So, power points are out. And we now have a clear picture of what the playoffs would look like if they ended today. I said this last year, but I have never really liked how power points work. They seem to honor preseason rankings very heavily.

If anything, power points should be used as a last resort tiebreaker. The superior win-loss record should be the higher seed, followed by a head to head matchup tie breaker where applicable, then utilize power points if there is no head to head matchup. I am opposed to using point differential in anyway to determine tiebreakers.

As someone who has supposedly been told the base formula, and been tinkering with how the NYCHSFL comes up with these numbers, but I always end up with more questions than answers at the end of the day. I will do an examination of how each team go their point totals later in this post, first though, playoff matchups.

If the playoffs ended today ,these would be the quarterfinal matchups:

• AAA
  • #1 Iona Prep (6-0, 8-0)- BYE
  • #2 Monsignor Farrell (5-1, 8-1)- BYE
  • #3 Cardinal Hayes (4-2, 5-3) vs #6 Chaminade (1-5, 2-7)
  • #4 St. Anthony’s (4-2, 4-4) vs #5 Archbishop Stepinac (3-3, 5-4)
• AA-I
  • #1 Kellenberg Memorial (4-1, 6-2) vs #8 St. Francis Prep (0-5, 2-6)
  • #2 St. Joseph by the Sea (5-1, 7-2) vs #7 St. Peter’s (0-6, 1-8)
  • #3 Fordham Prep (3-3, 3-5) vs #6 St. John the Baptist (2-4, 3-4)
  • #4 Xaverian (3-2, 6-2) vs #5 Xavier (2-4, 4-4)
• AA-II
  • #1 Mount St. Michael (5-0, 5-3)- BYE
  • #2 Holy Cross (4-2, 5-4) vs #7 Nazareth Regional (0-5, 0-5)
  • #3 Kennedy Catholic (3-3, 3-4) vs #6 Cardinal Spellman (1-5, 2-6)
  • #4 St. Dominic’s (3-2, 3-4) vs #5 Christ the King (2-4, 3-4)

Note: There are rumors of the ‘AA-II’ adopting a 6 team bracket instead of doing a 7 team bracket. In this case, Holy Cross would get a BYE as well.

See the power point standings below, taken from the official NYCHSFL website:

Now, with everything, there are questions. From what I understand, here are the guidelines for power points:

• Every team starts with 100 points.
• They gain points for wins, and lose points for losses.
• The amount of points gained or lost depend on the final record of the teams. This means every win or loss reverberates across 6 or 7 teams and effects their point totals.
  • Example- A win against a winless team nets you 0 points. A loss to an undefeated team, loses you 0 points.
• Bonus Points are awarded to teams based on their preseason rank.

It was such a tedious process, but I went through each team and tried to determine how many points they earned during the season post week 8 using the method that I believe is used to calculate the points. This is probably not perfect, but the numbers seem to make sense given what we know about the system. Without bonus points, these would be the standings for each division:

‘AAA’

1. Iona Prep: 136.667
2. Monsignor Farrell: 123.333
3. Cardinal Hayes: 113.000
4. St. Anthony’s: 108.333
5. Archbishop Stepinac: 98.333
6. Chaminade: 86.667

‘AA-I’

1. St. Joseph by the Sea: 114.333
2. Kellenberg Memorial: 114.333
3. Xaverian: 101.333
4. Xavier: 101.333
5. Fordham Prep: 98.000
6. St. John the Baptist: 87.333
7. St. Peter’s: 77.667
8. St. Francis Prep: 77.667

‘AA-II’

1. Mount St. Michael: 116.667
2. Kennedy Catholic: 104.333
3. Holy Cross: 103.333
4. St. Dominic’s: 93.333
5. Christ the King: 89.333
6. Cardinal Spellman: 81.000
7. Nazareth Regional: 77.667

Of course, all of this is pending week 9, which can shift these numbers around quite a bit. Next week, I am going to go through, team by team, and try to determine the bonus points each program received, since it seems rather inconsistent looking at this vs what the NYCHSFL released.

Let me know what you think!