Are these teams opting down or are they getting bumped down to enrollment numbers? And if these teams are opting down to play 8-man, are any teams bumping up to 11 man? It's looking a lot more are dropping down and not enough coming up to even it out. Is there anyone with any input on what happens to the top of C2? Does Aquinas stay down? Do teams like North Bend, Wilber-Clatonia, Johnson County, and Chase County move down?
Is an expanded 8 man class the way to go by raising the 8 man number or should there be another class added to 11 man to try to help out the bottom of C2 roster numbers? Would it be smart to make a Class B-2 and shift some teams around that way or are roster numbers so low that adding more 8 man teams is the way to go?
You can chant "co-op" and "consolidate" all you want, but I think that's only appropriate in certain situations. co-oping any C2 school with an 8 man school is probably going to result in a pretty below average C1 team and then you're back in the same boat of being a doormat. Plus, co-oping and consolidating are more extreme options than raising the 8 man number or creating another 11 man class to try and even out the numbers.
I think that some people (including newspaper sports writers) believe we need less classes in football. I think that will only create more problems in terms of the top enrollments vs bottom enrollments in each of those classes. If you add another class and shrink the number of teams in the classes, you will probably have more balanced competition and some of the bottom teams may be able to compete a little more against the "top" enrollment schools in their respective class.
