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Updated Tuesday, October 27, 2009 5:36 AM
It's splitsville for Class 2A
The landscape for small-school football in Texomaland is going to be
dramatically different in 2010 — not just because of changing
enrollments, but also because of how the University Interscholastic
League will assign districts.
The results of a referendum on split-conference alignment for Class 2A
schools were announced at this weekend’s UIL legislative council
meetings in Austin. The 2A administrators voted, 121-75, in favor of
districting 2A schools into Divisions I and II starting with the
upcoming realignment.
Each division would have 16 districts, and each district would send two
teams to the playoffs. This same setup is currently used in six-man
football, and was approved earlier this year for use in 11-man football
starting in 2010.
To borrow a quote from a local coach back in March when the 1A split was announced, the price of poker just went up.
Statewide, the number of 2A playoff slots will be reduced from the
current 93 (one district in the Houston area is a vacant bye district)
to 64, making postseason appearances harder to come by.
The majority of schools in our area north of the Metroplex are in Class
2A, and that number will rise with Van Alstyne and Commerce certain to
drop from 3A, and Whitesboro and Farmersville on the bubble depending
where the cutoff falls.
In an area like ours with a large concentration of solid 2A programs,
the competition will be cutthroat. Fewer berths aren’t altogether bad —
nobody likes to see a 2-8 playoff team, for example. But several
deserving local teams are likely to be left at home.
On the positive side, travel won’t be an issue, at least locally, since
our schools are relatively close together. And enrollment differences
will be fairer between opponents, although again, not much will change
here locally. All current District 11-2A members except Melissa will be
in the bottom half of 2A in the next alignment. At the same time all
current 10-2A members except for S&S Consolidated and Valley View
will be in the top half of 2A, and Aubrey appears ticketed for 3A.
The area teams that I expect to go Division I based on the enrollment
figures that I’ve heard or seen are Pottsboro, Callisburg, Pilot Point,
Melissa, Van Alstyne, and (maybe) Whitesboro and Farmersville. Throw in
similar-sized schools on either end — Ponder, Boyd and/or Bowie on the
west, and Commerce, Caddo Mills and/or Prairiland on the east — and one
could divide this group roughly along U.S. 75 to create two districts.
The rest of the area 2As would fall into Division II. S&S could
replace Melissa in the current 11-2A lineup and Valley View would have
to be added for geography reasons, but a possible nine-team district
would be too large, so I expect a split here as well.
My early hunch is the six Grayson County schools — Bells, Gunter, Howe,
S&S, Tom Bean and Whitewright — will be joined by Valley View in
their own district, while Leonard and Honey Grove would go east to hook
up with schools like Cooper, Paris Chisum, Clarksville, etc.
Combine the 2A split with the previously-announced 1A split, and the Friday night lights will have a different look next fall.
One other positive that I just thought of: A 32-team playoff bracket
means five playoff rounds, which means state championship week next
year will be around Dec. 11, or two full weeks before Christmas.
Fighting last-minute shopping traffic in Dallas to get to a state game
is no fun.
 Comments ... 2 found!
Pottsboro : 10/28/2009
I was going by the assumption the top of 2A would go up by 20 students as it usually does and the bottom wouldn't move much. If the numbers rise more than that (the 2008 numbers were 200 to 429), that would probably drop Pottsboro into Division II. They could go either way as it is. (To be honest, I knew Pottsboro had dropped, but didn't know they dropped by as much as they did. That surprised me. I'm still gathering numbers.)
Bill Spinks
split : 10/27/2009
Do you think pottsboro will be a big school with a enrollment of 325?
Johnny
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