Negaunee’s Lukas Nelson, right, forces L’Anse quarterback Alex Kissel to throw a pass under duress in the second quarter of their high school football game played at the Miners’ field in Negaunee on Oct. 2. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

EAST LANSING — The MHSAA has outlined some changes in procedures for the high school football playoffs that begin on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 30-31.

The biggest change this season is that nearly every team — it will be all of them in 11-player and the vast majority in eight-player — is eligible for the playoffs.

It also means that each of those sports’ playoff schedules will last a week longer, placing the eight-player finals the weekend immediately after Thanksgiving and 11-player during the first weekend of December.

The MHSAA hasn’t announced sites for state championship games, which for 11-player have always been played at the home of the Detroit Lions — originally the Silverdome in Pontiac before switching to Ford Field in Detroit — and for 8-player were moved to the Superior Dome in Marquette in 2017.

It will also bring byes into play for a small handful of 11-player teams, as the MHSAA lists 507 teams to fit into the 512 slots of the expanded field, according to the MHSAA website, www.mhsaa.com.

Marquette defender Desmond Mullen, center, looks for room to run after making an interception of a Sault Ste. Marie pass in the fourth quarter of their high school football game played Sept. 24 in Marquette. Redmen following Mullen are Ty Lotterman, right, and Ethan Richards, while for the Soo is Callen Campbell, far left. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

That was a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic that halted the season before it restarted after Labor Day, resulting in a six-week season — at most — for teams.

Another change had taken place before the pandemic struck. Teams were placed into divisions before the season began, rather than being decided after the playoff field was established.

In addition, the older playoff points system was reintroduced in an effort to give schools an incentive to play quality opponents. For the past two decades since the 11-player playoffs had last been expanded, six-win teams were just about guaranteed to make the playoffs, regardless of how few or how many wins their opponents had.

Some other changes include the MHSAA not holding a Selection Sunday show on Fox Sports Detroit the weekend before the start of the playoffs, since every 11-player team makes it this year, according to a Tuesday email from the group.

In eight-player, 64 teams qualify for two divisions of playoffs out of a total of 84 listed by the MHSAA on its website.

When pairings are released on Sunday, information on purchasing tickets digitally and attendance limits will be included. Actual game dates and times will be made official on Monday.

If teams withdraw from the playoffs before final matchups are released, those brackets will be reseeded, but for withdrawals that come after that, forfeits will be awarded to teams assigned to play a team dropping out.

Teams must have played four games to be eligible for the playoffs, though waivers for that can be granted by the MHSAA. Both games played and forfeits — won or lost — count toward the four-game total.

Here are the divisions and regions that each area team has been assigned to. The district round will constitute the first three weeks of the 11-player playoffs.

The full listing is available online at www.mhsaa.com/portals/0/documents/FB/2020/2020%20Districts%2009-25-2020.pdf.

Negaunee’s prospects for playing in the playoffs look iffy as it has suspended extracurricular activities, including sports, until Nov. 2:

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Marquette — Division 3 (enrollment of 818 to 1,145), Region 9, District 17. Other teams in the district are Petoskey, Gaylord, Cedar Springs, Mount Pleasant, Greenville, Muskegon and Muskegon Reeths-Puffer.

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Westwood and Negaunee — Division 6 (enrollment 367-452), Region 21, District 41. Other district teams are Gladstone, Menominee, Houghton, Calumet and Gogebic (only 7 teams in this district).

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L’Anse and Manistique — Division 7 (enrollment 272-365), Region 25, District 49. Other district teams are Harbor Springs, Charlevoix, Traverse City St. Francis, Mancelona, Lake City and Roscommon.

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Gwinn — Division 8 (enrollment 116-270), Region 29, District 57. Other district teams are Iron Mountain, Norway, Bark River-Harris, West Iron County, St. Ignace, Rogers City and East Jordan.

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Munising, Superior Central and Newberry — 8-player Division 1. 42 teams statewide, with 32 making the playoffs. Other Upper Peninsula teams in this division are Brimley, Ontonagon, Pickford and Stephenson.

Steve Brownlee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.