‘Ping Pong Balls’ 2022 IHSAA HS Football 50th Anniversary Tournament Draw

(10-9-22) After 9 regular season games ‘ping pong balls‘ again decided the the tournament draw in Indiana the the state tournament draw in Indiana.

The IHSAA’s ‘Sacred Cow’ The Blind Draw

About the Draw
To conduct the random drawing for the girls basketball state tournament, the IHSAA places ping-pong balls representing each school in each sectional into a lottery-style air mix machine. A motorized fan in the bottom of the machine blows the balls around the inside of the transparent container and air then forces each ball up through a tube in random order.

For example, the first ball retrieved from the machine will be the visiting team in game one with the second ball representing the home team in game one. The third ball to come out is the visitor in game two and the fourth ball the home team in game two. That same method is followed through all 64 sectionals and 16 regionals.

In Indiana everybody qualifies for the tournament and there is no seeding process…that means in a ‘blind draw’ like this that two undefeated teams could match-up with each other, while two teams who went 0-9 could also play each other.