Before this year, qualifying for the New Jersey state tournament was cut-and-dried in most sports: compile a .500 or better record by the cutoff date, or miss the boat. But with a rule change going into effect for the fall season, teams who fall short of .500 could still find themselves in the states, depending on the strength of their particular sections.

The rule will eliminate byes in the early rounds of the state tournaments for soccer and field hockey (and a number of other sports throughout the year). So, for example, if 11 teams meet the .500 threshold in a section, five more teams will be added to the bracket to fill it up to 16. If eight or fewer teams qualify, the bracket will be limited to eight teams.

That makes the process of figuring out who is in, and out, of the states far more complicated than in the past. Here's a look at where things stand as we reach the cutoff dates:

Boys' Soccer:

Friday is the cutoff, and a number of area soccer teams are clearly headed for the states. Wayne Valley, Montville, Passaic Valley, Wayne Hills, Montville, Kinnelon and Whippany Park had their spots locked up previously. DePaul picked up the win it needed on Thursday, and Pequannock ran off four wins in a row to get over .500 just in time for the cutoff.

A couple of other teams may have to hope the new rule gets them in. Mountain Lakes has a 6-7-1 record and could automatically qualify with a win Friday, but beating Whippany Park will be extremely tough. Pompton Lakes owns a win over Clifton this season, but is 6-9 overall. A win Friday against Lodi would boost their chances of a wild-card berth.

Girls' Soccer:

Some local soccer teams have never been in danger of missing the playoffs. Kinnelon, Whippany Park, Pompton Lakes, Wayne Hills and DePaul appear to fit in that category. Lakeland, after a tough start to the year, has rallied to reach the Friday cutoff with a 9-7 mark and will also return to the states.

Fingers will be crossed at three local schools. Two of those, West Milford and Pequannock, will fall just one game shy of the .500 mark and would be at the front of the line for a wild-card bid, but they'll have to hope the rest of the math works in their favor. Mountain Lakes isn't too much further back with a 6-8-1 record.

Field Hockey:

The cutoff passed on Wednesday in field hockey, so teams are already assessing their situation as they look ahead. Seven local teams already know they'll be in the states for sure: Wayne Hills, Pompton Lakes, Passaic Valley, Lakeland, West Milford, Boonton and Mountain Lakes.

But the new "fill the brackets" rule creates some unusual situations. Whippany Park, despite being 5-9, appears to have a solid shot to get in the North Jersey Section 1, Group I states. Montville, which hit the cutoff just a game under .500 at 5-6-1, could get left out in Section 1, Group III.

The oddest scenario involves Pequannock, with its long field hockey tradition. The Panthers lost a game to Parsippany on Wednesday to drop to 6-7-2, one game below the automatic threshold. In past years, that would have meant no state playoffs. But North Jersey Section 1, Group II appears to have nine qualifying teams. Under the new rule, the bracket would be filled with non-qualifiers up to 16 teams. But since fewer schools play field hockey, there are only 14 schools in the entire section--which appears to mean every team in North 1, Group II will qualify for the states. If that's confirmed, Pequannock will get to continue its streak of playing in the postseason, although the meaning of qualifying for the states would be somewhat diminished when everyone gets in. -- Paul Mencher for Jersey Sports Now