Shouldn't conference play have postseason implications?

So when the playoff season rolls around - regional volleyball begins next week - is the most fair procedure randomly coming up with random pairings?

Or should a seeding system be enforced that will position the two best teams - record-wise - to meet in the regional final?

Of course, this process of seeding becomes entirely impossible when pairings are released prior to the start of the season, as they were with baseball this summer.

Let's venture back to July for a moment.

Tuesday, July 14, was a sticky, humid day as Gehlen Catholic hosted a first round district baseball doubleheader. The Jays were joined by Remsen-Union, Remsen St. Mary's and Akron-Westfield in an all-Plymouth County evening.

But the pairing structure for these matchups was a little bit skewed. Instead of pairing R-U, a team that won fewer than five games all season, against RSM or A-W, the Rockets faced the hosts, who were also well below the .500 mark in the regular season.

Sure, Gehlen was a state qualifier in 2008, but with the graduation of five seniors and the current year's seniors choosing to not turn out, the Jays were suffering through a rebuilding year.

While Gehlen overcame the odds and won its way to the district final, there was a part of me wondering if it was really fair.

Should a team that won so few games in the regular season be rewarded with the opportunity to continue so deep into the postseason? Or should said team be pitted against a team with a perfect record or a state ranking in the first round instead?

It is with this thought process that I enter the volleyball playoff season.

While I see that sixth-ranked Gehlen Catholic managed a meeting with 2008 state qualifier Kingsley-Pierson - a nearly winless team in 2009 - in the first round, I wonder about the Lady Jays' potential pairing with Akron-Westfield (13-8) in the quarterfinal.

What about in Class 2A, where a tough Hinton team (16-13) could face a conference rival West Sioux (19-5) in the quarterfinal? Of course, this discussion holds less merit as the winner of that quarterfinal will no doubt face three-time defending state champion and second-ranked Western Christian.

Due to regional pairings, we sometimes see two, three or four teams within one region, district or sub-state that could all be threats at the state tournament.

Because in football, winning the district is far more important than winning a conference title in any of the other sports. With a conference title, that is all the team gets - along with a nice trophy. It has no bearing on the postseason.

Take my alma mater for example. Pella Christian is known to clean house in Class 2A boys basketball playoffs as well as Class 2A volleyball due largely to the fact that the Eagles face very few teams in their own class during the regular season. In fact, Pella Christian is the only 2A team in the Little Hawkeye Conference, meaning that the Eagles face tougher competition in larger schools for an entire season before they begin Class 2A playoffs.

So back to football.

Prior to last fall, if a football team failed to garner the championship or runner-up position in the district, that was it. No playoff hopes, no chance to play in the Dome. It was over.

Because in football, you have nine excruciating weeks of playoff games, all with one goal in mind - making the playoffs.

In every other sport - basketball, volleyball, softball, baseball - you could go 0-19 in the regular season and still have a shot at playing in the Barn. (Oh wait, they don't play basketball there anymore.)

So you can see the dilemma.

But until the state of Iowa - namely the IGHSAU and the IHSAA - recognizes that fair and equal treatment does not always yield the most fair end result, the playoff structure will be more than slightly skewed.

On the plus side, the high school playoffs are one of the few remaining things in this country that offer that hope Mr. Obama promised in all those campaign rallies.

So at least there's something.