Playoff Chaos: Class 5, District 4 Postseason Field Still Unclear With Two Weeks Left

The Missouri high school football playoff system has plenty of detractors. 

After a full season of games, the only ones that really matter are the District games at the end of the season. Truly dominant teams can make the playoff teams a foregone conclusion. There are some Districts where the games are less than exciting. 

The Class 5, District 4 is not one of those District. 

The massive 5-team District is heading into its third week of high-intensity big games. , , ,  and  are all battling for two playoff spots. 

Heading into Week 9 the playoff picture in the District is still as murky as ever. The five teams have each played at least two games and every team has at least one loss. 

The good news for the five teams is that everyone still has shot. The results are simple: Win and you're in. Only Zumwalt South needs help to get into the postseason. 

Zumwalt East currently leads the District with two wins, but in this crazy District, is last in point differential. For the point of deciding tie breakers, point differential could be a big factor in determining playoff spots. Point differential is based on the State's 13-point maximum rule. The margin of victory or loss up to a maximum of 13 points shall be determined for each district game.

Here are the standings after Week 8.

So who is going to be in the playoffs? Let's take a look at the 16—yes 16—possible playoff scenarios. 

Scenario 1

Our first scenario breaks down like this:

Week 9 results: East beats Timberland and North beats Holt.
Week 10 results: North beats South and Timberland beats Holt. 
Outcome: East and North are in the playoffs, no questions asked.  

Scenario 2

Our second scenario breaks down like this:

Week 9 results: East beats Timberland and North beats Holt.
Week 10 results: North beats South and Holt beats Timberland. 
Outcome: East and North are in the playoffs, no questions asked. 

Scenario 3

The third scenario is where things start to get crazy. 

Week 9 results: East beats Timberland and North beats Holt.
Week 10 results: South beats North and Timberland beats Holt. 
Outcome: East is in. The other playoff spot is part of the three-team tiebreaker. Point differential will eliminate one team leaving two teams for one spot. Out of those two teams, the team that won the District meeting with the other team will advance. So in this scenario, if Timberland has the worst point differential, they are out. Then it would be between North and South and with South winning in Week 10 in this scenario, South is in. Got it?

Scenario 4

Week 9 results: East beats Timberland and North beats Holt.
Week 10 results: South beats North and Holt beats Timberland. 
Outcome: East is in, while Holt, North and South have to deal with the tiebreakers.

Scenario 5

Week 9 results: East beats Timberland and Holt beats North.
Week 10 results: North beats South and Timberland beats Holt. 
Outcome: East is in, while Holt, North and Timberland have to deal with the tiebreakers.

Scenario 6

Week 9 results: East beats Timberland and Holt beats North.
Week 10 results: North beats South and Holt beats Timberland. 
Outcome: East is in, Holt is in.

Scenario 7

Week 9 results: East beats Timberland and Holt beats North.
Week 10 results: South beats North and Timberland beats Holt. 
Outcome: East is in. Holt, South and Timberland are in the tiebreaker. 

Scenario 8

Week 9 results: East beats Timberland and Holt beats North.
Week 10 results: South beats North and Holt beats Timberland. 
Outcome: East is in and Holt is in.

Scenario 9

Week 9 results: Timberland beats East and Holt beats North.
Week 10 results: North beats South and Timberland beats Holt. 
Outcome: Timberland is in. Holt, East and North are subject to the tiebreaker. 

Scenario 10

Week 9 results: Timberland beats East and Holt beats North.
Week 10 results: North beats South and Holt beats Timberland. 
Outcome: Holt is guaranteed a playoff spot. East, North and Timberland have to fight it out via the tiebreaker.

Scenario 11

Week 9 results: Timberland beats East and Holt beats North.
Week 10 results: South beats North and Holt beats Timberland. 
Outcome: Holt is in. Timberland, East and South are subject to the tiebreaker. 

Scenario 12

Week 9 results: Timberland beats East and Holt beats North.
Week 10 results: South beats North and Timberland beats Holt. 
Outcome: Timberland is in. Holt, East and South are subject to the tiebreaker. 

Scenario 13

Week 9 results: Timberland beats East and North beats Holt.
Week 10 results: North beats South and Timberland beats Holt. 
Outcome: Timberland and North are in with no questions asked.

Scenario 14

Week 9 results: Timberland beats East and North beats Holt.
Week 10 results: North beats South and Holt beats Timberland. 
Outcome: North makes it in to the postseason. Timberland, East and Holt are down to the tiebreaker. 

Scenario 15

Week 9 results: Timberland beats East and North beats Holt.
Week 10 results: South beats North and Timberland beats Holt. 
Outcome: Timberland is into the playoffs. North, East and South are subject to the tiebreaker.  makes it in to the postseason. Timberland, East and Holt are down to the tiebreaker. 

Scenario 16

Week 9 results: Timberland beats East and North beats Holt.
Week 10 results: South beats North and Holt beats Timberland. 
Outcome: Well, of course, we saved the craziest scenario for last. If these results happen, chaos reigns supreme. All five teams are tied at 2-2 and go into a super tiebreaker.