On Monday, the N.C. High School Athletic Association sent out a survey to receive feedback on potential changes to the RPI formula that is used to seed playoffs.

The NCHSAA Board of Directors discussed adjusting the weights of the RPI formula at the winter meeting in November. The discussion was tabled.

HighSchoolOT obtained a copy of today’s survey. According to the survey, the Board could be preparing to vote on changes at the upcoming spring meeting at the end of April.

In the survey, the association asked head coaches of bracketed sports to choose an option that they’d like to see reflected in a new formula for the new playoff process.

The results will be shared with the Board of Directors at the spring meeting so the members can weigh the opinion of coaches as they decide a) whether to change the formula and b) how to change the formula if they decide it needs a facelift.

Head coaches were asked to fill out the survey by Thursday, April 10 at 4:30 p.m.

There are five options for the coaches to choose:

1. Keep the existing RPI formula, which is RPI = (0.3 x Own Winning Percentage) + (0.4 x Opponents’ Winning Percentage) + (0.3 x Opponents’ Opponents Winning Percentage)
2. Change the RPI formula to (0.5 x WP) + (0.3333 x OWP) + (0.1667 x OOWP)
3. Change the RPI formula to (0.5 x WP) + (0.4 x OWP) + (0.1 x OOWP)
4. Change the RPI formula to (0.5 x WP) + (0.5 x OWP), removing the opponents’ opponents winning percentage factor
5. Change the RPI formula to the MaxPreps RPI, which would be RPI = (0.4 x WP) + (0.4 x OWP) + (0.2 x OOWP) with NCHSAA-determined point differential added in

Each of the proposed changes centers around raising the importance of a team’s own winning percentage in the calculation. Additionally, the new options are designed to limit the opponents’ opponents winning percentage factor, or remove it altogether.

The survey does not provide specific information into how the new MaxPreps RPI option would work. The wording in the form indicates that the NCHSAA would approve some level of point differential into the equation.

In the old adjusted MaxPreps rankings (used from 2017-2021), there was no weight given to point differential at all. If the Board of Directors approved the option in the survey to coaches, it would be a departure.

Before the adjusted MaxPreps formula was used, the NCHSAA used unadjusted MaxPreps rankings to seed the fall 2017 playoffs, but it was quickly changed after concerns raised over the potential incentive for teams to disregard sportsmanship by running up the score, among other niche worries.

In the era of the adjusted MaxPreps rankings, the propreitary calculation was criticized by some coaches because they didn’t know what exactly went into the formula, other than the fact that point differential was not used. Additional critics pointed out that the whole reason the original MaxPreps formula works at all is because it factors in how many points a team wins by.

If coaches overwhelmingly choose to go back to using the MaxPreps ratings, perhaps the Board would choose to utilize the point differential up to a certain gap, such as up to a 14-point differential in football or up to 15 points in basketball, etc. That example is speculation on my part.

We will not know any of the exact considerations until the Board meeting. Stay tuned to HighSchoolOT for possible updates to the RPI formula. We will have full coverage of the Board of Directors meeting from April 29-30.