Felipe Ojastro | SL

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When the O'ahu Interscholastic Association kicks off its 2014 football season on Aug. 15, it will unveil its seventh scheduling format change since 1970.

Earlier this year, the state's largest league of 23 football-participating schools voted to forgo the traditional geographic format - Eastern and Western Divisions in the Red, or its strongest conference - for an integrated configuration. The rationale was a shift in power toward the Leeward and Central school districts. Four of the top five enrollments in the state are from those areas. In other words, demographics were a factor in the change.

The league also decided to do away with color-coding its strengths. The strongest teams were in the  Red with the qualifiers advancing to the Division I state tournament. The teams in the White competed in the Division II state tournament. In line with the rest of the leagues in the state, the OIA will refer to its teams as Division I and Division II. Color will identify Division I teams by Division I Red and Division I Blue (seven in each division). The league ranked its 23 teams with the top seven even-numbered teams in one division and the top seven odd-numbered ones in the other. The rest makes up Division II. Defending Division II state champion Kaiser is the only team that was promoted from the old White, or D2, to D1.

Another wrinkle has been added. The regular season for the D1 teams has increased from six to seven games. Besides playing each team in its own division, there will be one cross-over game between the divisions.

The biggest challenge to followers is rememberhing which teams belong to what division.

Here's a historic look at the format changes since 1970:

Farrington, Kaimuki, Kalani, McKinley and Roosevelt seceded from the ILH to join Aiea, Castle, Campbell, Kahuku, Kailua, Leilehua, Radford, Waialua, Waianae and Waipahu to form the modern OIA starting with the 1970-71 school year. Nanakuli also joined the OIA that year, giving the league 16 teams for two eight-team geographical divisions.

1. 1970 to 1974 Geographical Division Format (East and West)

1970
OIA champion: Waianae 6, McKinley 0
East champion: McKinley
West champion: Waianae

1971
OIA champion: Waipahu 7, Kahuku 6
East champion: Kahuku
West champion: Waipahu

1972
OIA champion: Kahuku 35, Leilehua 29
East champion: Kahuku
West champion: Leilehua

1973
OIA champion: Waianae 13, McKinley 6
East champion: McKinley
West champion: Waianae

1974
OIA champion: Leilehua 13, Farrington 6
East champion: Farrington
West champion: Leilehua (Leilehua 23, Waianae 14 in playoff; both were tied at 7-0-1)*

*Remember the significance of this playoff when 1987 rolls along.

With the addition of five schools - Kaiser (1972), Moanalua (1973), Pearl City (1973), Kalaheo (1974) and Mililani (1975) - the OIA increased to 21 schools. With 10 in the East and 11 in the West, the divisions were deemed too large for an eight-game regular season schedule. So the league divided into the DOE's four school districts: Honolulu and Windward in the East; Leeward and Central in the West.

2. 1975 to 1987 Geographical DOE District Format

Honolulu and Windward champions would play for the East title; Leeward and Central champions would play for the West title. The East and West champions would play for the OIA championship.

1975
OIA champion: Waianae 7, Kailua 0
East champion: Kailua 14, Farrington 8
Honolulu District champion: Farrington
Windward District champion: Kailua
West champion: Waianae 7, Radford 2
Leeward District  champion: Waianae
Central District champion: Radford

1976
OIA champion: Radford 14, Castle 0
East champion: Castle 35, Roosevelt 18
Honolulu District champion: Roosevelt
Windward District champion: Castle
West champion: Radford 21, Waianae 12
Leeward District champion: Waianae
Central District champion: Radford

1977
OIA champion: Waianae 21, Kailua 14
East champion: Kailua 25, Kaiser 14
Honolulu District champion: Kaiser
Windward District champion: Kailua
West champion: Waianae 21, Leilehua 14
Leeward champion: Waianae
Central champion: Leilehua

1978
OIA champion: Waianae 35, Kaiser 28
East champion: Kaiser 28, Kahuku 21 (Game ended 21-21 and both declared East co-champions)*
Honolulu District champion: Kaiser
Windward District champion: Kahuku
West champion: Waianae 28, Leilehua 7
Leeward champion: Waianae
Central champion: Leilehua
*The so-called Cornell rule was used for the first time to break ties in postseason. Overtime was not an option. Each team had the ball at midfield. The that either scored or advanced the deepest in four downs got to move on in the playoffs. Kaiser happened to score.

1979
OIA champion: Kaiser 20, Waianae 13
East champion: Kaiser 10, Kalaheo 7
Honolulu District champion: Kaiser
Windward District champion: Kalaheo
West champion: Waianae 14, Radford 7
Leeward District champion: Waianae
Central District champion: Radford

1980
OIA champion: Waianae 28, Kaiser 19
East champion: Kaiser 12, Kalaheo 0
Honolulu District champion: Kaiser
Windward District champion: Kalaheo
West champion: Waianae 26, Leilehua 0
Leeward champion: Waianae
Central champion: Leilehua

1981
OIA champion: Radford 14, Castle 6
East champion: Castle 14, McKinley 0
Honolulu District champion: McKinley
Windward District champion: Castle
West champion: Radford 8, Waianae 6
Leeward District champion: Waianae
Central District champion: Radford

1982
OIA champion: Waianae 17, Kahuku 0
East champion: Kahuku 7, Farrington 0
Honolulu District champion: Farrington
Windward District champion: Kahuku
West champion: Waianae 7, Radford 6
Leeward District champion: Waianae
Central District champion: Radford

1983
OIA champion: Nanakuli 26, Kalaheo 21
East champion: Kalaheo 27, Roosevelt 6
Honolulu District champion: Roosevelt
Wiindward District champion: Kalaheo
West champion: Nanakuli 14, Leilehua 13
Leeward District champion: Nanakuli
Central District champion: Leilehua

1984
OIA champion: Leilehua 18, Kahuku 7
East champion: Kahuku 17, Roosevelt 9
Honolulu District champion: Roosevelt
Windward District champion: Kahuku
West champion: Leilehua 3, Waianae 0
Leeward District champion: Waianae
Central District champion: Leilehua

1985
OIA champion: Waianae 17, Castle 16
East champion: Castle 27, Farrington 16
Honolulu District champion: Farrington
Windward District champion: Castle
West champion: Waianae 20, Radford 7
Leeward District champion: Waianae
Central District co-champions: Radford, Leilehua (Radford advances by head-to-head tiebreaker)

1986
OIA champion: Waianae 14, Kahuku 13
East champion: Kahuku 14, Farrington 0
Honolulu District champion: Farrington
Windward District champion: Kahuku
West champion: Waianae 3, Leilehua 2
Leeward champion: Waianae
Central champion: Leilehua

1987
OIA champion: Waianae 24, Kailua 23
East champion: Kailua 31, Roosevelt 7
Honolulu District co-champions: Roosevelt, Farrington (Roosevelt advances by head-to-head tie-breaker)
Windward District co-champions: Kailua, Kahuku (Kailua advances by strength of schedule tie-breaker)*
West champion: Waianae 14, Radford 7
Leeward District champion: Waianae
Central District champion: Radford

*Remember the playoff in 1974 to break the regular-season tie? An extra week wasn't factored into the scheduling. In the Honolulu District's case, Roosevelt beat Farrington, so that was the tie-breaker. But Kailua and Kahuku played to a 20-20 tie; there was no overtime to break ties back then. Moreover, the Windward District was made up of four schools, so that meant besides three intra-district games, each school played five opponents from the other three districts. By luck of scheduling, Kailua's was stronger than Kahuku's (wins against opponents with better records). This led to scrapping the district format and the league would revert to East and West again. But no longer did a team have to be division champion to play for the league title.

3. 1988 to 1991 Back to Geographical Division Format (East, West)
(Playoff format: Top four teams from each division advances to OIA tournament. This assured the best team, regardless of how well it did in its respective division, had a chance to be league champion.)

1988
OIA champion: Waianae 14, Farrington 7
East champion: Farrington
West co-champions: Waianae, Leilehua (Waianae gets top seed because of better strength of schedule; 11-team division and eight-game schedule, so teams don't play two other teams. No complaints because both teams still got a postseason berth, unlike previous format.)
East: Farrington, Kaimuki, Kailua, Roosevelt
West: Waianae, Leilehua, Waipahu, Campbell.
But controversy still follows league in quarterfinals. Kailua and Leilehua play to 20-20 tie in regulation. Cornell rule is used to break tie. Each team has four down from midfield to either score or drive the deepest into the other's territory. Kailua went seven yards farther and advanced to the semifinals.

1989
OIA champion: Kahuku 10, Castle 3
East champion: Castle
West co-champions: Waianae, Leilehua (Again, Waianae gets top seed because of better strength of schedule.)
East: Castle, Kahuku, Kailua, Kalaheo.
West: Waianae, Leilehua, Moanalua, Mililani

1990
OIA champion: Farrington 15, Waianae 7
East champion: Kahuku
West champion: Waipahu
East: Kahuku, Farrington, Kailua, Castle
West: Waipahu, Waianae, Mililani, Radford

1991
OIA champion: Waianae 27, Kailua 6
East champion: Kahuku
West champion: Waianae
East: Kahuku, Farrington, Kailua, Castle
West: Waianae, Campbell, Waipahu, Leilehua (5-way tie for second, so Mililani and Aiea did not make playoffs despite same record as Campbell, Waipahu and Leilehua because of the strength of schedule tie-breaker.

4. 1992 to 1995 Strength of Records Format (Red, White and Blue)
(Playoff format: 8-team tournament. Top 4 Red, top 2 White and top 2 Blue).
For the first time, geography is dropped, as East and West teams are integrated by strength. Rationale for change: Response to lopsided scores that included games prematurely ending because of lack of players. Safety cited as the prevailing issue.

1992
OIA champion: Waianae 27, Kahuku 0
Red champion: Kahuku
White tri-champions: Roosevelt, Aiea Waipahu (Waipahu eliminated by coin-toss tie-breaker; Roosevelt is higher seed by head-to-head with Aiea).
Blue: Waialua
Red: Kahuku, Leilehua, Waianae, Farrington
White: Roosevelt, Aiea
Blue: Waialua, Kaimuki

(Introduction of 'Conference' tournament for teams that did not qualify for real playoffs. Basically, these were non-league games.)

1993
OIA champion: Kahuku 7, Waianae 0
Red co-champions: Waianae, Kahuku
White champion: Waipahu
Blue tri-champions: McKinley, Kalaheo, Kaiser
Red: Waianae, Kahuku, Leilehua, Farrington
White: Waipahu, Kailua
Blue; McKinley, Kalaheo (Kaiser eliminated by coin-toss tie-breaker; McKinley is higher seed by head-to-head tie-breaker)

1994
OIA champion: Kahuku 21, Farrington 7
Red champion: Kahuku
White co-champions: Campbell, Kalaheo
Blue champion: Kaiser
Red: Kahuku, Waianae, Farrington, Waipahu
White: Campbell, Kalaheo (Campbell top seed by head-to-head tie-breaker)
Blue: Kaiser, Nanakuli.

1995
OIA champion: Kahuku 33, Waianae 20
Red champion: Kahuku
White champion: Kailua
Blue champion: Moanalua
Red: Kahuku, Waianae, Campbell, Farrington
White: Kailua, Roosevelt
Blue: Moanalua, Castle

Last year of 'Conference' playoffs.

4a. 1996 expansion of OIA tournament to 12 teams
Top four Red draw first-round byes

1996
OIA champion: Waianae 23, Campbell 3
Red champion: Waianae
White champion: Leilehua
Blue champion: Kaiser
Red: Waianae, Campbell, Farrington, Waipahu, Roosevelt
White: Leilehua, Castle, Aiea, McKinley
Blue: Kaiser, Radford, Mililani
In OIA quarterfinals, McKinley and Farrington play to 13-13 tie; McKinley advances by deepest penetration.

4b. 1997 to 1998 expansion of OIA tournament to 16 teams (no first-round byes)

1997
OIA champion: Waianae 22, Campbell 13
Red co-champion: Campbell, Waianae
White champion: Kahuku
Blue co-champions: Mililani, Nanakuli
Red: Campbell, Waianae, Leilehua, Waipahu, Farrington, Castle, Roosevelt (Campbell higher seed by head-to-head).
White: Kahuku, McKinley, Kaiser, Moanalua, Kailua (Kailua head-to-head tie-breaker over Aiea)
Blue: Mililani, Nanakuli, Kalaheo, Pearl City (Mililani higher seed by head-to-head).

1998
OIA champion: Kahuku 20, Waianae 0
Red champion: Kahuku
White champion: Kailua
Blue champion: Kaimuki
Red: Kahuku, Waianae, Farrington, McKinley, Waipahu, Leilehua, Campbell
White: Kailua, Caste, Mililani, Roosevelt, Moanalua
Blue: Kaimuki, Kalaheo, Radford, Aiea

In OIA first-round, Castle and Campbell play to 20-20 tie; Castle advances by deepest penetration.

5. 1999 to 2001 Restructured Strength of Records Format (elimination of Blue Conference).

Reduction of OIA tournament to 8 teams (Top 5 Red, top 3 White). Introduction of State Tournament.

1999
OIA champion: Kahuku 7, Kailua 0
Red champion: Kahuku
White champion: Kaimuki
Red: Kahuku, Kailua, Waianae, Farrington, Mililani
White: Kaimuki, Roosevelt, Aiea

Introduction of overtime to break ties. Kailua 26, Roosevelt 23 (2 OT) in quarterfinals. (Rationale is OT was to be enforced in state tournament, so the league needed to practice for it..)
Introduction of third-place game for State berth. Waianae 28, Farrington 0

2000
OIA champion: Kahuku 32, Waianae 13
Red champion: Waianae
White tri-champions:  Castle, McKinley, Campbell
Red: Waianae, Kahuku, Kaimuki, Kailua, Farrington
White: Castle, McKinley, Campbell (Campbell loses coin toss; Castle higher seed by head-to-head tie-breaker)
Third place: Kaimuki, 21 Castle 14 (OT)

2001
(Tournament format adjusted because Sept. 11 terrorist attacks affected schedule; league co-champions were declared)
OIA co-champion: Kahuku 48, Aiea 0
OIA co-champion: Kailua 13, Castle 7
OIA Red champion: Kahuku
OIA White champion: Aiea
Red: Kahuku, Castle, Kailua, Waianae, Mililani
White: Aiea, Waipahu, Roosevelt

For state tournament seeding purposes, Kahuku was the higher seed based on regular-season outcome.

6. 2002 Strength of Record Geographical Format (Red East, Red West)
12-team OIA tournament (Top 5 Red East, Top 5 Red West, Top 2 White; Top 2 East and West draw first-round byes).
Kapolei becomes 22nd OIA team and is placed in the White Conference.

OIA champion: Castle 25, Kailua 0
Red East co-champions: Kahuku, Kailua
Red West co-champions: Waianae, Campbell
White champion: Nanakuli
Red East: Kahuku, Kailua, Castle, McKinley, Farrington (Kahuku higher seed by head-to-head tie-breaker)
Red West: Waianae, Campbell, Mililani, Leilehua, Waipahu (Waianae higher seed by head-to-head tie-breaker)
White: Nanakuli, Kaimuki (Kapolei out by coin toss; Kaimuki advances on head-to-head tie-breaker with Pearl City).

Third place: McKinley 14, Farrington 10

6a. 2003 Introduction of Division II for state tournament.
8-team Red tournament, top 4 East, top 4 West; and 4-team White tournament). This also brought about the elimination of White as a division title. The regular season's best record is not a division title. White regular season record is for tournament seeding purposes only and not recognized as a Division champion.

2003
OIA Red champion: Kahuku 6, Kailua 0
Red East champion: Kahuku
Red West champion: Mililani
White champion: Aiea 22, Kapolei 15
Red East:  Kahuku, Kailua, Farrington, McKinley
Red West: Mililani, Pearl City, Nanakuli, Waianae
White: Kapolei, Aiea, Radford, Kalaheo
OIA Red third place: Farrington 14, Mililani 6

6b. 2004 Expansion of Red tournament to 10 teams; top 3 from each division draw first-round byes).

2004
OIA Red champion: Kahuku 36, Mililani 12
Red East champion: Kahuku
Red West champion: Mililani
White champion: Campbell 29, Waipahu 27
Red East: Kahuku, Castle, Farrington, Kailua, Roosevelt
Red West: Mililani, Leilehua, Kapolei, Aiea, Nanakuli
White: Waipahu, Campbell, Radford, Kaiser (Waipahu is higher seed because of head-to-head tie0-breaker).
OIA Red third place: Leilehua 14, Castle 10

2005
OIA Red champion: Kahuku 26, Aiea 16
Red East champion: Castle
Red West champion: Mililani
White champion; Radford 9, Moanalua 7
Red West: Mililani, Waianae, Kapolei, Aiea, Leilehua
Red East: Castle, Kahuku, Kailua, Farrington (McKinley forfeiture for using ineligible player gives Kaimuki fifth seed; Kaimuki declines playoff berth, citing lack of preparation).
White:  Moanalua, Campbell, Radford, Kaiser (coin toss determined seeding)
OIA Red third place: Waianae 17, Farrington 7

2006
OIA Red champion: Kahuku 7, Waianae 0
Red East co-champions: Kahuku, Farrington
Red West co-champions: Waianae, Leilehua
White champion: Waipahu 22, Kaimuki 6
Red East: Kahuku, Farrington, McKinley, Castle, Kailua (Kahuku higher seed by head-to-head)
Red West: Waianae, Leilehua, Mililani, Kapolei, Aiea (Waianae higher seed by head-to-head)
White: Kaiser, Waipahu, Waialua, Kaimuki
OIA Red third place: Mililani 23, Leilehua 21

Anuenue joins football, bringing league up to 23 teams, and is placed in the White.

2007
OIA Red champion: Leilehua 12, Waianae 3
Red East champion: Kahuku
Red West champion: Mililani
White champion: Kaimuki 21, Roosevelt 12
Red East: Kahuku, Farrington, Kalaheo, Castle, Kailua
Red West: Mililani, Waianae, Campbell, Kapolei, Leilehua
White: Kaimuki, Waipahu, Roosevelt, Pearl City
OIA Red third place: Farrington 37, Kapolei 19

2008
OIA Red champion: Kahuku 22, Farrington 19 (2 OT)
Red East champion: Kahuku
Red West champion: Leilehua
White champion: Campbell 28, Radford 14
Red East: Kahuku, Farrington, Castle, Kaimuki, Kailua
Red West: Leilehua, Waianae, Kapolei, Mililani, Waipahu
White: Radford, Campbell, Kalaheo, Aiea (Radford higher seed by head-to-head)
OIA Red third place: Leilehua 32, Waianae 0

2009
OIA Red champion: Kahuku 24, Leilehua 20
Red East champion: Kahuku
Red West co-champions: Leilehua, Waianae
White champion: Moanalua 21, Aiea 7
Red East: Kahuku, Farrington, Castle, Kailua, Kaimuki
Red West: Leilehua, Waianae, Kapolei, Mililani, Campbell (Leilehua higher seed by head-to-head)
White: Moanalua, Aiea, Radford, Kalaheo
OIA Red third place: Farrington 42, Castle 26

2010
OIA Red champion: Mililani by forfeit (Kahuku uses ineligible players in prior games)
Red East co-champions: Kailua, Moanalua (after Kahuku forfeitures).
Red West co-champions: Mililani, Leilehua
White champion: Kaimuki 48, Kalaheo 12
Red East: Not relevant
Red West: Not relevant
White: Kaimuki, Waipahu, Kalaheo, Pearl City
OIA Red third place: Leilehua 28, Waianae 20

6c. Expansion of Red tournament to 12 teams (Top 6 from each division; top two draw first-round byes)

2011
OIA Red champion: Kahuku 23, Farrington 0
Red East champion: Farrington
Red West champion: Leilehua
White champion: Waipahu 9, Pearl City 7
Red East: Farrington, Kahuku, Kailua, Moanalua, Castle, Kaiser
Red West: Leilehua, Campbell, Waianae, Mililani, Kapolei, Aiea
White: Pearl City, Kaimuki, Waipahu, McKinley
OIA Red third place: Leilehua 34, Campbell 14

2012
OIA Red champion: Kahuku 50, Mililani 13
Red East champion: Kahuku
Red West champion: Mililani
White champion: Radford 21, Nanakuli 6
Red East: Kahuku, Farrington, Moanalua, McKinley, Kailua, Castle
Red West: Mililani, Leilehua, Kapolei, Waianae, Campbell, Waipahu
White: Kaiser, Radford, Kalaheo, Nanakuli
OIA Red third place: Farrington 52, Leilehua 26

2013
OIA Red champion: Mililani 37, Farrington 6
Red East champion: Farrington
Red West champion: Mililani
White champion: Kaiser 41, Pearl City 21
Red East: Farrington, Kahuku, McKinley, Moanalua, Kailua, Castle
Red West: Mililani, Campbell, Waianae, Kapolei, Leilehua, Waipahu
White: Kaiser, Kalani, Pearl City, Radford
OIA Red third place: Campbell 28, Kahuku 7

7. Division I Non-geographical Strength of Record
Doing away with Red and White designations and using Division I and Division II terms. Playoff format remains the same with the top six of each division advancing.

Division I Red: Castle, Kahuku, Kaiser, Leilehua, McKinley, Waianae, Waipahu
Division I Blue: Aiea, Campbell, Farrington, Kailua, Kapolei, Mililani, Moanalua
Division II: Anuenue, Kaimuki, Kalaheo, Kalani, Nanakuli, Pearl City, Radford, Roosevelt, Waialua