Selection of regional winner, runner-up and third-place teams:

In the event of a tie for the region winner, runner-up, and third-place, if either team(s) has defeated the other(s) in regular-season play, the team(s) shall be rated above the other(s) in the standings. (After the region winner has been determined, the tie-breaker procedure shall begin all over again starting at the top to work out the runner-up position. The procedure shall be repeated to determine the third- place team.)

The following tie-breaking procedures shall be applied and all regular-season games, both region and non-region, shall count (After each of the following steps have been applied, item A above shall be applied.):

1. The team with the greatest number of victories.
2. The team who has the greatest number of victories over teams winning 50 percent or more of their games.
3. The team whose opponents have earned the most victories.
4. The team whose opponents have received fewer defeats.
5. The team who has the greatest number of victories over teams in its own class.
6. Ten yardline overtime procedure at neutral site Monday night at 7:30 P.M.

Selection of wildcard teams:

Five wildcard teams will be selected for the Class 2A playoffs. These teams will be added to the 27 teams selected from the nine regions to complete the 32-team bracket. The following selection criteria only selects the five wildcard teams and no attempt is made to rank the teams as first, second, third, fourth and fifth, as these teams will be placed in the bracket depending on their geography and football region.

All Class 2A teams that were not a top three finisher in their region will be listed and sorted by overall won-loss records, with the top five being selected for the play-offs.

The following criteria will be used to select the five wildcard teams:

(Note: Some of the selection criteria below involve Division I Class 2A games against non-Division I Class 2A opponents and what classification these schools are in. If a Class 2A team plays a school that is not in Division I the following criteria will be used to determine that schools classification for the purpose of breaking wildcard ties. Non-Division I being non-TSSAA schools, TSSAA Division II schools, and out-of-state schools.

The non Division I school's enrollment will be used. That schools enrollment will then be applied to the current enrollment breakdowns of 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A and 5A. If the school is non-public, its enrollment will be multiplied by 1.8. If the school is a single sex private school the enrollment will be doubled and also multiplied by 1.8.)

Tier 1

1. Head to Head (If applicable)
2. The team with the greatest number of victories.
3. The team who has the greatest number of victories over teams winning 50 percent or more of their games.
4. The team whose opponents have earned the most victories.
5. The team whose opponents have received fewer defeats.
6. Total wins by the opponents of teams defeated.

Tier 2

7. The team with the greatest number of victories over Class 2A teams.
8. The team who has the greatest number of victories over Class 2A teams winning 50 percent or more of their games.
9. The team whose Class 2A opponents have earned the most victories.
10. The team whose Class 2A opponents have received fewer defeats.
11. Total wins by the opponents of Class 2A teams defeated.

Tier 3

12. The team with the greatest number of victories over teams in higher classification than Class 2A.
13. The team who has the greatest number of victories over teams in a higher classification than Class 2A winning 50 percent or more of their games.
14. The team whose opponents in classes higher than Class 2A have earned the most victories.
15. The team whose opponents in classes higher than Class 2A have received fewer defeats.
16. Total wins by the opponents of teams in classes higher than Class 2A teams defeated.

Tier 4

17. Coin Toss

Creating the four eight-team brackets

Once the thirty-two teams have been selected for the Class 2A playoffs, there will be four eight team brackets created according to geography. The two eight team brackets from the middle and eastern part of the state will comprise the top half of the 32-team bracket and the two eight team brackets from the middle and western part of the state will be the lower part of the 32-team bracket.

Placing Teams in Brackets

Each eight team bracket will be set so that the #1 team plays the #8 team, #2 plays #7, #3 plays #6 and #4 plays #5. In the second round the #1 vs. #8 winner will play the #4 vs. #5 winner and the #2 vs. #7 winner will play the #3 vs. #6 winner.

Determining the #1 through #8 Placement of Teams

The teams comprising the eight teams will be either a first, second or third place finisher in their region or one of the five wildcard teams. To determine the postions of the teams, the teams that finished first in their region will be placed first, teams finishing second in their region will be placed next, and teams finishing third will be placed next, followed by the wild card teams.

The criteria used to break bracket placement ties will be the same criterion that is used to select the wild card teams.

Example:

Suppose the eight team bracket consists of two teams that finished #1 in their region, three teams that finished #2, two teams that finished #3 and a wildcard team.

In this case the two #1 teams will be placed according to the wildcard criteria.

1. Head to Head (If applicable)
2. The team with the greatest number of victories.
3. The team who has the greatest number of victories over teams winning 50 percent or more of their games.
4. The team whose opponents have earned the most victories.
5. The team whose opponents have received fewer defeats.
6. Total wins by the opponents of teams defeated.

If there is still a tie after these six tie-break steps, the next group of wildcard tie break procedure is followed (See Tab Wild Card Selection).

After this procedure is applied, in this example, these two #1 teams will be placed in the #1 and #2 positions in the bracket.

To determine the #3, #4 and #5 positions in this bracket example, the same criteria will be applied as was done for the #1 positioned teams.

The #6 and #7 bracket positions will be filled by the two #3 teams, and the wildcard team would be #8.

Each of the four eight team brackets will be filled in a similar matter.