To determine the additional 24 qualifiers, the top 6 playoff point averages of the remaining teams in each of Classes A, B, C and D, would be inserted into the field. An equal number of schools from each class would be added, in the A, B, C, D order. If 260 teams would qualify by win total, then the team with the lower playoff point average from each of Class A, B, C and D would not qualify for the playoffs. To have doubled the number of teams would have greatly increased the number of mismatches. However, eliminating teams with losing records reduces the chances of lopsided games.
Some teams have difficulty obtaining nine and eight game schedules on an annual basis.
Some schools, to accommodate their local climate, may not wish to begin their regular season earlier. This gives schools an approximately equal chance of qualifying for the playoffs regardless of the number of games they wish to play. Those schools would play two games before Labor Day in five out of seven years. They would also begin practice two days earlier in those years. After those reports have been reviewed by schools and verified, the field of 256 schools will be finalized, then drawn into 8 divisions of 32 schools each.