The Ohio High School Athletic Association is reducing the number of football games required for teams to be eligible for the state playoffs from six to five, according to a statement from the OHSAA’s weekly newsletter.
The previous minimum of eight regular-season games was agreed to in the football regulations released ahead of the season. However, the OHSAA has cited concerns of potential game cancellations due to the COVID-19 virus affecting tournament eligibility for teams.
“We have received some concerns with canceled games due to COVID and how this could affect tournament eligibility,” the OHSAA wrote. “We have consulted with our Harbin (computer rankings) expert, Joe Eitel, and made the following modification.”
According to the OHSAA, 16 games across Ohio were canceled last week due to COVID, and multiple games for Week 2 have already been affected. The ruling comes after the OHSAA’s expansion of the playoffs to 16 teams back in April.
The first round of state playoff games are set for Oct. 22-23.