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At meetings today at Madison West High School and Greenfield High School that featured coaches, players, and administrators, Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Executive Director Stephanie Hauser acknowledged the association erred in its application of tiebreakers for football playoff qualifying, improperly leaving out both teams.

"I wanted to reiterate why this was important to them, and to me, as a mother of student-athletes, as a leader of a service organization, and as a former high school coach and administrator," Hauser told WisSports.net Tuesday afternoon. "It was important to make sure they understood that we admit if we are wrong, but also so we can take corrective action so we make sure this never happens again."

The reaction from the players, coaches, and programs in attendance at today's meetings was mixed.

"I think there was a general appreciation for coming in person and delivering the message and admitting the mistake," said Hauser. "I could also see there was a revisiting of some painful emotions from when it initially happened. I made sure to allow time for questions, and there was certainly some anger and frustration."

A full WIAA media statement is available at the bottom of this article.

The admission comes after controversy arose when the football playoff qualifying released the day after the final regular season games did not include Madison West or Greenfield, while Edgewood and Pewaukee were included, it turns out erroneously.

The crux of the issue surrounds wording in the WIAA's Football Tournament Regulations that deal with tiebreakers in the event less than 224 teams finish with a conference record above .500.

This year, to complete the 224-team 11-player football playoff qualifying field, there were 181 teams that were eligible for the postseason and finished above .500 in conference. In addition, Horicon/Hustisford finished at .500 in conference and got in. That left 46 spots for teams that finished 3-4 in conference play to make the playoffs, of which there were 43 teams vying for those 46 coveted qualifying spots. There are a number of additional tiebreakers, but the one in play in this situation is Section 2.2, which reads:

"Should more than two teams remain tied for final playoff berths, teams will be ranked in order of the combined won-lost percentage (conference games only) of conference opponents they have defeated. Teams whose conference opponents had the best winning percentages will be added to the playoff field. Nonconference opponents and nonconference wins by defeated conference opponents will not count in this step."

In addition, there is an example cited below that passage that reads: "Team 'A' has a 4-4 conference record. Their four defeated opponents have a combined W-L record of 12-20 in conference games for a .375 percentage."

Previous application and interpretation of this section has always been to determine the combined conference won-loss percentage of the conference opponents each team has defeated, and rank them to determine who gets in at that tiebreaker step, who is eliminated, and who moves on to additional tiebreaker evaluation. 

In the regulation, the section in parenthesis that reads "conference games only" indicates that only conference games for opponents should be evaluated, and the final sentence directs that non-conference opponents and non-conference wins by defeated conference opponents should not be used in this step.

Using the wording and previous application of Section 2.2, Edgewood and Pewaukee would be last under this step, as the combined conference won-loss percentage of the conference opponents they defeated was 0.09523 (2-19). They should have been eliminated at this step, and the other 44 teams moving forward to the next tiebreaker steps, including Madison West and Greenfield.

However, this year, for the first time, the WIAA staff interpreted this section to mean that ALL games played by defeated conference opponents should be evaluated, as opposed to just conference games played by defeated conference opponents. Under this interpretation, Madison West, Greenfield, and McFarland all tie for the lowest number and are eliminated from the playoffs, while Edgewood, Pewaukee, and all other remaining 3-4 conference teams qualify.

WisSports.net General Manager Travis Wilson was in attendance at the WIAA offices on the night of Friday, October 18th at the invitation of the association and as a liaison for the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association, preparing for the WIAA's Playoff Reveal Show the following day where he served as an analyst.

When the initial playoff qualifying field was finalized in the WIAA office, Wilson reviewed the information and compared with unofficial playoff qualifiers provided by a member of the WisSports.net message board and verified by Wilson. The qualifiers from the WIAA and from WSN review differed, as the WIAA information featured Edgewood and Pewaukee in the field, while Madison West and Greenfield were left out, while third party review indicated that should be reversed.

Wilson notified WIAA staff that it appeared the tiebreaker procedure was not applied correctly, with WIAA Football Tournament Regulation 2.2 seeming to eliminate Pewaukee and Edgewood at the very first tiebreaker for a large group of teams that finished 3-4 in conference play and were being evaluated for possible inclusion in the playoffs.

After discussion amongst the WIAA staff and further information shared by those in attendance, the WIAA ultimately determined the tiebreaker was applied correctly in their opinion, moving forward with Madison West and Greenfield out of the playoffs.

The full playoff field, brackets, seeds, and matchups were announced the following day on the Football Reveal Show, and immediately members of the football community, WSN message board group, and social media commenters pointed out the apparent error in the WIAA's application. Additional media reporting over the following days shed light on the error, and members of the two impacted football programs took steps to try to address the issue and gather information on why they were left out of the postseason.

Madison West and Greenfield filed appeals with the WIAA, which were rejected, as the association continued to maintain the stance that they applied the tiebreaker criteria correctly as written and as applied for previous seasons, despite reporting and data analysis showing that was incorrect.

However, the schools stopped short of pursuing legal options that could have resulted in a temporary restraining order placing them in the playoffs, but disrupting the preparations and timeline for many other teams. Had Madison West and Greenfield been inserted into the playoffs, and Edgewood and Pewaukee removed, the qualifiers and cutlines for Divisions 1 through 4 would have changed, along with adjustments to regional groupings, seeds, and brackets.

The playoffs proceeded, with Madison West and Greenfield left at home, still looking for answers as to why they did not qualify for the playoffs.

Parents in the Madison West football program eventually retained legal counsel in an effort to get answers from the WIAA and Madison Metropolitan School District.

Today, those answers came in the form of meetings with Hauser.

"I give Stephanie a lot of credit for coming down and showing what true leadership looks like," said Greenfield head coach Mike Kubes.

From the WIAA:

The WIAA is committed to fairness, accuracy, and transparency in all aspects of our athletic programs. Following a review of the 2024 WIAA 11-Player Football Playoffs qualification process, we acknowledge challenges occurred with the computer program, which was unable to process the full field of 224 teams. Staff manually finalized the qualifiers using the criteria outlined in the regulations.

Since the evening that the playoff field was determined, staff has collected data and historic information regarding the playoff qualifying language. In addition, corrective measures were taken to allow the program to complete its process. Based on the information that is now available to our staff, it has been determined Madison West and Greenfield should have been included in the playoff field of 224 teams.

We have already taken steps to address this issue. The qualification language will be reviewed at the Football Coaches Advisory Committee meeting in January to ensure clarity. Internal procedural improvements will follow a staff review this month, with a written procedure to enhance coordination and accountability. Additionally, our technology team is evaluating the current qualification software. If deemed unreliable, a new program will be developed.

We understand the importance of playoff qualification for schools, teams, and fans. We sincerely apologize for the issues and assure you that efforts are underway to strengthen our systems and prevent future errors.

Travis Wilson serves as the WisSports.net General Manager, Football Editor, and contributing writer for other parts of the site. Wilson was selected as part of the Sports 40 Under 40 list by Coach & AD Magazine and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association for 2019. The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) named Travis the 2015 recipient of the Dave McClain Distinguished Service Award. He currently serves on the WFCA Executive Board and is a member of the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. A graduate of Richland Center High School and Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Travis was a three-sport athlete in high school (football, baseball, basketball), inducted to the Richland Center High School Hall of Fame in 2023, and currently resides in Reedsburg. You can follow him on Twitter at @travisWSN.

For the latest and most up to date football news and recruiting information, follow Travis on Twitter @travisWSN. Email story ideas, recruiting info, etc. to Travis at travis(at)wissports.net.