Proposal to Go back to 32 Team Large Class

[Hoghead]

but from an outdoor and aesthetic point of view, it is simply a dull area.

Depends on one's perspective.

Helena, as far as jobs go, took a staggering hit when the tire factory closed.

In what way, Ivan?  Elaborate, please.

It depends on one's perspective on outdoors and aesthetics.

Please elaborate on "dull".

Dull, as in have you ever been to Wynne, Arkansas ?

Yep, been to Hope also. 

Yea....but Hope isnt as dull as Wynne. I mean homeristicly speaking of course !

[SGT.HULKA]

How about this, and if you look at the numbers it would be as equitable as anything we have.

6A-Top 16 largest. current 7A
5A- next 32. current 6A and 16 largest 5A
4A- next 48. current small 5A and large 4A
3A- next 48. current small 4A and large 3A
2A- remainder of football playing schools. maybe between 60-64, not sure.

You have no diluted classifications like the current 6A.
EITHER school size OR travel will have to be the determining factor. Arkansas is too small to satisfy all parties involved on both of these points.
This, like EVERY proposal, is going to have some flaws but at least it is some food for thought.

[MarionBlueDevil]

It's great to sit here and come up with different solutions, but the fact is that the AAA has their reasons for doing whatever it is that they do.

[sevenof400]

It's great to sit here and come up with different solutions, but the fact is that the AAA has their reasons for doing whatever it is that they do.

The sloth remains motionless too.

[GuvHog]

but from an outdoor and aesthetic point of view, it is simply a dull area.

Depends on one's perspective.

Helena, as far as jobs go, took a staggering hit when the tire factory closed.

Probably isn't helping the school any that a Charter school that is rapidly growing(jumped from middle of the pack 1A to large 2A this past cycle) is in the same city...

Isn't there a large private school there (Desoto Academy) that is a member of a Mississippi conference?? That's bound to be hurting them too.

[GuvHog]

How about this, and if you look at the numbers it would be as equitable as anything we have.

6A-Top 16 largest. current 7A
5A- next 32. current 6A and 16 largest 5A
4A- next 48. current small 5A and large 4A
3A- next 48. current small 4A and large 3A
2A- remainder of football playing schools. maybe between 60-64, not sure.

You have no diluted classifications like the current 6A.
EITHER school size OR travel will have to be the determining factor. Arkansas is too small to satisfy all parties involved on both of these points.
This, like EVERY proposal, is going to have some flaws but at least it is some food for thought.

Here's the one I suggested before:

7A - 24
6A - 32
5A - 32
4A - 32
3A - 40
2A - the rest (around 40 I believe)

[SouthpawSensation]

but from an outdoor and aesthetic point of view, it is simply a dull area.

Depends on one's perspective.

Helena, as far as jobs go, took a staggering hit when the tire factory closed.

Probably isn't helping the school any that a Charter school that is rapidly growing(jumped from middle of the pack 1A to large 2A this past cycle) is in the same city...

Isn't there a large private school there (Desoto Academy) that is a member of a Mississippi conference?? That's bound to be hurting them too.

You are correct. It's one of four Arkansas schools that are a part of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools.

[HorseFeathers]

How about this, and if you look at the numbers it would be as equitable as anything we have.

6A-Top 16 largest. current 7A
5A- next 32. current 6A and 16 largest 5A
4A- next 48. current small 5A and large 4A
3A- next 48. current small 4A and large 3A
2A- remainder of football playing schools. maybe between 60-64, not sure.

You have no diluted classifications like the current 6A.
EITHER school size OR travel will have to be the determining factor. Arkansas is too small to satisfy all parties involved on both of these points.
This, like EVERY proposal, is going to have some flaws but at least it is some food for thought.

6A...Largest Bentonville at 2877 students
Smallest Catholic at 969 students(Smallest Public school West memphis @ 1290)
5A--Largest Russellville @ 1148(largest in 6A)
Smallest Maumelle @ 670(Mid 5A)
4A--Largest Paragould @ 645.33(current middle of 5A)
Smallest Harrisburg @ 335(current 31st in 4A)
3A--Largest Dollarway @ 333.33(current 32nd in 4A)
Smallest--Two Rivers @ 220(30th in 3A)
2A--Piggott @ 219.33(31st in 3A)
Smallest Hartford @ 90 students

there would be approximately 70 schools in 2A...

Here's the one I suggested before:

7A - 24
6A - 32
5A - 32
4A - 32
3A - 40
2A - the rest (around 40 I believe)

7A--Largest Bentonville @ 2878
Smallest--Marion @ 977(24th in state)
6A--Largest Sheridan @ 951
Smallest Camden Fairview @ 550
5A--Largest Valley View @ 529
Smallest--Southside Batesville @ 367
4A--Largest Waldron @ 366
Smallest--Osceola @ 276
3A--Largest Bald Knob @ 272
Smallest Smackover @ 198
2A--Largest Greenland @ 195
Smallest hartford @ 90

Would have approximately 57 teams in smallest class.


Here's the question though..Do we still ignore the schools that don't play football when making classifications and just tell the other sports to deal with odd ball sized conferences?(it's what I did in throwing out these numbers...)

[Hoghead]

Camden Fairview is the smallest 5A school ? ^^^^^^^ Your numbers are backwards or something. Valley View is the largest 5A School ? But CFHS has larger numbers. Oh I see, it's CFHS as a 6A school. My bad !!!!!!

[AirWarren]

but from an outdoor and aesthetic point of view, it is simply a dull area.

Depends on one's perspective.

Helena, as far as jobs go, took a staggering hit when the tire factory closed.

In what way, Ivan?  Elaborate, please.

It depends on one's perspective on outdoors and aesthetics.

Please elaborate on "dull".

I tend to view SE Arkansas as farm country - flat, uninteresting terrain with few areas of interest (few scenic views).  I know there is a good bit of hunting in that area but that really isn't my thing. 

To be fair, I view NE Arkansas in a similar manner as well - everything in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain to be more geographically specific. 

I find the Ozark Mountain and Arkansas Valley areas (with their varying terrains) much more visually pleasing.  I haven't had the opportunity to visit much of the Ouachita Mountain region - perhaps I'll get to soon. 

It's all in what you like I suppose. 

The area where my family land in Warren isn't flat. Lots of pine. Hills that are called "bluffs" around the Saline River surrounded by tall pines and hardwood. Beautiful.

[GuvHog]

How about this, and if you look at the numbers it would be as equitable as anything we have.

6A-Top 16 largest. current 7A
5A- next 32. current 6A and 16 largest 5A
4A- next 48. current small 5A and large 4A
3A- next 48. current small 4A and large 3A
2A- remainder of football playing schools. maybe between 60-64, not sure.

You have no diluted classifications like the current 6A.
EITHER school size OR travel will have to be the determining factor. Arkansas is too small to satisfy all parties involved on both of these points.
This, like EVERY proposal, is going to have some flaws but at least it is some food for thought.

6A...Largest Bentonville at 2877 students
Smallest Catholic at 969 students(Smallest Public school West memphis @ 1290)
5A--Largest Russellville @ 1148(largest in 6A)
Smallest Maumelle @ 670(Mid 5A)
4A--Largest Paragould @ 645.33(current middle of 5A)
Smallest Harrisburg @ 335(current 31st in 4A)
3A--Largest Dollarway @ 333.33(current 32nd in 4A)
Smallest--Two Rivers @ 220(30th in 3A)
2A--Piggott @ 219.33(31st in 3A)
Smallest Hartford @ 90 students

there would be approximately 70 schools in 2A...

Here's the one I suggested before:

7A - 24
6A - 32
5A - 32
4A - 32
3A - 40
2A - the rest (around 40 I believe)

7A--Largest Bentonville @ 2878
Smallest--Marion @ 977(24th in state)
6A--Largest Sheridan @ 951
Smallest Camden Fairview @ 550
5A--Largest Valley View @ 529
Smallest--Southside Batesville @ 367
4A--Largest Waldron @ 366
Smallest--Osceola @ 276
3A--Largest Bald Knob @ 272
Smallest Smackover @ 198
2A--Largest Greenland @ 195
Smallest hartford @ 90

Would have approximately 57 teams in smallest class.


Here's the question though..Do we still ignore the schools that don't play football when making classifications and just tell the other sports to deal with odd ball sized conferences?(it's what I did in throwing out these numbers...)

Doesn't the AAA do that anyway?? They aren't about to make a non football school travel to a conference not in their area because the one they would normally play in already has 8 teams. Odd ball sized conferences are common in the lower 2 classifications anyway, especially in the 2A division.

[sevenof400]

The area where my family land in Warren isn't flat. Lots of pine. Hills that are called "bluffs" around the Saline River surrounded by tall pines and hardwood. Beautiful.

I'll have to get down to your neck of the woods, AirWarren, as that does sound nice. 

[AirWarren]

The area where my family land in Warren isn't flat. Lots of pine. Hills that are called "bluffs" around the Saline River surrounded by tall pines and hardwood. Beautiful.

I'll have to get down to your neck of the woods, AirWarren, as that does sound nice. 

Beautiful area to me. Plus it's home. The timberland region is awesome to me. The delta is pretty sometimes of the year, but it's too flat for me.

[luckyduck]

The Delta, the armpit of Arkansas

[MarionBlueDevil]

The Delta, the armpit of Arkansas

How dare you.

[luckyduck]

Well I could have said something worse

[blueandwhite]

I posted this in another topic months ago. This is how Wisconsin does it. We could just need to massage the numbers, like take the top 112 teams and make 7 16-team playoffs.


Schools play in conferences with other schools similar in size and geographic area, but not exact numbers like in Arkansas. 

When it comes to playoffs they take 224 teams. All conference champions and all schools with a .500 or better conference record go to the playoffs.

They than divide the schools into seven 32 team divisions, by enrollment. The top 32 schools in enrollment are div 1, next 32 are div 2, etc. They than divide the divisions into four regions and play it out. Now granted there could be a difference of over 2000 students between to largest div 1 school and the smallest div 1 school, but no system is perfect.

If there are not 224 teams or more than 224 eligible, they have a tie breaker systems in place for that.

Other interesting notes they do:
1.In the first three rounds, if schools are more than 120 miles apart they can agree to play at centralized neutral site or play on Saturday
2.The coaches meet the Saturday after the last regular season game and does the seedings for their region.
3. They allow school districts to combine to make a team. Example Hartford and Hackett could combine to form one football team

This just an option I thought I would throw out there, since nobody has a perfect solution. Now you can tear it all apart

[Lions84]

Desoto and Marvell Academy are in Phillips County and they pull in kids from the surrounding counties.  Lee County got Lee Academy.  The Privates are getting stronger in the past few years with consolidation.

[wildcat_x-mgr]

I posted this in another topic months ago. This is how Wisconsin does it. We could just need to massage the numbers, like take the top 112 teams and make 7 16-team playoffs.


Schools play in conferences with other schools similar in size and geographic area, but not exact numbers like in Arkansas. 

When it comes to playoffs they take 224 teams. All conference champions and all schools with a .500 or better conference record go to the playoffs.

They than divide the schools into seven 32 team divisions, by enrollment. The top 32 schools in enrollment are div 1, next 32 are div 2, etc. They than divide the divisions into four regions and play it out. Now granted there could be a difference of over 2000 students between to largest div 1 school and the smallest div 1 school, but no system is perfect.

If there are not 224 teams or more than 224 eligible, they have a tie breaker systems in place for that.

Other interesting notes they do:
1.In the first three rounds, if schools are more than 120 miles apart they can agree to play at centralized neutral site or play on Saturday
2.The coaches meet the Saturday after the last regular season game and does the seedings for their region.
3. They allow school districts to combine to make a team. Example Hartford and Hackett could combine to form one football team

This just an option I thought I would throw out there, since nobody has a perfect solution. Now you can tear it all apart

Interesting, but confusing... So as far as the regular season goes, there are no classifications/divisions, because those are only decided after seeing who's eligible for post-season play?

BTW, I do really like the idea of neutral site playoff games for schools clear across the state from each other.

[blueandwhite]

That is correct their are no classifiactions in the regular season. In fact there are some conferences where there is over a 1000 student difference between the largest school and the smallest school.

The conference I am familar with has 9 schools in it, and 5 qualified for the play-offs last season. 2 of them played in divsion 3 and the other 3 played in division 4

[ricepig]

That is correct their are no classifiactions in the regular season. In fact there are some conferences where there is over a 1000 student difference between the largest school and the smallest school.

The conference I am familar with has 9 schools in it, and 5 qualified for the play-offs last season. 2 of them played in divsion 3 and the other 3 played in division 4

We already have that with Bentonville and half of 7A.

[HorseFeathers]

I posted this in another topic months ago. This is how Wisconsin does it. We could just need to massage the numbers, like take the top 112 teams and make 7 16-team playoffs.


Schools play in conferences with other schools similar in size and geographic area, but not exact numbers like in Arkansas. 

When it comes to playoffs they take 224 teams. All conference champions and all schools with a .500 or better conference record go to the playoffs.

They than divide the schools into seven 32 team divisions, by enrollment. The top 32 schools in enrollment are div 1, next 32 are div 2, etc. They than divide the divisions into four regions and play it out. Now granted there could be a difference of over 2000 students between to largest div 1 school and the smallest div 1 school, but no system is perfect.

If there are not 224 teams or more than 224 eligible, they have a tie breaker systems in place for that.

Other interesting notes they do:
1.In the first three rounds, if schools are more than 120 miles apart they can agree to play at centralized neutral site or play on Saturday
2.The coaches meet the Saturday after the last regular season game and does the seedings for their region.
3. They allow school districts to combine to make a team. Example Hartford and Hackett could combine to form one football team

This just an option I thought I would throw out there, since nobody has a perfect solution. Now you can tear it all apart

Top playoff division would only have teams from 6A and 7A
2nd Playoff Division would all be 5A schools
3rd Would feature all 4A schools
4th 6 4A schools 10 3A Schools
5th 16 3A schools
6th 2 3A schools 14 2A schools
7th 12 2A schools is all that would have qualified

[blueandwhite]

I am not saying taking 224 teams, because that would be majority of the schools in Arkansas. Maybe take 112. What does that do with the numbers?

[HorseFeathers]

I am not saying taking 224 teams, because that would be majority of the schools in Arkansas. Maybe take 112. What does that do with the numbers?

Only 92 schools qualified based on the being at or above .500 in conference.

[blueandwhite]

So make 5 16-team classes and play ball

[HorseFeathers]

So make 5 16-team classes and play ball

5 16 team divisions, and 1 20 team division(I apparently badly miscounted earlier).

Only one division from this past year wouldn't have had a team that actually won a championship in it too...