This is the third season that Week 10 has been used statewide for the play-in game for the Class 4A, 3A, 2A and 1 state football playoffs.

And while the Washington State Football Coaches Association-orchestrated expansion has certainly given more teams a chance to the state playoffs, has it always given the most deserving teams the opportunity to play deeper into November?

The 1A field of 24, two qualifying teams are 2-7, and there are a handful of teams throughout the pairings with just three victories.

Meanwhile, Nooksack Valley of the powerful and multi-classification Northwest Conference finished the season 6-3, but because its district only had three berths, the Pioneers are on the outside looking in despite being No. 8 in the WIAA’s RPI and ranked in the 1A much of the season.

One of those 2-7 teams – King’s Way Christian – earned the 24th seed, and was set to play six-time defending 1A state champion Royal on Friday afternoon at David Nielsen Memorial Field. However, in the would-be battle of Knights, the Vancouver squad forfeited Tuesday citing a roster that had dwindled to 16 players, andgiving the champs two weeks off, assuming they’ll be a top-four seed in the 12-team bracket and receive a bye into the quarterfinals.

“This not a great look for the system,” said Hall of Fame Royal coach Wiley Allred, whose team beat King’s Way in last year’s round of 24.

One source said the King’s Way, which had a coaching change midseason, wasn’t amicable to giving up its spot when the pairings were announced late Sunday morning.

The new format doubles the number of teams by adding to the number of berths per district. The results have brought in deserving teams, and has given teams like Wapato a year ago a chance to earn a spot in the state bracket.

The Wolves fell short, but were able to celebrate a victory to get into the play-in.

But it's also resulted in a chunk of lopsided games in every classification.

In games involving the top four seeds across the four classifications, the closest game was a 21-point margin. And the average margin of victory was more than 43 points in 4A and nearly 60 points in 1A.

Ideas to tweak the system have been to model it more like the state basketball seeding, which had the top eight seeds pairing up and the winners getting byes into the quarterfinals.

And others propose a selection process in which teams like Nooksack Valley aren’t left out, or a 'floating' state berth.

“I’ve always been flabbergasted how drastically there’s been change rather than small incremental change,” Allred said.