Last week, the Indiana High School Athletic Association approved the formation of a sixth football class in the Hoosier State. This was done in an attempt to level the competitive playing field and to give teams, and athletes, an opportunity to participate in postseason competition.

Sound familiar?

It has been, believe it or not, five years since the Iowa High School Athletic Association made a somewhat similar move. Instead of adding another class, the IHSAA added another level to the playoff structure, thus doubling the amount of teams that qualify for postseason play.

At first coaches, in the Metro anyhow, were very much against the idea. Some said it would only "water down" the playoff system by allowing teams with four, and sometimes three, wins into the postseason party.

The coaches have relaxed their positions against the expanded playoffs over the past four seasons, for the most part, acknowledging there is some merit. Some are still against the idea, but know it will never change.

I, myself, have somewhat warmed to the idea. But I still believe that 32 teams are far too many for the playoffs. The announcement coming out of Indiana caused me to take a look at the first four years of the expanded football playoffs, to see exactly how it has played out. Has it been a good idea, or is it a notion that needs tweaking?

Let's take a moment and breakdown the first round of the Class 4A playoffs. Each season, 32 teams make the field for the playoffs, 16 teams from the east and 16 teams from the central and western part of Iowa. That means 16 first-round games have been played each of the four years, for a total of 64 games. Of those 64 games, 12 times the team with the worse record has beaten a foe with a better record. That's a little less than 19 percent of the games.

Of those 12 wins, only once (Urbandale beating Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln in 2010) did a team seeded 12th or worse get a first-round upset. So, it's a pretty good bet that the higher seeded team is going to advance to round two. The first three rounds of the playoffs are played over a period of 10 days, which is what really makes coaches angry. As anyone who follows football knows, that is not enough time to heal and put in a game plan for your next opponent.

So looking back at the research of the results and the amount of time played for the first three rounds of the postseason, here is my plan for improving the system:

Instead of handing out 16 postseason berths in 4A for each side of the state, make it 12 berths for each side and bring the total to 24 instead of 32.

Give the top four seeds on each side of the state a bye in the first round, a reward for having a great season. Those teams also would have an advantage in getting some time off to rest and the heal injuries. The results say that there is very little chance of a top-seeded team being upset, so make the regular season mean a little more and award some byes to the top teams.

This system could also be implemented in the other classes as well. Instead of having four teams from each district advance to the postseason, make it three and award a bye to the district champion.

It's food for thought, and it's something to chew on until the first kickoff of the fall ... which is less than two months away!

(Scott Unash is the sports and program director at KGYM-AM 1600 (FM 106.3). He is a six-time winner of the Iowa Broadcast News Association play-by-play Announcer of the Year Award. Scott and Mark Dukes co-host the Gym Class weekdays from 3-4 p.m. on KGYM-AM 1600 and FM-106.3)