You are right. There is nothing like a close 2A game on a chilly November evening when playoff spots are being contested, especially if your kid is playing. For all the bad press it has it merits.
Another silly thing is the taking of 3 teams from each district to playoffs. Taking a 3rd place team that was 2-3 in district ( maybe .500 for season ) to the playoffs is fodder for the others. Only on rare occasion do these teams advance past the first round. This maybe the soccer mom thing were you need more winners to bolster self-esteem. I think it is so coaches can say I took my team to the playoffs X years without having to give an actual win-loss record.
Go back like it was, district winner takes all. When they implemented this it confirmed it was all about money and extending the season.
Which schools do you follow? We're in Central Texas. In the playoffs this year, we faced Grandview, Cisco, Cooper, Celina, Canadian and Troup. We broke Celina's 70 game winning 2A winning streak, but our toughest game was Cisco (three point win in double overtime, we were down 15 with 8 minutes left).