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New conference alignments and their affect on state championships.

Started by Buck183, October 22, 2018, 05:28:57 pm

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Buck183

With the new conference alignments coming into play again for another two year stint, do you think this will affect schools that are normally in the running for a state championship?  If so, which schools in particular? 

(Guessing this won't get much action until the season starts, but we'll see)

pantherdad

Hey Buck!

Been waiting on a sign of life on this board. I think the 5A conference will be entertaining this upcoming season.

5A South will be better/tougher for us, Benton, by adding El Dorado, Texarkana to the regular season.

But the 5A West will be toughest with the defending 5A champion LRCA and defending (formally 6A) Siloam Springs together, along with Russellville & Greenbrier.

5A East will see Mountain Home, Searcy and Jonesboro fighting it out.

5A Central looks like it should go to Maumelle.

What do you see?

Buck183

Hey Berry!!  Thanks for replying.  I've been in soccer mode since late August due to the college season. 

You and I are always on the same page and usually in girl soccer mode.  I'll make my reply in reference to that. 

I haven't studied it all and wrapped my head around it yet to be honest.  That's why I made this post.  Was trying to get a feel from the masses on teams that I wasn't familiar with.  I do know the state graduated a lot of talent this last year in most of the classes.  I think this will make a difference in the overall makeup of things too.  You guys have a strong returning senior class that I've always had my eye on.  I strongly believe that the West will still be much stronger than the East in both girls and boys play. 

On the girls side Mt Home, Search, and El Derado always look like powerhouses going into the playoffs.  Then you realize they don't actually play anyone and they get hammered in the first or second round. 

I'm with you on LRCA.  They will make things difficult for some of the teams that have done well in 6A in years past.  I know absolutely nothing about Greenbrier to be able to comment.  They are a new entity to me. 

Someone with a better feel for the boys please comment.  The two of us that replied already are self proclaimed girl aficionados. 

Lets Go 5

I agree with both of you.

I think the 5A state champion will come from 5A West. It's a guess as to which team. The state championship will prob really be the 5A semi game.


On a positive note though. The games should be a lot closer and maybe even more OT's.

Not much fun winning 8-1 and serves no purpose as to learning.
I think it's an improvement for the sport.


pantherdad

Just to be upfront, I didn't say I thought the champion for 5A would necessarily come from 5A West; it might come from 5A South: Benton. At least that's what I'm hoping   :)

Buck183

Quote from: pantherdad on October 24, 2018, 09:50:05 am
Just to be upfront, I didn't say I thought the champion for 5A would necessarily come from 5A West; it might come from 5A South: Benton. At least that's what I'm hoping   :)

I never took your words as saying that.  I wouldn't think otherwise.   ;D

You guys are definitely due. 

pantherdad

Ha. We'll see. I'm just hoping for a fun season with more competitive games. Of which, I'm slightly optimistic with the new conferences.

Buck183

Quote from: pantherdad on October 24, 2018, 10:09:42 am
Ha. We'll see. I'm just hoping for a fun season with more competitive games. Of which, I'm slightly optimistic with the new conferences.

I'm excited to see new opponents and new faces. 

jimmyt

http://members.ahsaa.org/public/userfiles/Admin/2018-2020_Other_Class-Conferences.pdf

5A Boys top 4 from each conference:

East:
1. Jonesboro (with Pacheco)
2. Mtn Home (with 5 or 6 foreign exchange kids)
3. Searcy (with a strong senior class including Justin Oliver)
4. Nettleton or Marion

South:
1-3Hot Springs, Benton, Lakeside in any order
4. Texarkana or El Dorado

Central:
1. Hall
2. White Hall
3. Parkview
4. Maumelle

West:
1. Russellville
2. Siloam
3. LRCA
4. Greenbrier

With East playing South and West playing Central 1st round.

beeroe

It's going to be really interesting to see Berryville and Dardanelle challenged by Harrison and Clarksville! I know that they have scheduled these matchups in the past as non-conference games. However, as conference games, it might look a little different. 

I am also really happy to see that AAA has finally created a 3A and below conference. Hopefully, this will provide greater incentive for more smaller schools to add soccer as a sport. Its certainly a more affordable athletic experience than most other sports and will provide an excellent opportunity for many communities!

ArkansasSportsFan

Quote from: beeroe on October 26, 2018, 11:16:48 pm
It's going to be really interesting to see Berryville and Dardanelle challenged by Harrison and Clarksville! I know that they have scheduled these matchups in the past as non-conference games. However, as conference games, it might look a little different. 

I am also really happy to see that AAA has finally created a 3A and below conference. Hopefully, this will provide greater incentive for more smaller schools to add soccer as a sport. Its certainly a more affordable athletic experience than most other sports and will provide an excellent opportunity for many communities!

The only unfortunate thing is that I believe CAC gets to stay in 3a so they'll have the opportunity to run over a lot of less talented teams (especially in girls)

ARSOCCER2017

This will be really great for small schools!! (Except for CAC). This is bad for both parties involved. They need better competition and smaller schools don't learn much from getting beat 12-0!

Red Wolf

LRCA Girls should be good again.  We lost 2 Senior starters (GK & Middle Defender) but everyone else is back.  Got to find a keeper and we have 2 freshmen coming up to vie for that spot.  We should have enough depth from last year to fill in that defender spot.

I'm glad LRCA is moving to the west (not from a travel standpoint) but competition should be better.

I've always thought High School soccer should go to a relegation format to balance the competition.  PA & Harrison & CAC should not be down in 4A or especially 3A as they can compete with 7A teams.  And there are 5-6-7A teams that should move down.  Soccer is different than the big 3 sports...a school team's competitive abilities is driven by the number of girls or boys who play club ball not just enrollment numbers.  For example, how fun would it be to have the following teams in the same conference?

Top division

Central:  MSM, Bryant, Benton, LRCA, PA, CAC, Cabot...maybe Maumelle, Searcy, Russellville or Greenbrier depending on how geography works out for teams in the North, East, South or West.

Sir Alex

4A boys will be decently strong with DeQueen, Dardanelle, Clarksville, PA, Warren, Hope, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Valley View, Batesville, Berryville and whoever else I am missing.

4A Girls most likely will have these teams as the strongest, Valley View, PA, Harrison,DeQueen, Dardanelle, Shiloh, Berryville, Robinson.  I don't know anything about the girls from the new 4A East.

School size makes a little bit of a difference in soccer but not nearly as much as it does in some other sports. 

pantherdad

Anybody understand how the end of season bracket for 5A will be set up, i.e. which conference plays which conference (South, West, Central and East)? I've looked at the past brackets and it looks like it changes from year to year as far as East vs South, or West vs South, etc.

VHSCoach2

Quote from: pantherdad on November 15, 2018, 11:33:10 am
Anybody understand how the end of season bracket for 5A will be set up, i.e. which conference plays which conference (South, West, Central and East)? I've looked at the past brackets and it looks like it changes from year to year as far as East vs South, or West vs South, etc.

For 5A in 2019, the first round of State will feature Central vs. West and East vs. South

ARSOCCER2017

Does anyone know which 3A Conferences will be matched up during the state tournament?

ARSOCCER2017

Looking at 3A Girls...CAC is obvious choice for State Champion.
Who could meet them in the finals??
Episcopal, St. Jospeh, Baptist Prep possibly...field looks to be wide open with small schools with losing records and schools starting up programs.

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