Northern Athletic Conference football will crown an overall playoff champion in 2012.

The postseason format was adopted recently in a 6-2 vote by the athletic directors of the football schools. The postseason format was adopted following the decision by Section 10 and Section 7 to end their interlocking regular season schedule.

The four teams in the NAC with the best overall record will play in NAC semifinals on week eight with the week eight winners advancing into the NAC championship game on week nine. A lower tier playoff will also be held involving the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth seeded teams.

The NAC will feature a seven-game regular season in 2012 where the Section 10 Class B, Class C and Class D state tournament representatives will be decided by best overall records.

Gouverneur, Malone and St. Lawrence Central are the Class B candidates, Canton and OFA are the only Class C schools, and Tupper Lake will be the Class D reprentative for regional play. The state representatives in Class B, C and D will play the Section 7 representatives on the 10th week of the season.

Since there are no Class A schools in Section 7, Potsdam and Massena will play off for the Section 10 Class A berth on the 10th week if the two teams do not meet in the NAC playoffs. The Section 10 Class A representative will meet the Section 2 state representative on the 11th week of the season.

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