It’s December and the Pittsburgh Steelers are 9-5 and in a playoff race.

Only in this alternate universe, the NFL has no set guideline for who makes the playoffs beyond division winners. These “at-large” bids are determined by a committee and the criteria it will use is arbitrary at best.

Oh, and instead of six teams — or even eight — the committee decides, eh, we’ll just take five.

Sound absurd? Well, it is. But this is also the norm in PIAA District 10.

And it needs to change.

Mapping the human genome seems like an easier thing to do than figuring out what teams will make the playoffs in D-10.

You see, in that district, playoff fields are decided in a maddening way. Region winners are guaranteed a spot. The rest, though, are decided by a committee.

It’s like American Idol, high school edition, with J. Lo., Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson picking playoff teams.

Unlike the WPIAL, there is no “finish in the top three in your section and you make the playoffs. Yay for you.”

Even more ludicrous is the fact that the number of playoff teams are different depending on the classification.

In D-10 Class AAA softball this year, the playoff field is five.

Yes, five — perhaps the oddest number you can have for a playoff bracket.

This is going to impact the Slippery Rock High softball team — big time.

Slippery Rock finished second in Region 5-AAA (well, technically third because Johnstown, a Class AA school, was in its region, but that’s another topic for another day) with an 8-7 overall record and a 6-4 mark in the region. Hickory (11-5, 9-1) is the champion and is guaranteed a playoff spot.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

In Region 6-AAA, there are four teams with a better record than the Rockets (Warren, Ft. LeBoeuf, Harbor Creek and Corry).

If the district had a set playoff determination, like, say, the top two in each region and one at-large bid, Slippery Rock would be in.

But, with no guarantee beyond region winners, the Rockets may be left out in the cold.

How is the committee going to justify taking Slippery Rock over Harbor Creek or Corry, which have better overall records?

It’s a conundrum that doesn’t have to exist.

The real head scratcher here is why District 10 decided to take five teams into the Class AAA softball playoffs?

Why not six? Or eight?

Class A is taking six. So is Class AA. But there’s only five in Class AAA.

It makes little sense.

It’s time for D-10 to start making sense for a change.