Another major change is coming to Tennessee high school basketball.
The TSSAA Board of Control voted this week to begin seeding the Division I state basketball tournaments using an RPI ratings system, starting with the 2027-28 season.
Under the current format, teams reaching the state tournament are placed into the bracket through a blind draw. The new system will instead rank teams based on an RPI formula that factors in a team’s winning percentage, opponents’ winning percentage, and the winning percentage of opponents’ opponents.
The change means the highest-rated teams will be seeded against the lowest-rated teams, similar to formats used in many collegiate and professional postseason tournaments.
The move also means teams from the same district or region could potentially meet earlier in the state tournament than they do now. Under the current blind draw system, teams from the same area are typically separated throughout the bracket.
For local fans, the change may bring back memories of the 2025 state tournament, when an undefeated Coffee County Lady Raider team was paired with defending state champion Bradley Central in the opening round through the tournament’s random draw format. While the blind draw has long been part of the state tournament, supporters of seeding argue that an RPI system could reward teams more directly for their regular-season performance and create a bracket that more closely reflects season-long results.
Basketball will follow a model already adopted by TSSAA soccer, which moved to RPI-based seeding for its state tournament in 2024.
The change applies only to the Division I state tournament and will not impact district, region, or sectional tournaments. Teams will still need to advance through the postseason in the same manner before reaching the state tournament.
The Board of Control approved the measure by a 10-2 vote during its June meeting.
The seeding change was approved during the same June Board of Control meeting that also saw the adoption of a phased rollout of a 35-second shot clock, marking two significant changes to the future of Tennessee high school basketball.
