High school football leagues have been realigned for the next two seasons, and many schools will be playing in new classifications and traveling to some unfamiliar territory.
There will be 42 teams each in Class 5A, 4A and 3A with seven new conferences in each classification formed on an alignment based on the average computer ranking --; or Ratings Percentage Index --; from the past two seasons.
There will be several non-familiar schools playing conference games against each other, which could make non-league games more attractive.
"The new league alignments will put a strain on attendance at games," Highlands Ranch coach Mark Robinson said. "However, it will be good to face teams that are competitive from other areas around the state."
Westminster coach Kerry Denison agrees that game attention could shrink.
"The new league alignments will destroy lower-income school programs," he said.
Castle View coach Dustin Pfeiffer said rivalries in the new alignments will be lost, although teams could still schedule non-league contests against rival schools.
"The RPI system is a year away from being accurate but going to this system loses what is great about high school football," said Pfeiffer, whose team opens the season Sept. 2 against Castle Rock rival Douglas County High School, though the teams are no longer in the same conference. "We have lost great conference traditions and as they change from cycle to cycle, you lose the natural conference rivalries.
"I am not sure how our supporters would feel if we were to travel to Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins for a conference title game as opposed to playing a crosstown rival for a crosstown title. It will be interesting to see how this develops over the years."
That's an opinion expressed by several coaches.
"I do not like that the leagues are no longer geographical and non-league games mean more to our student body than league games," Rock Canyon coach Brian Lamb said.
Heritage dropped from 5A and will play in the 4A Plains League.
"We will line up, kick off and compete against whoever they tell us to," Eagles coach Tyler Knoblock said. "We are just very excited to get to be playing again soon."
Class 3A, 4A and 5A will have 10 regular-season games, with 16 teams in each division qualifying for the state playoffs, which will begin Nov. 12. Last season, there were 32 Class 5A teams that advanced to the playoffs.
League winners automatically gain a spot in the playoffs and the nine teams that do not win conference titles will advance to the playoffs determined by their RPI rankings.
"The good thing is the right teams are going to get into the playoffs," said Valor Christian coach Rod Sherman. "There was some discomfort with 5A being 32 teams and all the others being 16 teams."
"To go to 16 teams, the only fair way to do it was to adjust the leagues where all of the top teams are spread out. What's gone are natural rivalries, but you have five non-conference games."
For a list of teams in each league, go to http://chsaanow.com/alignment/football-2016-2017/
from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/League-alignments-shake-up-tradition,234103
No comments:
Post a Comment