SAN ANTONIO — The playoffs in basketball, soccer, volleyball, softball and baseball will look drastically different next season, as the UIL will begin crowning two state champions instead of one.
The move to a Division I and Division II postseason format for each classification will particularly affect the state semifinals. For at least the upcoming school year, the UIL said Sunday that there will no longer be a traditional state tournament where the semifinals and championship games are played at the same site.
Instead, sites for semifinal games will be negotiated between the schools like earlier rounds of the playoffs, leaving most at a neutral location. The one-site championship format will now be used for just state title games.
“We are going to look at how this year goes, gather feedback, and then chart a course for the future,” UIL athletic director Ray Zepeda said.
What that change will do is allow the state semifinals for baseball and softball to become a best-of-3 series instead of a single game.
“I think that is something that has been hugely popular as we have talked about this with our baseball and softball coaches,” Zepeda said.
At the same time, it would be difficult to also expand the state championship game to a best-of-3 series in those two sports.
“Just do the math. There will be 11 champions in each of those sports,” UIL deputy director Jamey Harrison said. “If you make those three-game series, that is a schedule of 33 baseball games or 33 softball games. It’s outside, where you don’t control the weather, and you don’t control the end of the game — if it’s seven innings or 47 innings. It’s a challenge.”
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