Conference Changes??

[bigdoug]

Hey does anyone know why the conferences are changed this year and combined with 4a teams???

[billybob101]

and I was wondering if there was a place you could go and read about it, how it works , how district tournament will work as far as who will be ranked # 1 , 2 and so forth.

[bluegrassboy75]

If I remember correctly, this comes as a result of 6A not wanting to be in the same conferences as 7A, so they made the proposal for the voting reps (schools) to vote on and this is how they did it.

In Football, everybody plays same classification for Conference.  In all other sports, they combined 1A & 2A, 3A & 4A, 5A & 6A and kept 7A by themselves for the regular season.  They are split up in "Districts".

After the regular season, you go back to your classification and have a Conference tournament.  Each individual conference will set how their Conference tournament brackets are seeded.  I know of some where all coaches/ADs will get into a room and discuss it and seed them that way.  Some will have East/West or North/South matchups (1E v 4W, etc).  From there, the top 4 teams in classes 1A, 2A, 3A & 4A will advance to the Regional tournament as always.  Top 4 from Regional will go to the State Tournament.  In 5A & 6A, they will also have to play a Conference tournament for the first time in quite a few years (if ever).  In 5A, the top 4 teams will advance to the State tournament and in 6A the top 6 teams will advance.

I've studied all of this and tried to make heads and tails out of it.  The bad thing is a lot of the smaller classification schools abstained from voting on this issue.  I don't think it would have passed if they hadn't done that.  Every school in the AAA has a voting rep and it is those reps who voted this in.

I know this is long, but I hope it helped answer any questions.

[OB11]

If I remember correctly, this comes as a result of 6A not wanting to be in the same conferences as 7A, so they made the proposal for the voting reps (schools) to vote on and this is how they did it.

In Football, everybody plays same classification for Conference.  In all other sports, they combined 1A & 2A, 3A & 4A, 5A & 6A and kept 7A by themselves for the regular season.  They are split up in "Districts".

After the regular season, you go back to your classification and have a Conference tournament.  Each individual conference will set how their Conference tournament brackets are seeded.  I know of some where all coaches/ADs will get into a room and discuss it and seed them that way.  Some will have East/West or North/South matchups (1E v 4W, etc).  From there, the top 4 teams in classes 1A, 2A, 3A & 4A will advance to the Regional tournament as always.  Top 4 from Regional will go to the State Tournament.  In 5A & 6A, they will also have to play a Conference tournament for the first time in quite a few years (if ever).  In 5A, the top 5 teams will advance to the State tournament and in 6A the top 6 teams will advance.

I've studied all of this and tried to make heads and tails out of it.  The bad thing is a lot of the smaller classification schools abstained from voting on this issue.  I don't think it would have passed if they hadn't done that.  Every school in the AAA has a voting rep and it is those reps who voted this in.

I know this is long, but I hope it helped answer any questions.

That's about as straightforward and simple as it can be explained.  Thanks for the post!

[Ice Water]

Wait, 5A is taking five teams from conference tournament to state rather than four? We can't do anything simple anymore.

[RedWolf275]

It took a twisted mind to think of this.

[ZoneBuster]

It's all to save travel expenses, as well. So I'm not sure why some think smaller schools wouldn't be in favor of it, possibly save a nice chunk of money.

It's similar to what Missouri does. Conference teams are made up of dissimilar classifications. They do it in football too, though. So you could theoretically be 0-fer and still win state because you're guaranteed a district game.

[Ice Water]

So I'm guessing something has changed since the original proposal.  Bluegrassboy is stating 5A sends five teams to state and 6A sends six.  And I know that 1A has ten conferences and 2A has only six.  But if you look at the wording of the original proposal, none of these things were actually the case.  Anyone know when these things changed?  Keeping things in multiples of four would have made the postseason bracketing so much smoother.

"Classifications will be assigned to conferences to qualify teams to the state tournament as follows:
7A – Two with no fewer than seven and no more than nine.  Conferences will certify four teams to the
state tournament by regular season play or conference tournament.
6A – Two with eight schools.  Conferences will certify four teams to the state tournament by a conference
tournament.
5A – Four with eight schools.  Conferences will certify four teams to the state tournament by a confer‐
ence tournament.
4A – Six with no fewer than six and no more than ten schools.  Conferences will certify four teams to the
regional tournament by a conference tournament.  The top four teams in the regional tournament
will qualify for the state tournament.
3A – Eight with no fewer than six and no more than ten schools.  Conferences will certify four teams to
the regional tournament by a conference tournament.  The top four teams in the regional tourna‐
ment will qualify for the state tournament.
2A – Eight with no fewer than six and no more than ten schools.  Conferences will certify four teams to
the regional tournament by a conference tournament. The top four teams in the regional tournament
will qualify for the state tournament.
1A – Eight with no fewer than six and no more than ten schools.  Conferences will certify four teams to
the regional tournament by a conference tournament.  The top four teams in the regional tourna‐
ment will qualify for the state tournament."

[HorseFeathers]

Was told in a post on 1a board that 1a will have 5 regions, and expand state tournament to 20 teams....

[Ice Water]

^Right. I'm just trying to figure out at what point in the process it changed.

[bluegrassboy75]

That is what I was told on 5A & 6A. Now, my source my have been mistaken. I questioned that as well.

1A is going to 5 Regionals with each regional sending 4 schools so the state tournament will be expanded from 16 to 20 teams in 1A.

[lostintheweeds]

If I remember correctly, this comes as a result of 6A not wanting to be in the same conferences as 7A, so they made the proposal for the voting reps (schools) to vote on and this is how they did it.

In Football, everybody plays same classification for Conference.  In all other sports, they combined 1A & 2A, 3A & 4A, 5A & 6A and kept 7A by themselves for the regular season.  They are split up in "Districts".

After the regular season, you go back to your classification and have a Conference tournament.  Each individual conference will set how their Conference tournament brackets are seeded.  I know of some where all coaches/ADs will get into a room and discuss it and seed them that way.  Some will have East/West or North/South matchups (1E v 4W, etc).  From there, the top 4 teams in classes 1A, 2A, 3A & 4A will advance to the Regional tournament as always.  Top 4 from Regional will go to the State Tournament.  In 5A & 6A, they will also have to play a Conference tournament for the first time in quite a few years (if ever).  In 5A, the top 5 teams will advance to the State tournament and in 6A the top 6 teams will advance.

I've studied all of this and tried to make heads and tails out of it.  The bad thing is a lot of the smaller classification schools abstained from voting on this issue.  I don't think it would have passed if they hadn't done that.  Every school in the AAA has a voting rep and it is those reps who voted this in.

I know this is long, but I hope it helped answer any questions.

So, help me get this... For the district tournament, would a 3a team play just the other 3a teams they played in the "regular season," or does it expand to include all teams that were in the broader district played in other sports (like football)?
Thanks.

[bluegrassboy75]

Ok all, I finally had time to research myself and I have corrected by previous post about 5 teams from 5A.  I had questioned it and went with a source before doing the necessary research and I apologize.  5A will only be sending 4 teams from their Conference tournaments to the State tournament.

Again, I apologize for my mistake.

[bluegrassboy75]

So, help me get this... For the district tournament, would a 3a team play just the other 3a teams they played in the "regular season," or does it expand to include all teams that were in the broader district played in other sports (like football)?
Thanks.

Lostintheweeds,

Your school will is actually assigned into two things.  First is the "conference" which is made up of only 3A schools.  The second is "districts" which are the combination of 3A & 4A.  You will play your round robin regular season games in your district, then come together with your conference to play the conference tournament.  If you will let me know the school(s) you support, then I can give you an example.

[bluegrassboy75]

So I'm guessing something has changed since the original proposal.  Bluegrassboy is stating 5A sends five teams to state and 6A sends six.  And I know that 1A has ten conferences and 2A has only six.  But if you look at the wording of the original proposal, none of these things were actually the case.  Anyone know when these things changed?  Keeping things in multiples of four would have made the postseason bracketing so much smoother.

"Classifications will be assigned to conferences to qualify teams to the state tournament as follows:
7A – Two with no fewer than seven and no more than nine.  Conferences will certify four teams to the
state tournament by regular season play or conference tournament.
6A – Two with eight schools.  Conferences will certify four teams to the state tournament by a conference
tournament.
5A – Four with eight schools.  Conferences will certify four teams to the state tournament by a confer‐
ence tournament.
4A – Six with no fewer than six and no more than ten schools.  Conferences will certify four teams to the
regional tournament by a conference tournament.  The top four teams in the regional tournament
will qualify for the state tournament.
3A – Eight with no fewer than six and no more than ten schools.  Conferences will certify four teams to
the regional tournament by a conference tournament.  The top four teams in the regional tourna‐
ment will qualify for the state tournament.
2A – Eight with no fewer than six and no more than ten schools.  Conferences will certify four teams to
the regional tournament by a conference tournament. The top four teams in the regional tournament
will qualify for the state tournament.
1A – Eight with no fewer than six and no more than ten schools.  Conferences will certify four teams to
the regional tournament by a conference tournament.  The top four teams in the regional tourna‐
ment will qualify for the state tournament."

Thank you for this Ice Water.  That's what I get for listening instead of researching.  My apologies.

[lostintheweeds]

Lostintheweeds,

Your school will is actually assigned into two things.  First is the "conference" which is made up of only 3A schools.  The second is "districts" which are the combination of 3A & 4A.  You will play your round robin regular season games in your district, then come together with your conference to play the conference tournament.  If you will let me know the school(s) you support, then I can give you an example.

Thank you, Bluegrass. I'm completely new to all of this.  Will be in the stands rooting for Charleston.  Can you use their conference as an example?
Thanks for the help!

[bluegrassboy75]

Thank you, Bluegrass. I'm completely new to all of this.  Will be in the stands rooting for Charleston.  Can you use their conference as an example?
Thanks for the help!

Ok, so Charleston has been assigned into the 3A-1 West Conference and the 3A/4A District 5.

In the regular season, you will play a round robin schedule with the following schools and I will put their conference beside their name:

Booneville (4A-4)
Cedarville (3A-1W)
Charleston (3A-1W)
Mansfield (3A-1W)
Ozark (4A-4)
Paris (3A-4)
Subiaco (4A-4)
Waldron (4A-4)

After the regular season, you will play a conference tournament for the 3A-1West title with:

Cedarville (District 5)
Charleston (District 5)
Elkins (District 1)
Greenland (District 1)
Haas Hall (District 1)
Mansfield (District 5)

So there will be 3 teams in your conference tournament that unless your school schedules non-district games with that you may not see until tournament time.  You will have to play 4 class 4A schools in your district and a 3A school that is outside your conference, but you may be matched up against in Regionals (I do not know what conference play each other in Regionals for your area.)

Hope this helps.

[lostintheweeds]

Ok, so Charleston has been assigned into the 3A-1 West Conference and the 3A/4A District 5.

In the regular season, you will play a round robin schedule with the following schools and I will put their conference beside their name:

Booneville (4A-4)
Cedarville (3A-1W)
Charleston (3A-1W)
Mansfield (3A-1W)
Ozark (4A-4)
Paris (3A-4)
Subiaco (4A-4)
Waldron (4A-4)

After the regular season, you will play a conference tournament for the 3A-1West title with:

Cedarville (District 5)
Charleston (District 5)
Elkins (District 1)
Greenland (District 1)
Haas Hall (District 1)
Mansfield (District 5)

So there will be 3 teams in your conference tournament that unless your school schedules non-district games with that you may not see until tournament time.  You will have to play 4 class 4A schools in your district and a 3A school that is outside your conference, but you may be matched up against in Regionals (I do not know what conference play each other in Regionals for your area.)

Hope this helps.

That really does help. Thank you for taking the time!

[ZoneBuster]

Lostintheweeds,

Your school will is actually assigned into two things.  First is the "conference" which is made up of only 3A schools.  The second is "districts" which are the combination of 3A & 4A.  You will play your round robin regular season games in your district, then come together with your conference to play the conference tournament.  If you will let me know the school(s) you support, then I can give you an example.

I now work in Missouri and they do something very similar. However, I believe the conference and districts are switched. Conference teams are local schools of varying classes, while the district and tournament are comprised of like class schools.

Would really help me out if they were the same in both states! haha

[Missco]

It is  basically the same set up. Except in Arkansas combined conferences are just 2 classes. In Mo. combined conferences might be made up of schools with 200 kids and another have 1200. They are only assigned districts. Their conferences are always the same and has more to do with history and rivalries.

[bluegrassboy75]

It is  basically the same set up. Except in Arkansas combined conferences are just 2 classes. In Mo. combined conferences might be made up of schools with 200 kids and another have 1200. They are only assigned districts. Their conferences are always the same and has more to do with history and rivalries.

And I love how they name their conferences.  Way more creative.

[Missco]

In Missouri you have to win your district to advance. Can you imagine how the schools in Scott County Centrals district must feel. Schools in NEA couldn't handle that kind of set up. Missouri has been seeding district tournament's for years without gripping. The officials also let the teams play and don't baby the coaches.

[Ice Water]

And I love how they name their conferences.  Way more creative.

I had to try this with the 3A/4A districts just for fun. Some of them I really like, others I'm not sold on. I'd love to hear y'all's take as well.

1 - Hog Hills
2 - Heart of the Ozarks
3 - Highway 62 East
4 - East of the Ridge
5 - River Valley West
6 - Between the Mountains
7 - Banks of The White & Little Red
8 - Diamond Lakes
9 - 501 Metro
10 - The Delta
11 - Southwest 7 County
12 - Timberlands

Link to list of schools in each district:
http://members.ahsaa.org/public/userfiles/Nonathletics/Combined_Classification_Districts_2016-2018.pdf

[Paperman]

This is all just going to be one large convoluted mess! 

[RedWolf275]

This is all just going to be one large convoluted mess! 

+1 no doubt about it imo

[Hitman Warrior23]

Lostintheweeds,

Your school will is actually assigned into two things.  First is the "conference" which is made up of only 3A schools.  The second is "districts" which are the combination of 3A & 4A.  You will play your round robin regular season games in your district, then come together with your conference to play the conference tournament.  If you will let me know the school(s) you support, then I can give you an example.

Who is Lamar's Conference?

[bluegrassboy75]

Who is Lamar's Conference?

3A-4 Conference (Post Season)
Atkins
Jessieville
Lamar
Paris
Perryville
Two Rivers

3A/4A District 6 (Regular Season)
Atkins
Clinton
Dardanelle
Dover
Lamar
Perryville
Pottsville
Two Rivers

[ZoneBuster]

This is all just going to be one large convoluted mess! 

Doubt it, Missouri has done it for years. The cream will rise to the top. It's all about getting hot at the end of the season anyway regardless of District seed.