Playoff picture will clear up over next month

As the high school football season gears up for the final few regular season weeks, the Florida High School Athletic Association’s playoff points system will come into focus more.

To help with crunching the numbers, the Herald is updating where we stand each Monday as it affects our area programs.

Classes 5A through 8A have eight playoff teams per region. The district champions are seeded Nos. 1-4, based on each team’s points average, and the four at-large wild card teams are seeded Nos. 5-8, based on their points average.

There’s no district protection in the first round or subsequent matchups.

Classes 1A through 4A do not have districts, so just the top four teams in each region, based on the points average, head to the playoffs and are seeded accordingly.

To slot teams as district champs, prior to the end of district play, the team with the best points average is put in that spot.

So how do we stand heading into Week 8?

Let’s start with Class 8A and Manatee High:

The Hurricanes play in 8A-Region 2. The four teams leading their districts as of Monday were Orlando Dr. Phillips, Lithia Newsome, Kissimmee Osceola and Vero Beach. The wild cards would be Orlando Olympia, St. Lucie Centennial, Kissimmee Gateway and Haines City Ridge Community.

Manatee is currently ranked 11th in the region with a 34.5 average points.

Vero Beach would be seeded No. 1 at 46.8 points, Osceola at No. 2 with 44.25, Dr. Phillips at No. 3 with 38.4 and Newsome at No. 4 with 37.2. Centennial is the top wild card with 41 points followed by Gateway at 37.83, Ridgeway at 37.33 and Riverview at 37.17.

Now we’ll look at Class 7A with Braden River, Lakewood Ranch and Palmetto:

Those three teams play in Region 3. The district leaders as of Monday would be Tampa Bay Tech (37.2 points), St. Petersburg (40.8), Venice (44.25) and Naples Gulf Coast (36.5).

Venice would be the top seed followed by St. Pete, Tampa Bay Tech and Gulf Coast.

The wild cards would be Lakewood Ranch (42.67, No. 5), Braden River (42, No. 6), Pinellas Park (39.4, No. 7) and Palmetto (38.4, No. 8).

These standings do not included the Mustangs’ loss to Venice on Monday night.

And to wrap it up, we’ll examine Class 5A with Bayshore and Southeast:

Both play in Region 2. The district leaders on Monday are St. Petersburg Lakewood (37.8 points), Tampa Jefferson (37.4 points, tiebreaker with record over Tampa Jesuit), Southeast (37) and Immokalee (39.6).

The four wild card berths would go to Fort Myers Dunbar (37.75, No. 5), Tarpon Springs (37.4, No. 6 with tiebreaker on won-loss record over Jesuit), Tampa Jesuit (37.4, No. 7) and Wauchula Hardee (35.8, No. 8).

This story was originally published October 9, 2017 at 9:42 PM with the headline "Playoff picture will clear up over next month."