A SoDak 32 postseason model was discussed and tabled at the South Dakota High School Activities Association basketball advisory committee meeting on Feb. 8. 

The proposal states all eight regions in Class A and Class B play their first or second-round games until each class is down to 32 teams. The four winners in each region would be reseeded 1-through-32 based on seed points and the higher seeds would host the SoDak 32 round games. The 16 winners would qualify for the SoDak 16 and the eight winners would qualify for the state tournament.

The SoDak 16 for basketball began in 2017 for Class A and Class B followed suit in 2018. As it stands, two teams from the eight regions qualify for the SoDak 16 and they are reseeded 1-through-16. 

SDHSAA assistant executive director Jo Auch said the committee ultimately decided to table the SoDak 32 proposal until all the details are ironed out. 

“We did table it and we wanted to have discussion at our AD’s conference and get a better understanding,” Auch said. “We are not trying to kick the can down the road, but we are trying to make sure that we’ve got everything kind of in place.”

Auch said the dates proposed make it difficult for the appropriate number of officials. In the proposal, the girls SoDak 32 would fall on the Saturday of state wrestling and the boys SoDak 32 would be the same night as SoDak 16 for Class AA girls. 

“The problem is the boys season is still going on while the girls season is and so your pool of officials is much more limited in specific areas,” Auch said. 

Travel was also a talking point. The SoDak 32 format would force teams to travel long distances for postseason contests, but as Auch pointed out, football playoff games are played at higher seeds. 

“That’s one of the arguments is we do it in football and it doesn't seem to bother anyone,” Auch said. “We travel from one end of the state to the other on several occasions in football. This would probably be similar.”

Currently, the SDHSAA has been tasked with finding neutral sites for the SoDak 16 contests. Auch said initially the SoDak 16 games were intended to be played at Class AA schools. But that’s been problematic as those teams are still practicing and some have been unwilling to give up their facilities, said Auch. 

Therefore, Kadoka, Wall, Box Elder, Beresford, Madison, Redfield, Fort Pierre, Chamberlain, Gettysburg, Ipswich, Parkston, Mobridge, Huron and Mitchell were among the SoDak 16 locations last season. 

Auch said the higher seeds hosting would alleviate the process of nailing down neutral sites. 

“It’s a real jigsaw puzzle and it’s not an easy task to put together and many of the people feel that if ‘I am the higher seed that I’ve earned that right to be home and I shouldn’t have to travel,’ ” Auch said. “So I think that’s some of the mentality we are starting to see.”

The SoDak 32 proposal was submitted by Winner girls basketball coach and Class A representative Larry Aaker, who sent out a survey to member schools to gauge their interest in the switch. 

The survey was sent out to Class A and Class B head coaches and athletic directors. It was a 35-33 margin in favor of it in Class A and a 41-34 margin in favor of it in Class B. Overall, it was a 76-67 advantage or 53.1% of the people who responded to the survey. 

Auch said votes are largely swayed on the location of the schools and the strength of their regions. 

“There are regions that are kind of like Northwestern and Warner in volleyball forever, except there are about three or four teams now in those (regions) that have a pretty good shot at making it,” Auch said. “But some get left home. I think that the purpose of this is to try to get potentially the best to the state tournament.”

Auch personally likes the SoDak 16 model, but said momentum is gaining steam for a SoDak 32 format and will likely be proposed again next year. However, if passed then another layer could be added to the equation and where does it end?

“I think this needs a little more discussion amongst our group because it’s kind of a big deal,” Auch said. “There’s no question about it. One of the other comments was we went with region representation and then we went with the SoDak 16. We are now talking about the SoDak 32. Next it’s going to be the 64 and where does it stop potentially is kind of the question mark that everybody has.”

Three proposals passed unanimously

Three proposals were unanimously passed at the advisory committee meeting and will now be voted upon at the athletic directors meeting. 

One proposal calls for the elimination of two bonus points that Class A teams receive for playing against Class AA opponents. Another proposal allows Class AA teams to play up to two contests against a Class A or Class B opponent without a dedication of seed points. 

These contests would be the first two contests vs. Class A and Class B opponents as they happen on their team schedule. Any other contests after the two allowed, would result in a deduction of seed points as defined in the seed point system. 

The other proposal passed through the committee was higher seeds will host SoDak 16 contests. 

Proposals need to be passed by a majority vote in the seven-member committee. If passed, the proposals will be voted upon at the South Dakota Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association meeting on March 28-31 in Pierre. If passed, they will go before the SDHSAA board of directors on April 12-13, with a final reading in June. 

If the proposals go through, they will go into effect in the 2023-24 season. 

“We take what our schools are telling us with those votes and we really take a good strong look at that and that’s the recommendation generally that we will pass forward to our board in April,” Auch said. “More than likely usually the vote that goes through in April is probably a pretty good indicator where those proposals are going to pass or not. The second reading is in June we very seldom have too much controversy. If it passes the first one, it’s probably going to pass the second one most of the time.”