AIA floods state tournaments

Here’s a trivia question: What does Cactus  Shadows High School have in common with the following high schools–Nogales, Independence, Coronado, Bradshaw Mountain, Cholla, Coconino, Sinagua, Higley, Millennium, Raymond Kellis, Glendale, Sunnyslope and Buckeye?

If you answered that they are all 4A Conference schools, you’re only half right. It turns out all of those schools have either a boys or girls basketball teams heading to the 4A state playoffs without winning records.

Is this the way 5A and 4A Conference board members wanted it to go when they voted two years ago to split the conferences into two divisions each? Certainly, the thought of getting more worthy teams into state competition was a nice idea, but the way it has turned out has made Arizona’s state tournaments a joke.

State playoffs are supposed to be the tournament for elite teams only, not average teams. In Arizona, you don’t even have to be average to get in. In fact, you can be downright awful and still make it.

Of course, this was the argument against splitting the conferences into two divisions at the time. Coaches had felt it would water down the state tournament at every level, and instead of giving more teams a shot at winning it all, those that do win championships would do so without facing all the best teams in their conference.

Unfortunately, that is the way has worked out.

Chances are if you ask Glendale girls basketball coach Eddie Lopez, he’ll tell you his team doesn’t deserve to be in state with a 7‑17 record. Nor do Sunnyslope’s girls at 8‑18. You can add Independence’s boys (9‑17) to the mix, and don’t forget Coronado’s boys with their 8‑18 record.

Cactus Shadows fans shouldn’t be too upset about the arrangement since it allowed the Falcons’ boys team to make state despite a 13‑15 record. With a tough schedule, a team around .500 is going to make it every year. But when you start pushing in teams inching close to 20 losses, something just isn’t right.

And it figures to get worse next week when the 5A field is completed for its state tournament. Among schools who would qualify for the playoffs if they began this week, five boys and four girls teams do not currently have winning records.

That’s not just watered down. That’s a complete flood.