (Sunday practices are banned). If any team is unable to practice for a day, or any individual misses a practice, they would be ineligible to play Thursday, Sept. 10.

Schools that want to avoid playing on Rosh Hashanah (sundown Friday to sundown Saturday) would then have to play their Week 1 game on Sunday. Not an ideal situation.

Milton Coach Steve Demobowski said the proposal had support amongst the coaches in a survey.

“The coaches association, for the majority of the plan, was in favor of it, at least by a survey in which we got probably 65-70 percent response,” said Dembowski, the coaches’ rep to the committee. “The primary concern is still that there would be a round of consolation games.”

The plan could still be tweaked but for now it is moving forward as is and it could be a game changer if approved.