Classifications

[Head Lion]

I heard talk at the spring meeting was to go to 6 maybe even 5, but 6 is what it looks like will happen. I am believer that 7 is way to many for a state our size. I think 5 is real doable, but here 6 is probable. Top 20 schools would be 6A, next 32 5A, next 48 4A, next 64 3A, next 64 2A and everyone else A.

[BoxNOne]

Six would be better than seven but I'd rather see five. JMO.

[Lrbasketballguru]

How soon would this take place, HL? Would be much harder to win a state championship

[Head Lion]

How soon would this take place, HL? Would be much harder to win a state championship

I heard they are going to do it this summer.

[bluegrassboy75]

I heard they are going to do it this summer.

I bet it would go into effect with the 2018-20 rotation.  So you would have one more season with 7 classifications.  Just my guess if it passes.

[WarriorFan]

I heard it will not effect football, still going to have 7 in football. Everything else 6A.

6A top 16
5A- 32
4A-48
3A-64
2A-64
1A remaining

[Head Lion]

I heard it will not effect football, still going to have 7 in football. Everything else 6A.

6A top 16
5A- 32
4A-48
3A-64
2A-64
1A remaining

Warrior fan, you prolly are right.

[Oldref]

Those numbers add up to 224 districts........how many school districts are now in the AAA? Is it  less than 300? Used to be 316 but that was a few years ago.

[Ice Water]

Those numbers add up to 224 districts........how many school districts are now in the AAA? Is it  less than 300? Used to be 316 but that was a few years ago.

288 listed on the 16-18 reclass. And 288-224=64 left in 1A. So that distribution seems to layout pretty cleanly.

[Oldref]

288 listed on the 16-18 reclass. And 288-224=64 left in 1A. So that distribution seems to layout pretty cleanly.

Thanks for the info........I agree this seems to be reasonable to me.

[Nomad1324]

Better than playing folks for "conference" games that don't mean a darn thing.

[NWA Hawg]

If we eliminated a classification then basketball conferences could look like this for
Class 3A

3A 1 West                       3A 1 East
Cedarville                        Bergman
Mansfield                          Clinton
Elkins                          Green Forest
Greenland                       Marshall
Charleston                     
West Fork                    Mountain View
Lincoln                         Valley Springs


3A 2                                 3A 3
Bald Knob                       Corning
Riverview                         Hoxie
Cedar Ridge                     Manila
Harding Academy            Osceola
Cave City                         Piggott
Marianna                       Rivercrest
Newport                           Gosnell
Helena                          Walnut Ridge
                                     Trumann
                                     Harrisburg

3A 4                                  3A 5
Atkins                            Rose Bud
Waldron                  Episcopal Collegiate
Lamar                           Glen Rose
Paris                   Harmony Grove – Haskell
Perryville                     LISA Academy
Two Rivers                     Mayflower
Dover                    Jacksonville Lighthouse
Booneville                      Baptist Prep


3A 7                                  3A 8
Centerpoint                  Drew Central
Fountain Lake                Dollarway
Fouke                          Junction City
Genoa Central               Lake Village
Ashdown                         McGehee
Prescott                         Smackover
Jessiville                           Dumas
Bismarck                           Dewiit
                                        Rison

[Head Lion]

Thanks for the info........I agree this seems to be reasonable to me.

Don't worry Old Ref, there is a "special" rule that says Bay has to have 50 more students than anyone in their classification. LOL

[WarriorFan]

If we eliminated a classification then basketball conferences could look like this for
Class 3A

3A 1 West                       3A 1 East
Cedarville                        Bergman
Mansfield                          Clinton
Elkins                          Green Forest
Greenland                       Marshall
Charleston                     
West Fork                    Mountain View
Lincoln                         Valley Springs


3A 2                                 3A 3
Bald Knob                       Corning
Riverview                         Hoxie
Cedar Ridge                     Manila
Harding Academy            Osceola
Cave City                         Piggott
Marianna                       Rivercrest
Newport                           Gosnell
Helena                          Walnut Ridge
                                     Trumann
                                     Harrisburg

3A 4                                  3A 5
Atkins                            Rose Bud
Waldron                  Episcopal Collegiate
Lamar                           Glen Rose
Paris                   Harmony Grove – Haskell
Perryville                     LISA Academy
Two Rivers                     Mayflower
Dover                    Jacksonville Lighthouse
Booneville                      Baptist Prep


3A 7                                  3A 8
Centerpoint                  Drew Central
Fountain Lake                Dollarway
Fouke                          Junction City
Genoa Central               Lake Village
Ashdown                         McGehee
Prescott                         Smackover
Jessiville                           Dumas
Bismarck                           Dewiit
                                        Rison

I like this!!!

[Oldref]

Don't worry Old Ref, there is a "special" rule that says Bay has to have 50 more students than anyone in their classification. LOL

Not worried at all about Bay HL. They will play where the AAA puts them. By the way what year is the Manila Dynasty you predicted supposed to start? LOL

[gamechanger11]

Is Melbourne moving a classification? I heard they have over 900 students so I would assume they would still be in 3a

[ballmember]

isn't green forest going 4a    how will a conference do with 5 teams  or will more be added

[HorseFeathers]

Is Melbourne moving a classification? I heard they have over 900 students so I would assume they would still be in 3a

Won't be suprised if they drop to 2a in the next cycle(2020-2022)

[Moonshiner]

isn't green forest going 4a    how will a conference do with 5 teams  or will more be added

I believe they will be 4A in football and 3A in basketball

[motivate]

If we eliminated a classification then basketball conferences could look like this for
Class 3A

3A 1 West                       3A 1 East
Cedarville                        Bergman
Mansfield                          Clinton
Elkins                          Green Forest
Greenland                       Marshall
Charleston                     
West Fork                    Mountain View
Lincoln                         Valley Springs


3A 2                                 3A 3
Bald Knob                       Corning
Riverview                         Hoxie
Cedar Ridge                     Manila
Harding Academy            Osceola
Cave City                         Piggott
Marianna                       Rivercrest
Newport                           Gosnell
Helena                          Walnut Ridge
                                     Trumann
                                     Harrisburg

3A 4                                  3A 5
Atkins                            Rose Bud
Waldron                  Episcopal Collegiate
Lamar                           Glen Rose
Paris                   Harmony Grove – Haskell
Perryville                     LISA Academy
Two Rivers                     Mayflower
Dover                    Jacksonville Lighthouse
Booneville                      Baptist Prep


3A 7                                  3A 8
Centerpoint                  Drew Central
Fountain Lake                Dollarway
Fouke                          Junction City
Genoa Central               Lake Village
Ashdown                         McGehee
Prescott                         Smackover
Jessiville                           Dumas
Bismarck                           Dewiit
                                        Rison

3A 5 will be tuff -4 private school and EPC with Baptist Prep boys how many state titles in the past three years between these two teams. 

[biglion1985]

EPC is 2a now ECS on the other hand is 3a lol just messing with ya

[bluegrassboy75]

So from what I understand, this is how the proposal reads (for everything except football, which will remain as is):

6A  Top 16
5A  Next 32
4A  Next 48

Remaining schools will be divided by 3 with the top third going 3A, middle third 2A and last 3rd 1A.  If the number is not divided by three, the remaining schools will go to 1A.

So, what are your thoughts on this?  I personally like the proposal and hope that it passes. 

[neaguru]

So from what I understand, this is how the proposal reads (for everything except football, which will remain as is):

6A  Top 16
5A  Next 32
4A  Next 48

Remaining schools will be divided by 3 with the top third going 3A, middle third 2A and last 3rd 1A.  If the number is not divided by three, the remaining schools will go to 1A.

So, what are your thoughts on this?  I personally like the proposal and hope that it passes.

The only thing I have wrong with it is that some schools will compete in different classifications. They will be 4a in football but 3a in basketball.....that makes zero sense to me.

[RTF]

3A 5 will be tuff -4 private school and EPC with Baptist Prep boys how many state titles in the past three years between these two teams. 

"in the past three years" Maybe three? anything less would just make your post look silly....o wait...

[bluegrassboy75]

The only thing I have wrong with it is that some schools will compete in different classifications. They will be 4a in football but 3a in basketball.....that makes zero sense to me.

I understand that, but the way it was explained in a video I watched was no one wanted to change football (travel time was only once per week than multiple times) so they listened to the coaches and left it alone.  I don't have an explanation but this does seem better than the blended conferences.

[BoxNOne]

Only one more year to endure this blended mess, hopefully.

[biglion1985]

I don't know about y'all but I like the combined conference myself

[redrider30]

I absolutely hate it. More travel for us and it took games away that we could have scheduled tougher opponents. Another thing is having to play teams that you haven't played all year in a district tournament in order to advance to regional is ridiculous. I'm ready to go back to the old way where conference and district tournament the same teams. It might have worked better in 3A but in 2A it was awful.

[old.dole]

I agree 100% red rider

[biglion1985]

Oh yeah I agree 100 percent about the 2A part they did them wrong

[rbhs8990]

So if they are going to vote on having 6 classifications at the end of this month, and rumor is that it will pass with ease, then why did the AAA put the basketball/softball/baseball conferences for the next cycle on their site with 7 divisions?  Is this a "just in case it doesn't pass" thing to fall back on?

[HorseFeathers]

So if they are going to vote on having 6 classifications at the end of this month, and rumor is that it will pass with ease, then why did the AAA put the basketball/softball/baseball conferences for the next cycle on their site with 7 divisions?  Is this a "just in case it doesn't pass" thing to fall back on?

Yes

[bobcats]

Well it passed by the skin of its teeth.  One thing you can count on, the superintendents will always do the wrong thing.  They may be more a more dysfunctional group than Congress, and that is saying something.  If it's such a great proposal then why exclude football?

[bluegrassboy75]

Well it passed by the skin of its teeth.  One thing you can count on, the superintendents will always do the wrong thing.  They may be more a more dysfunctional group than Congress, and that is saying something.  If it's such a great proposal then why exclude football?

From what I've heard football was excluded since they already have just 6 classifications and schools stated it was fine as is.  Take it with a grain of salt, but that is what I was told.

[SouthpawSensation]

From what I've heard football was excluded since they already have just 6 classifications and schools stated it was fine as is.  Take it with a grain of salt, but that is what I was told.

Actually, here is why football was excluded ...
Football is played on Friday nights, with some exceptions. Those teams can afford to get home late that night because there is no school the next morning.
But basketball, softball and baseball have multiple games per week in most instances. Those sports have to play on school nights, then half the time go back to school the next day. That's players and coaches as well.

[Head Lion]

I believe they have pushed me to far this time. 3A has Ar. Baptist, Harding, CAC & ECS. I think Ill will lawyer up, file the injuction on Wednesday before jr hi football games start on that Thursday. It serve the dang AAA right.

[bluegrassboy75]

I believe they have pushed me to far this time. 3A has Ar. Baptist, Harding, CAC & ECS. I think Ill will lawyer up, file the injuction on Wednesday before jr hi football games start on that Thursday. It serve the dang AAA right.

Thank the school administrators.  They voted it in (barely).

[Ice Water]

I believe they have pushed me to far this time. 3A has Ar. Baptist, Harding, CAC & ECS. I think Ill will lawyer up, file the injuction on Wednesday before jr hi football games start on that Thursday. It serve the dang AAA right.

I'm not sure I understand your point. 4/65 3A schools is 6.15%. 4A will have 3/48 or 6.25%. 1A will have 5/65 or 7.69%. The current 4A set up has 4/48 or 8.33%.

[Head Lion]

I'm not sure I understand your point. 4/65 3A schools is 6.15%. 4A will have 3/48 or 6.25%. 1A will have 5/65 or 7.69%. The current 4A set up has 4/48 or 8.33%.

So if we are going on %, a mathematician would expect somewhere in the (ballpark) private schools would win these % in state championships? Heck they have won 4 of the last 5 in 3A. The only year they didn't was Austin Reeves Sr year at Cedar Ridge. Does it take a major D1 player to win state in 3A. I wouldn't think so. All I'm am saying is 25 years ago when there where 6-8 private schools, it didn't make sense to a private school division. It does now.

[bobcats]

You could also add Jacksonville Lighthouse Charter into the equation.  While not a private school, they do function like one in that they can pull kids from a large metropolitan area.

[Ice Water]

So if we are going on %, a mathematician would expect somewhere in the (ballpark) private schools would win these % in state championships? Heck they have won 4 of the last 5 in 3A. The only year they didn't was Austin Reeves Sr year at Cedar Ridge. Does it take a major D1 player to win state in 3A. I wouldn't think so. All I'm am saying is 25 years ago when there where 6-8 private schools, it didn't make sense to a private school division. It does now.

I see your point now. Not saying that I necessarily agree with it, but I see your point now. I'd need some help researching this, but I'm also not sure the difference in quantity of private schools today vs 25 years ago is a large as you suggest. There are currently 16 private schools in the AAA. I believe all but LRC, ECS, & CCS were around 25 years ago. Others, such as LR Lutheran, Fayetteville Christian, Pine Bluff St Joe, Westside Christian, & Union Christian, have left or gone away entirely.

[bobcats]

Now that it is passed, do they stick with 8 conferences with 8 teams or go with smaller conferences to save on travel. 

[bluegrassboy75]

Now that it is passed, do they stick with 8 conferences with 8 teams or go with smaller conferences to save on travel. 

Quoted from the proposal:

3A Eight conferences with no fewer than 7 and no more than 9 schools in each conference.  Top 4 qualify for Regional.

[bobcats]

Quoted from the proposal:

3A Eight conferences with no fewer than 7 and no more than 9 schools in each conference.  Top 4 qualify for Regional.

Thanks

[Head Lion]

Another problem I have is the 3A3 has 4(half its conference is in the top 12 in enrollment numbers in 3A division)Truman, Gosnell, Rivercrest & Harrisburg. Then you throw in Osceola & Manila. I know it's just by geography those end up in the same conference, just seems inequitable to me.

[bobcats]

I don't have any idea what they will do with the 3A-1E conference.  Half of our old conference have dropped to 2A.  We still have Marshall, VS, Bergman and Mountain View plus the more recent additions GF and Clinton.  Going to have to stretch to find two more teams.  Maybe Rose Bud and Cave City, but that is stretching pretty far.

[bluegrassboy75]

I don't have any idea what they will do with the 3A-1E conference.  Half of our old conference have dropped to 2A.  We still have Marshall, VS, Bergman and Mountain View plus the more recent additions GF and Clinton.  Going to have to stretch to find two more teams.  Maybe Rose Bud and Cave City, but that is stretching pretty far.

I'm probably wrong but my guess is a 7 team conference with:
Bergman
Marshall
Valley Springs
Clinton
Mountain View
Cave City
Green Forest

[Ice Water]

I don't have any idea what they will do with the 3A-1E conference.  Half of our old conference have dropped to 2A.  We still have Marshall, VS, Bergman and Mountain View plus the more recent additions GF and Clinton.  Going to have to stretch to find two more teams.  Maybe Rose Bud and Cave City, but that is stretching pretty far.

I wouldn't be surprised to see GF, Bergman, and VS sent west to the Fayetteville area while Marshall, Clinton, and MV get put with schools down 65 or around Searcy.

[bobcats]

I thought that this was done to decrease travel, not increase it.