Reclassification Remix: Beyond The Eye Test
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As we mentioned in the first two installments of the Reclassification Remix of Class 6A and Class 5A, the initial purpose of the three part series was to show the effects and ramifications of what the pre-divisional split would be like if it did occur in the 2014-16 reclassification cycle. But since we are going to have to split it up between the two classes, there are four parts to this special series with the first two showing the alignment to the general public and the final two covering the in-depth look into our set up and how we did it.
Now in this third installment, we will go in-depth region by region in Class 6A and explain just how we came up with the alignment we did point out and show some of the benefits and consequences of them. The final two installments of the series is for TXHSFB Overtime Subscribers but having that said, each week we will be posting at least one free preview of TXHSFB Overtime content each week on the site to give you a taste of what is offered and this is the freebie we will give you for this week. If you like what you see, give TXHSFB Overtime a try for just $6.99 a month or our annual plan of $69.99 a year.
As we stated in our first two installments, the first step we took was to split the two classes, 6A and 5A, into two separate and equal divisions with a couple minor exceptions without regard of looking at the geographic make up. It was purely split down the middle in terms of enrollment according to the new 2014-16 enrollment figures. The only exception was the promotion of Dallas Jesuit and Strake Jesuit in accordance to the requirement of them being in the highest level of play. In this case, 6A Division I as a pre-determined alignment. Just like the UIL’s procedures, travel is one of the key things that we attempt to keep at a minimum and there is no consideration taken in regards to how competitive a team is or the designation of rivalries.
Class 6A Division I
Region I
The key element of Class 6A1 Region I is the unavoidable. No matter how you slice and dice it, someone out west is going to have to travel. This is complicated due to the fact that there are only three El Paso schools with five Permian Basin area schools. Yes it is quite a bit of travel, but the facts are, there is no way around it and there is no sugarcoating it.
Districts 2 through 4 were going to be log-jammed geographically. Going with what works and makes sense according to the major roads is something that must be taken into play, especially in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. With only 16 districts, being very strategic and mindful of the rest of the make up of the state, 6A roughly will average around eight teams per district. Arlington ISD, Fort Worth Paschal and the southwestern corridor of the Metroplex makes up 9 teams.
This left us with 16-18 slots and two districts for the first region. The Plano schools, McKinney Boyd, Allen and Dallas Jesuit all fit geographically and if you mix and match closer school districts such as Lewisville ISD, then you end up with a giant mess of an arrangement.:
Region II
Make no bones about it, the geographic make up of Region II includes four major Texas metro areas. That said, it was split into three different sections. the DFW section includes Irving, Garland ISD, Dallas Skyline and two Mesquite schools. That gave us right schools right there.
In terms of the Central Texas market, the only choice we had was to include the Killeen Ellison and Belton with Austin and Round Rock since the two were the only Central Texas schools that fell into the 6A Division I landscape. This left us with two districts for the Houston area and once again, geography plays some roles with this make up too. In the past, Spring ISD and Aldine ISD have been paired together and it can be done in the future too.
Region III
Ironically, all of the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD schools fall under the 6A Division I numbers game. All ten of them. So that gave us the automatic 10 team district to start Region III. Nothing new and it remarkably carries over into the pre-determined split quite easily.
Houston ISD and the three Alief schools give us a perfect eight team set up. The two districts are relatively next two one another and it does not require so much travel outside of the 610 loop. If we did some mixing around, pairing Alief ISD and Houston ISD together made the most sense of any scenario looking directly at a map.
Six of Katy ISD’s seven teams survived the Division I cut and with the addition of Strake Jesuit, District 11-6A1 gave us seven teams. That left the eastern and southeastern part of the Houston area map of seven teams. No Golden Triangle teams and none from either Fort Bend ISD or Clear Creek ISD made the cut as Division I programs. The seven team 12-6A1 should look familiar as it once again pairs up teams that have been in the same geographic district over the years.
Region IV
The look at Region IV could not be more perfect in San Antonio for Districts 13-6A1 and 14-6A1 with seven in each district for Northeast ISD and Northside ISD. While two district get perfect alignments, the downside is figuring out what to do with five teams outside of those two districts. The problem with Region IV is pure geography and someone will have to travel. There is one Corpus Christi school, three San Antonio schools and there is Del Rio.
The other issue is there are three Laredo schools and four RGV schools. Putting CC King with the four RGV schools does not make a lot of sense travel wise. So we placed CC King, Del Rio, SA Southwest, SA East Central and Converse Judson together to form a five team district. The Laredo schools would then be paired with the RGV schools. Geographically speaking, there were not a lot of options to mix and match schools with in Region IV.
So, as you can see with the Division I alignment, the numbers are certainly there and feasible to sustain a 16 district alignment at the highest level but in terms of geography, we are not there just yet. Looking at Division II will certainly paint the picture loud and clear and it is not pretty. Some how, some way, we made it work in Division II even with the eye balling issues.
Class 6A Division II
Region I
There are some major travel issues and it is quite clear. Under the Division II alignment, there are four El Paso schools, three Lubbock schools and two Amarillo schools. Because the Midland/Odessa schools are in Division I, there leaves no choice but to pair the nine schools together. It would not make any sense to leave El Paso with a four team automatic playoff qualifying district with the rest of the state having to earn a spot.
Abilene is faced with being left on an island of its own, but they have been paired with the western part of the DFW time and time again and this is no different. In order to ease on travel, District 2-6A2 was made into a five team district that included Weatherford, Richland, North Crowley and Colleyville Heritage. The Northerner/Northwestern parts of DFW easily fit for a seven team district while Carrollton Turner, Richardson ISD and Highland Park forms a six team district in 4-6A2.
Region II
The overall make up of Region II is not that complicated and it should look awfully familiar. District 5-6A2 mixes up Grand Prairie, Cedar Hill, Mansfield, Dallas Sunset, Dallas White and Midlothian. Easy enough to fill for six teams.
Much like Abilene, Tyler Lee sits on an island by itself and someone has to travel out there. Of course Tyler Lee and Abilene are not the only ones in Division II faced with this problem. More to come in Region III and Region IV with this problem. Rockwall, Mesquite Horn, four Garland ISD schools and Tyler Lee form to create a seven team 6-6A2. Again, the geographic make up is certainly not complicated.
Again the the similarities of Region I and Region II do not end with the Tyler Lee and Abilene situations. The Central Texas region has five teams that can fit in quite nicely including Midway, Killeen, Harker Heights, Shoemaker and Copperas Cove. While it is not ideal to have a five team district and four playoff spots, the geographic make up dictates how the district are aligned.
With five Central Texas teams, there lies nine Austin metro schools to form a district. Nine team district are certainly not uncommon in the current set up of 6A and 5A. The nine team set up which includes Austin Anderson, Austin Westlake, Austin High, Austin Akins, Lake Travis, Leander Rouse, RR Stony Point, RR McNeil and Pflugerville is not really ideal but considering there is still two regions with Southeast Texas and South Texas left to fill spots, it is the best scenario we could come up with.
Region III
With Lufkin dropping down to 5A and the Spring, Klein and Conroe schools all in Division I, Montgomery is being forced to take a road trip much further than it anticipates. This left us pairing them with Houston ISD and Spring Branch ISD giving 9-6A2 a six team flavor.
The Golden Triangle and the North and Eastern parts of the Greater Houston area creates a nine team 10-6A2. All things considered, the make up certainly is not bad and for the most part, it is relatively the same make up as the real and present 6A alignment.
As mentioned earlier, all the Clear Creek ISD schools fall under the Division II make up as do Dickinson, Friendswood and Brazoswood. The 11-6A2 alignment is exactly the same as 24-6A. And again, someone has to travel to Clute to play Brazoswood. Keeping them with the same schools as their present alignment is an easy decision.
The 12-6A2 alignment features a good chunk of mileage in Greater Houston area terms and it is a nine team district. Instead of putting Pearland Dawson and Manvel eastwards, we put them westward with Fort Bend ISD, and Katy Tompkins. This was done to ensure that Manvel and Dawson would not go all the way to Beaumont and Port Arthur, which is much further in distance than it is to Katy.
Region IV
The make up of Region IV comes down to simple geography and for the most part, we got fairly lucky with how to align it. District 13-6A2 is a six team district with some familiar foes of Hays Consolidated, Kyle Lehman, Comal Canyon, New Braunfels, Smithson Valley and SA Wagner carrying the northeastern corridor of the San Antonio region.
There are two Corpus Christi schools that we are left with in CC Ray and CC Carroll. That said, somebody has to make the trip to Eagle Pass. Adding in Brandeis, Brennan, SA Marshall and South San Antonio, there is a very fun seven team 14-6A2.
Keeping the RGV schools together was essential and we had 18 RGV schools that fell into the Division II alignments and enrollment figures. And because the number of schools in the western part of the Rio Grande Valley matches up perfectly with the eastern parts, we felt it was quite easy to align them the way we did.
15-6A2 consists of three La Joya ISD schools, Mission, three McAllen ISD schools as well as PSJA North and PSJA Memorial forming the RGV Western district. 16-6A2 has Edinburg CISD, the two Weslaco ISD schools, Harlingen South and three Brownsville ISD schools.
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