As discussion continues in Wisconsin on whether to add nine-player football for smaller schools struggling with low participation numbers, the Michigan High School Athletic Association has approved a plan for an eight-player playoff division -- apart from the 11-player football playoffs in place since 1975 -- starting with the 2010 season.

The Detroit News reported that the Representative Council of the MHSAA approved 11 recommendations from a committee created to act on feedback received during a series of informational meetings on the issue this winter.

According to the News, only those schools enrollments of 223 students or fewer during the 2009-10 school year  will be eligible for the eight-player division playoff. Those schools interested in playing eight-player football must submit their request twice -- first from an athletic director by Nov. 19 and then from a district administrator by April 1, 2010.

If at least 20 schools agree to the eight-player format, the MHSAA will conduct a 16-team, four-week playoff in 2010. If more than 40 schools commit, a 32-team, five-week playoff will take place.

"It's good to see the MHSAA looking out for the little schools and not just the bigger ones," Waterford Lakes athletic director Mike Boyd, whose school has about 200 students, told the News. "You have schools in the thumb with 13 or 14 players and it (eight-player division) would be good for them. It opens up a lot of schools to compete. Even those who don't have football might think about starting a football program now."