Where are the postseason pairings?

This should be a good thing. Probably.The

Iowa High School Athletic Association approved a recommendation by the Iowa Basketball Coaches Association to delay the announcement of postseason district and substate pairings this season in all classes.In prior years, the IHSAA had pairings arranged and released for the lower three classes well before the season started. Substates in 4A also were drawn preseason, though teams were seeded by their results in a set number of regular-season games.This season, the release of who is in what district and substate won't be until Jan. 10 (Class 1A, 2A) and Jan. 17 (Class 3A, 4A). The actually pairings will be released Jan. 31 (1A, 2A) and Feb. 7 (3A, 4A)."I'd like to think I like it," said Kennedy Coach Bob Fontana. "Supposedly they've got an idea of who they'd like to put together. But they're also waiting to see what your record is at Christmas time, the first week after Christmas."The idea with this, supposedly, is to try and get the best teams possible to the state tournament.Last season, Cedar Rapids Washington, Cedar Rapids Jefferson and Linn-Mar all qualified for state in 4A from the Metro, though the fact they all were in different substates was purely coincidental. Considering all three should be strong again this season, you'd like to think they would be grouped apart.But, we'll see."I think this is a good thing, if the intent truly is seeing how teams play," said Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson. "It's a good thing if it works out.""What I'd like to have the substates be formed on is performance," agreed Washington Coach Brad Metzger. "I'd like it to be based on, in the middle of February, you sit down and look at how people have performed, and you try and get the best teams (to state). You give a one seed to the best eight teams. That's all I'd like to see."