Leaves, leagues change, but not results - #lakewoodnews

Fall is the time for change.

Leaves on trees change color and fall off. And this past week, I've had to change the climate-control system in the car from air conditioning during the warmth of the afternoon to the heat in the evening to take off the chill.

There has also been a change with the new league alignments in high school football.

The idea was to dissolve leagues like the Centennial and 5A Jefferson County that seemed to always have some of the state's best teams playing against each other week after week during the conference schedule. There was an occasional lopsided victory, which can't be avoided no matter which teams are playing in which leagues.

Those blowouts have not been eliminated in the new alignments.

Hopefully, games will get more competitive, but the good teams will continue to be good no matter the alignment or the name of the league.

In the seven new Class 5A leagues, the average margin of victory during the first week of conference play was 26.9 points with five games decided by more than 40 points.

Games were a little closer in the second week of 5A conference play with a one-point decision, three four- point victories and a five-point margin, but those were offset by a 55-point blowout and three 40-plus-point lopsided games.

The average margin of victory was 23.8 points in the second week of league games.

Class 4A has also seen its share of routs. Take the Plains League for example. The average margin of victory in the first two weeks is 39.5.

These new leagues will remain in 2017 for the second year of the cycle before the conferences will again be changed in the waterfall format that snakes schools into leagues based on two-year Ratings Performance Index rankings, which are generated by a computer.

Sometimes change is good, but maybe more geographical reasoning needs to be included in the league realignments.

Consider this: At the start of the football game between home standing Legend and Poudre from Fort Collins on Oct. 13, there were 51 people in the visitors' bleachers at Echo Park Stadium in Parker.

RPI standings

If you don't understand how the RPI standings in football are compiled, there is a formula but most of the time it's easier just to look up the standings at chsaanow.com/rpi

In the seven 5A and 4A leagues, the league champions automatically gain a spot in the 16-team playoffs with the other teams being selected via RPI.

The top five teams in the Class 5A RPI standings, in order, compiled Oct. 16 are Regis Jesuit, Valor Christian, Grandview, Mullen and Cherry Creek. Mountain Vista is 15, ThunderRidge 16 and Legend 17, but there are still three weeks of action remaining and many changes will be forthcoming.

Highlands Ranch standout transfers

Leilah Vigil, the leading scorer for the Highlands Ranch girls basketball team the past two seasons, has transferred to Grandview High in Aurora.

The junior will be playing with Grandview senior standout Michaela Onyenwere after the Colorado High School Activities Association deemed Vigil will have full eligibility since the transfer was viewed as a bona fide family move.

from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/Leaves-leagues-change-but-not-results,237411