GaryEdmondson
12-28-2009, 04:28 PM
By The Daily Item
McLEAN, Va. -- A gutty, 12-play drive with its back to the wall last Friday night proved Selinsgrove was the best Class AAA football team in Pennsylvania.
Now, the Seals have a chance at a more prestigious, albeit fictitious, honor.
The same computer technology behind the Bowl Championship Series will simulate a virtual national tournament to determine a national high school football champion and the PIAA Class AAA champion Seals will be in the 64-team field.
Starting Jan. 4, HighSchoolSports.net and USA TODAY will kick off a virtual tournament bracket with games being played in computer simulations programmed by Ken Massey, one of the mathematicians whose computer models were used to create the BCS rankings for college football in 1999.
HighSchoolSports.net will post the 64-team field for the inaugural "Massey Virtual National Championship" on Jan. 4, and the winner will be announced Jan. 9.
The Seals won their first PIAA title this season with a 10-7 victory over Manheim Central last week in Hershey. Selinsgrove finished the season 16-0, the only team in Pennsylvania to go unbeaten this year and just the eighth team in PIAA history have an unblemished mark through a 16-game season.
USAToday will feature a selection of teams and their programs as part of the tournament coverage. HighSchoolSports.net will present the 2009 championship trophy in early February.
"I'm sure the results will lead to plenty of debate across the country in locker rooms and family rooms, just as the BCS rankings do in college," said Jason Rine, content manager at HighSchoolSports.net, who championed the virtual tournament.
USA TODAY Sports editors will seed the brackets, initially drawing from 50 state champions and 14 other "at large" picks. Massey's simulations will then determine winners for each round. Massey is professor of mathematics at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn.
HighSchoolSports.net is the exclusive distributor of "Massey Ratings," which rank varsity football, girls and boys basketball and boys baseball teams.
McLEAN, Va. -- A gutty, 12-play drive with its back to the wall last Friday night proved Selinsgrove was the best Class AAA football team in Pennsylvania.
Now, the Seals have a chance at a more prestigious, albeit fictitious, honor.
The same computer technology behind the Bowl Championship Series will simulate a virtual national tournament to determine a national high school football champion and the PIAA Class AAA champion Seals will be in the 64-team field.
Starting Jan. 4, HighSchoolSports.net and USA TODAY will kick off a virtual tournament bracket with games being played in computer simulations programmed by Ken Massey, one of the mathematicians whose computer models were used to create the BCS rankings for college football in 1999.
HighSchoolSports.net will post the 64-team field for the inaugural "Massey Virtual National Championship" on Jan. 4, and the winner will be announced Jan. 9.
The Seals won their first PIAA title this season with a 10-7 victory over Manheim Central last week in Hershey. Selinsgrove finished the season 16-0, the only team in Pennsylvania to go unbeaten this year and just the eighth team in PIAA history have an unblemished mark through a 16-game season.
USAToday will feature a selection of teams and their programs as part of the tournament coverage. HighSchoolSports.net will present the 2009 championship trophy in early February.
"I'm sure the results will lead to plenty of debate across the country in locker rooms and family rooms, just as the BCS rankings do in college," said Jason Rine, content manager at HighSchoolSports.net, who championed the virtual tournament.
USA TODAY Sports editors will seed the brackets, initially drawing from 50 state champions and 14 other "at large" picks. Massey's simulations will then determine winners for each round. Massey is professor of mathematics at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn.
HighSchoolSports.net is the exclusive distributor of "Massey Ratings," which rank varsity football, girls and boys basketball and boys baseball teams.