There are four or five state sections (northern, central valley, southern etc) each with a set of divisions (division I, division II etc) and each have their own playoff, which I believe is 12 teams with 4 first round byes. After all of the playoffs have been played, the state matchups are decided by a voting board.

So the real championship is your section championship. The state championship is sort of extra (and has only been played in its current incarnation for the last five or six seasons). And there are a handful of state championship games. IIRC it's D-I, D-II, D-III (for which all schools D-III and lower are eligible), and the big daddy of them is the open championship which is the top two teams in the state regardless of division.

>how many games do those schools play without a playoff
>system?
>
>in michigan, every team plays 8 (although 90% of teams play
>nine), and then you have to win 5 games to win a chip


<--- Blind faith