WIAA to vote this week on 10 basketball recommendations

It's time for the rubber to meet the road.

After months of gathering data and listening to input from coaches throughout the state, members of the WIAA Coaches Advisory Committee will put 10 recommendations to the test this week.

First off on Tuesday, the 10 changes must pass the WIAA Advisory Council, an 18-member council that includes administrators from throughout Wisconsin. The recommendations that earn majority vote of the Advisory Council then advance to the WIAA Board of Control for another vote on Wednesday. The recommendations that receive majority vote from the Board of Conrol would be implemented for the 2025-26 season.

So, what are the 10 recommendations? And do any of them stand a chance of advancement?

Here's a breakdown with predictions on whether they will pass:

State Tournament Expansion

This is the biggest potential change as it would take the current 4-4-4-4-4 five-division setup for the WIAA State Tournament to a new 8-8-8-8-8 five-division format. The Coaches Committee passed the proposal 7-0 while the Sports Advisory Committee moved it along 7-6. However, the WIAA Executive Staff voted 'NO' for this recommendation. The Executive Staff vote is advisory only, but make no mistake, their 'No' vote is significant. It is believed that in many cases the Advisory Council and Board of Control follow the recommendations of the Executive Staff.

Credit to the Coaches Advisory Committee for doing their homework and putting forth this proposal. A two-page document explaining the benefits of moving to 8-8-8-8-8 and how it would be structured can be found here.

Interesting fact: 90.9 percent of the 438 head coaches who responded to a survey regarding state-tournament expansion voted in favor of the 8-8-8-8-8 format.

Prediction: The smart bet here is the Advisory Council votes it down and thus it will not advance to the Board of Control. Why? The Executive Staff recommending 'No' might be too big of a hurdle to overcome. Also, big changes like this rarely happen quickly with the WIAA. However, even if voted down, the Coaches Committee likely will continue to push this proposal in upcoming years.

Shot Clock Adaptation

There are two proposals as it relates to use of a 35-second shot clock.

The first recommendation would be the option for using a shot clock in the 2025-26 season for non-conference games with mutual agreement between the participating schools. When the shot clock is used, host schools must complete a post-game data collection form that will be sent to the WIAA. This recommendation passed 6-1 from the Coaches Committee and 11-2 at the Sports Advisory level. The Executive Staff was 'Split' on the idea.

The second recommendation would implement the 35-second shot clock in all regular season and tournament games in the 2027-28 season. The Coaches Committee voted 6-1 to advance this recommendation while the Sports Advisory voted 7-6 to move it along. The Executive Staff again was 'Split' on the idea.

Predictions: There seems to be some momentum for the first recommendation to pass, particularly with so many other states already adopting the shot clock and the National Federation of High Schools potentially backing a shot clock for all states. The second recommendation allows schools two years to get a shot clock installed so it would make sense to pass this measure if the first recommendation passes. The time has come for adding a shot clock so I will go with both recommendations passing.

Seeding Changes

Multiple options to consider here as well. In fact, five different recommendations will be considered. They include:

a) Head-to-Head contests will be reviewed for all consecutive seeds. Passed 7-0 by Coaches Committee, 13-0 by Sports Advisory and 'Yes" by Executive Staff.

b) Electronic seeding will be based on the following factors: 1) Own winning percentage (X%) and overall strength of schedule (X%), including opponent's winning percentage, opponent's opponents winning percentage, defeated opponent's winning percentage and defeated opponent's opponents winning percentage. This measure would make public the actual percentage used for each factor. Currently, the percentage used for each factor is not public. Passed 7-0 by Coaches Committee, 13-0 by Sports Advisory and 'Split' by Executive Staff.

c) When a statistical seeding tie occurs among three or more teams, head-to-head will be reviewed among all the statically tied teams. Passed 7-0 by Coaches Committee, 13-0 by Sports Advisory and 'Yes" by Executive Staff.

d) Electronic seeding for tournament play will be released in week 34 for girls (end of regular season) and in week 35 for boys (end of regular season). Seeding for tournament play currently is released with one week left in the regular season. Passed 7-0 by Coaches Committee, 13-0 by Sports Advisory and 'Yes' from Executive Staff.

e) Unofficial electronic seeds will be released in week 30 (January 30) for girls and week 31 (February 6) for boys. Passed 7-0 by Coaches Committee, 13-0 by Sports Advisory and 'Yes' by Executive Staff.

Predictions: All five should pass without much discussion, but it rarely works that way. The 'Split' vote by the Executive Staff on measure B is the one that may get voted down. Otherwise, all figure to pass.

Uniform Option

A no brainer here as the proposal would allow teams to reverse the typical uniform color for no more than three home games with mutual agreement by each school's administration. Passed 7-0 by Coaches Committee, 13-0 by Sports Advisory and 'Yes' from Executive Staff.

Prediction: Should pass with little to no opposition as the NFHS currently allows for this to happen.

WIAA Game Starting Times

Evening games for WIAA tournament play will be at 7 p.m. Boys regional final games will be played at 4 p.m. or 7 p.m. with girls sectional finals played at 1 p.m. or 3 p.m. with WIAA approval. Passed 7-0 by Coaches Committe, 13-0 by by Sports Advisory and 'Yes' from Executive Staff.

Prediction: Another item that figures to pass without much debate.