Below is a version of a letter that was sent to our Boys Basketball players and families earlier today.
We are writing to provide a summary of the information we shared with the boys basketball team this afternoon regarding our MIAA post-season tournament status. We share in their disappointment and felt it necessary for them to hear from us directly.
On Saturday, February 26, the MIAA published the preliminary D2 Boys Basketball brackets for its postseason state tournament. We were made aware early in the day that our team was not among the teams to qualify after having been ranked #20 in the previous power rankings and winning the final 2 games of the season. The updated rankings were announced Saturday as well, where we were ranked #33- missing the tournament cutoff of the top 32, and those teams with better than a .500 record. We finished the season at 9-11.
Upon receiving this news, we (Mr. Erickson and Mr. Sperling) arranged an immediate conference call with the MIAA Tournament Director and administrative staff on Saturday morning to hear how this drastic change in rankings took place. We were informed that one of the factors that led to our drop in the rankings was that one of our opponents (who we played twice) was forced to retroactively forfeit many games, including ours. This did not impact our record as we beat them in both games. However, the MIAA power rankings adjust a team’s status for forfeitures, and because this MIAA member school had to forfeit many games, their ranking went to the lowest possible number. That also means any team that played this school would have their ranking adjusted to reflect the “weakness” of this opponent. I can assure you this rationale did not put us at ease, and we continued to request both the metrics/formula used for the power rankings, as well as a formal appeal/review of our situation. We certainly understand that there will be shifts to rankings as the season winds down, but this massive drop due to the infractions of an opponent did not seem logical.
On Sunday afternoon we received notice from the MIAA that our attempted appeal was denied, and that we will not be involved in the MIAA tournament. This came after two conversations between our Interim Superintendent Derek Folan and the Executive Director of the MIAA regarding the appeal. Further, we (Mr. Erickson and Mr. Sperling) facilitated a conference call with the Executive Director and other MIAA administrative staff this morning. We inquired about the appeal process as we were never presented with the opportunity to speak to the concerns before receiving the response from the MIAA. We also asked again if it was possible to obtain the metric/formula used for generating the latest power rankings, but were not provided with that information.
At the conclusion of this conversation the result remained the same -- the power rankings would remain as published and Canton would not be participating in the tournament. We have since found out that other schools have been similarly impacted by the MIAA power ranking system, specifically the penalty for forfeits and negative impact on opponent rankings. Our stance remains that the misconduct of an opponent resulted in us being ‘ranked’ out of the tournament -- this was through no fault of our own as we did nothing wrong. I understand the importance of adhering to posted criteria but the request for the MIAA to reassess given this unprecedented incident with a member school seemed reasonable and prudent.
We felt compelled to provide you with the most accurate information, and want to commend the players, coaches, and families for their hard work and dedication this season. It is an understatement to say our situation has garnered the attention of many in the sports community, and the least we can ask for is that this situation will lead to a change in the ranking/weighting process in future seasons. Seniors, congratulations on your career as a CHS Bulldog basketball player, and we certainly wish your season and career ended under better circumstances.
Respectfully,
Danny Erickson, Athletic Director
Jeff Sperling, Principal
