Fewer D3 playoff teams coming in football, hoops

With the PIAA recently expanding from four classes to six, there will be some changes coming to District 3 football and basketball starting this fall.

While the number of championships will obviously be going up with two additional classes, there will be less teams making the playoffs overall and the number of teams qualifying in each bracket will be different.

It remains to be seen how this change will affect teams in the YAIAA or if it will keep teams out of the playoffs that previously were deserving. According to District 3 webmaster Rod Frisco, the district's goal is to have "a quality championship" in each classification and it will be "unlikely" that teams below or at .500 will make the playoffs in football or basketball.

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YAIAA teams learn their new PIAA classes

This past season, seven football teams made the District 3 playoffs with a 5-5 record while nine boys' basketball teams and seven girls' basketball teams made it with a record at or below .500.

Here's a breakdown of how many teams will make district playoffs in each classification in football and basketball.

Football: Overall number of qualifiers going from 44 to 32

Class AAAAAA: eight

Class AAAAA: eight

Class AAAA: eight, previously 16

Class AAA: four, previously 16

Class AA: two, previously eight

Class A: two, previously four

Basketball (boys' and girls'): Overall number of qualifiers going from 60 to 58

Class AAAAAA: 12

Class AAAAA: 16

Class AAAA: 10, previously 20

Class AAA: six, previously 18

Class AA: four, previously 10

Class A: 10, previously 12

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Extra notes: 

• The power rankings formula for every team sports will change, though the district hasn't sat down to figure it out yet, according to Frisco. 
• There will not be a sectional wrestling tournament in Class AA next season, only the district tournament. There will still be a sectional tournament for Class AAA. 
• Once again, football teams have the option to start the regular season on Aug. 26 instead of the normal Sept. 2 start date. Any teams that do this are still only allowed to play 10 games and must complete the regular season by Nov. 5, meaning they need to have a bye week somewhere between Aug. 26 and Nov. 5. Every YAIAA team is scheduled to begin play on Friday, Sept. 2.