Contest Limitations
| Sport | Season Limits | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Baseball | 24 Games | ||
| Basketball | 24 Games | ||
| Flag Football | 18 Games | ||
| Football | 10 Games | ||
| Lacrosse | 24 Games | ||
| Soccer | 24 Games | ||
| Softball | 24 Games | ||
| Tennis | No Season Limit | ||
| Volleyball | 22 Matches* | ||
| Wrestling | No Season Limit |
* Best of three and best of five matches will count toward RPI rankings
Bracket Sizes by Classification
| 1A | 2A | 3A | 4A | 5A | 6A | 7A | 8A | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Football | 48* | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 24 |
| Soccer | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 24 |
| Volleyball | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 24 |
| Basketball | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 24 |
| DT Wrestling | 32* | 32* | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 16 |
| Baseball | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 24 |
| Softball | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 24 |
Flag Football:
- 1A-6A – 48
- 7A – 48
- 8A -24
Lacrosse:
- 1A-6A – 48
- 7A – 48
- 8A -24
Dual Team Tennis:
- 1A/2A – 48
- 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A and 7A – 48
- 8A – 24
*The bracket size could change based on the number of schools participating in that sport.
Playoff and Seeding Format
Gather the designated NCHSAA staff and coach representative at the scheduled time and location.
1. Obtain the final NCHSAA RPI Ranking for the sport from MaxPreps.
2. Remove from the ranking:
– Schools that have opted out of playoff participation for that sport
– Schools ineligible for post-season competition
3. Separate and rank teams within each classification based on their final NCHSAA RPI.
4. From the qualifying schools, divide into East and West regions based on the school’s longitude.
5. Seed teams within each region (East and West) according to their final NCHSAA RPI ranking.
– In the event of a tie, use additional decimal places in the NCHSAA RPI to break the tie.
*If the number of qualifying teams does not fill the bracket, extra byes will be applied (e.g., 21 teams for a 24-team bracket).
If there is an odd number of qualifying teams, the school at the longitudinal center between the East and West regions will be assigned to a region by a draw from the coach representative.
An RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) formula will be used for all team-bracketed playoffs. The formula will be as follows for all sports:
RPI = (0.4 x WP) + (0.4 x OWP) + (0.2 x OOWP)
Winning Percentage (WP):
Divide the number of wins by the number of total games played. A tie is worth half a win. If a win in an individual contest gives that contest a winning percentage of 1.00, a tie will give that individual contest a winning percentage of .500 for both teams.
Opponents’ Winning Percentage (OWP):
Average the winning percentages of a team’s opponents. (Note: This is not calculated via the opponents’ combined record, but by averaging each winning percentage of the opponents.) All games involving the team whose RPI is being calculated are ignored in this process.
Opponents’ Opponents Winning Percentage (OOWP):
The same process is described above, except calculated for the opponents of a team’s opponents. (Note: There is an exception for out-of-state teams, which is addressed below.)
Out-of-state opponents from the following states will be counted the same as in-state opponents, provided they have a verified MaxPreps account and schedule:
– Georgia
– South Carolina
– Tennessee
– Virginia
All other out-of-state opponents will be handled in the following manner:
Their direct winning percentage (for example, .750) will count toward the formula, but each of their opponents will have a .500 winning percentage assigned.
The .500 figure was selected because it is the average value of opponents’ opponents’ winning percentages across all sports in data gathered from the states using RPI, such as Colorado, Utah, and Washington.
Note: It is the NCHSAA member school’s responsibility to ensure that the data from their out-of-state opponent is correctly listed on MaxPreps.
Contests against “pseudo teams” cannot be included in the NCHSAA RPI calculations, as these teams are not at the varsity level or do not have a MaxPreps profile.
As a result, any game played against the following types of opponents will not factor into the RPI:
– Varsity Opponent
– Junior Varsity (JV) Opponent
– Freshman Opponent
– Non-Varsity Opponent
– Non-JV Opponent
– Tournament Team without a MaxPreps profile
Contests against in-state, non-NCHSAA schools will be handled in the following manner:
Their direct winning percentage (for example, .750) will count toward the formula, but each of their opponents will have a .500 winning percentage assigned.
The .500 figure was selected because it is the average value of opponents’ opponents’ winning percentages across all sports in data gathered from the states using RPI, such as Colorado, Utah, and Washington.
Note: It is the responsibility of the NCHSAA member school to ensure that the data from their opponent is correctly listed on MaxPreps. If an opponent is listed as a “Varsity Opponent,” the results of that contest will not contribute to the team’s RPI number.
Frequently Asked RPI Questions
It depends on your opponents and their opponents’ records.
No, they do not. Note: You should not list scrimmages on your official MaxPreps schedule. Instead, list on your Team Calendar in MaxPreps.
This is an unlikely scenario. While MaxPreps will post RPIs to four decimal points, that can be extended to as many decimal points as necessary to break the tie.
There is no factor for score differential in the RPI formula. A 1-0 win counts the same as 50-1.
Because the RPI system works off averages, a game that cannot be rescheduled will not factor into the final formula. It would not penalize or benefit any team involved in that scenario.
It depends on whether the contest is ruled a forfeit or no-contest.
Continue reporting scores to MaxPreps. The official RPI feed will be calculated from results entered into that platform.
