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Oklahoma High School Football District Could Use A Coin Flip To Determine Two Playoff Teams

Potential for a three-way tie for third place in District A-II-3 means a coin flip at a restaurant could determine which teams head to postseason play while another will be left out
Buck Ringgold|
Cody Thorn

An Oklahoma high school football district is doing something unusual in an attempt to determine its playoff teams.

In District A-II-3, there could be a potential three-way tie for third place following the conclusion of Friday night’s games in the Week 10 regular season finale. At the moment, Liberty is in sole possession of third place, with Central Sallisaw and Gore sharing fourth place.

However, Liberty has to play the district’s top team, undefeated and defending A-II state champion Talihina, while Central and Gore are favored to win its games Friday.

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In Oklahoma, only the top four teams from each district advance to the playoffs, and should there be a three-way tie for third, one team is going to miss the playoffs.

Finding A Solution

If there is a three-way tie for third place, the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) has determined after all the tiebreakers have been exhausted, a coin flip could ultimately decide which two teams go to the playoffs.

In an e-mail that was shared by T.J. Eckert, an anchor at Tulsa television station KJRH, the coin flip would take place around midnight at Catfish Round Up, a restaurant just off Interstate 40 at Exit 200 near Seminole, east of Oklahoma City.

The head coaches from the three schools will meet with OSSAA Associate Director Trinity Johnson. Each coach will flip a coin at the same time with its school’s primary color marked on it, and the two teams whose coins fall on the same side will advance to the playoffs, with the other team’s season coming to an end.

It’s also been confirmed by the OSSAA - per the e-mail to Eckert - that the coin flip will be streamed live on its Facebook page, should it actually take place.

Straight Out of a Movie

In the e-mail obtained by Eckert, should there be a three-way tie for third, it would be the fourth time in more than 30 years this has happened.

While a coin flip has been an unusual occurrence, one such instance was part of a famous book and later a legendary scene in a motion picture adopted from the book.

In 1988, Texas schools Odessa Permian, Midland Lee and Midland High finished the regular season with a three-way tie for the final two playoff spots. The coaches met at a truck stop in the middle of the night for a coin toss, where whichever coin shows the opposite face from the other two meant elimination for that team.

Heads landed for both Permian and Midland Lee, while tails landed for Midland High, meaning the latter team was eliminated from the playoffs. That scene was featured in Friday Night Lights, Buzz Bissinger’s 1989 book chronicling Permian’s 1988 season as well as the 2004 movie of the same name, although Abilene Cooper replaced Midland High in the film.

Last year, another coin toss in Texas took place, as three teams (Amarillo High, Lubbock High and Amarillo Caprock) met at a convenience store in Plainview to determine the final team to make the 5A Division I playoffs.

Amarillo High won the coin flip, meaning the Sandies got to advance to the postseason while the other two teams stayed home. Ironically, the coin flip was initiated when Amarillo High was forced to vacate six wins for using an ineligible player.

Determining A Tiebreaker

As mentioned before, Liberty has to play Talihina, which is 9-0 and just defeated Regent Prep for first place and the top playoff seed in A-II-3, while Regent Prep gets the No. 2 seed.

Central Sallisaw and Gore are tied for third place. Central will take on Porter, which has yet to win a district game, while Gore takes on Mounds, which is 1-5 in the district.

Should Central and Gore both win, and Talihina beats Liberty, that forces a three-way tie for third place. The next criteria used is head-to-head results. 

Gore defeated Central but lost to Liberty, which in turn lost to Central.

Then point differential is used to determine the playoff seeds. Currently, Liberty has 30 points, while Central and Gore both have zero.

In Oklahoma, the most a team can gain or lose points in a single game is 15, so if Liberty loses to Talihina by at least 15, and Central and Gore both win its games by at least 15, then all three teams would end up with 15 tiebreaker points.

If that’s the case, then the final decision will come down to the coin flip.

Of course, Liberty could necessitate the cancellation of the potential coin flip by pulling off a shocking upset and beating Talihina.

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Buck Ringgold
BUCK RINGGOLD

Buck Ringgold is a veteran high school sportswriter with extensive experience covering sports in Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana. He is a longtime contributor to High School On SI.

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