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NSAA Legislative Proposals
- Huskerland Prep Sports
- 47 Replies
There are some interesting ones in there. Seems like they’ve been trying to figure out a good 8 man football number forever with no luck of getting a change through.
Pospisil: Could a new scheduling pool proposal solve Class A football's blowout problem?
Housed in Blowout City, Class A needs a new way of scheduling, writes Stu Pospisil. Fremont athletic director Scott Anderson may have an answer with a proposal that would splitomaha.com
Could a new scheduling pool proposal solve Class A football's blowout problem?
by Stu Pospisil, Omaha World-Herald
Housed in Blowout City, Class A needs a new way of scheduling.
Fremont's athletic director may have the first steps toward an answer.
Scott Anderson has a plan, a legislative proposal that the Omaha-area District 2 will consider next month, that would split the class for the state's largest schools into two scheduling pools.
He calls the pools District A1 and A2.
A1 is the top half of Class A schools based on wild-card points from the previous two-year scheduling cycle. A2 is the remainder. A1 would have an even number of schools.
All Class A teams play eight games. The playoffs, expanded in Class A to 24 teams, begin in Week 9.
All A1 teams are in the playoffs. They fill the highest seeds. The remaining playoff teams are the highest in the A2 point standings. The top eight seeds receive a first-round bye (a format the NSAA used in 2020 during the pandemic when all teams qualified in Class A).
A2 teams not qualifying for the playoffs are paired up for Week 9 "bowl games." The two highest-not qualifiers get paired, the next two paired, etc. Allowances would be made for an odd-number of teams or if a game would pair recent opponents.
"I started working on this a year ago after meeting with a group of Class A athletic directors in Lincoln to brainstorm ideas for how we could make changes to the scheduling process to create more competitive matchups throughout the regular season," Anderson said. "This is one of those things that came to me on the drive home."
"I've had some time to solicit feedback from a number of different people and tried to mesh everything together where the top teams don't have to play a meat grinder of a schedule and the lower teams get some relief by not having to play as many games where they go into the game knowing it will be a running clock as soon as halftime is over."
Anderson's plan would form a Class A scheduling committee that would include the NSAA's director of football (Nate Neuhaus), two representatives from the Metro Conference, two from the Heartland Athletic Conference and one for schools not in either league.
If this were approved and implemented for the next cycle, that fifth representative could be for South Sioux City, already in A, probable move-ups Bennington and Elkhorn North and possible move-ups Gretna East, Lincoln Standing Bear and Lincoln Northwest.
Anderson's plan would allow schools to request no more than two rivalry or out-of-state games that have mutual agreement between the schools. Crossover games between A1 and A2, and out-of-state games, would be considered only if it would not leave teams with open dates. If A2 has an odd number of teams, that opens up games against Class B schools.
For each subsequent scheduling cycle,. the plan calls for switching out an undetermined number of low finishers in A1 for high finishers from A2.
I like the essence of Anderson's proposal.
It acknowledges the reality of a widening gap between the top and bottom of Class A. A gap that can't begin to reverse until the NSAA membership is willing to address its transfer rules concurrently with Omaha, Lincoln and Bellevue school districts dealing with their internal competitive inequities.
It does so without changing the classification structure, which would further stigmatize the struggling schools.
We basically know what teams would be in A1, the perennial state qualifiers.
Since statewide scheduling began in 2011, the top teams, based on their percentage of years in the playoffs, are Omaha Creighton Prep, Elkhorn South, Bellevue West, Omaha Westside, Kearney, Millard West, Grand Island, Millard North, Millard South, Omaha North, Lincoln Southwest, Lincoln Southeast, Omaha Burke, Papillion-LaVista, Lincoln East and Norfolk.
All but Southwest, Burke and Norfolk qualified last year. Grand Island, at 0-6, will be hard-pressed to make it this year.
While the NSAA has done well with statewide scheduling, a drawback in Class A is that some natural matchups, in part because of district assignments, don't get played, increasing travel costs and reducing gate receipts.
Lincoln has six schools in Class A. Lincoln High, Northeast, and North Star have eight games outside the city. East has seven, Southeast six and Southwest five.
OPS has nine schools. Bryan has six games outside the Metro. Benson, North, Northwest, South, and Buena Vista have four, Westview three, Burke two and Central one.
Anderson's plan does beg a question.
Although they are assured of being in the playoffs, would the A1 teams nearest to the cutoff with A2 be accepting of losing records? Instead of those teams being 5-5 after the playoffs, a smaller, higher-quality pool of opponents could take those records to 3-7 or 2-8.
"Completely agree with your point on how teams in the middle that qualify for A1 could view this as a negative," Anderson said. "My hope is that they will also take into consideration that the next two years they would have an easier schedule in A2, where they will more than likely be able to even out their overall record."
NSAA Legislative Proposals
- By Alum-Ni
- Huskerland Prep Sports
- 47 Replies
Pospisil: Could a new scheduling pool proposal solve Class A football's blowout problem?
Housed in Blowout City, Class A needs a new way of scheduling, writes Stu Pospisil. Fremont athletic director Scott Anderson may have an answer with a proposal that would split
Could a new scheduling pool proposal solve Class A football's blowout problem?
by Stu Pospisil, Omaha World-Herald
Housed in Blowout City, Class A needs a new way of scheduling.
Fremont's athletic director may have the first steps toward an answer.
Scott Anderson has a plan, a legislative proposal that the Omaha-area District 2 will consider next month, that would split the class for the state's largest schools into two scheduling pools.
He calls the pools District A1 and A2.
A1 is the top half of Class A schools based on wild-card points from the previous two-year scheduling cycle. A2 is the remainder. A1 would have an even number of schools.
All Class A teams play eight games. The playoffs, expanded in Class A to 24 teams, begin in Week 9.
All A1 teams are in the playoffs. They fill the highest seeds. The remaining playoff teams are the highest in the A2 point standings. The top eight seeds receive a first-round bye (a format the NSAA used in 2020 during the pandemic when all teams qualified in Class A).
A2 teams not qualifying for the playoffs are paired up for Week 9 "bowl games." The two highest-not qualifiers get paired, the next two paired, etc. Allowances would be made for an odd-number of teams or if a game would pair recent opponents.
"I started working on this a year ago after meeting with a group of Class A athletic directors in Lincoln to brainstorm ideas for how we could make changes to the scheduling process to create more competitive matchups throughout the regular season," Anderson said. "This is one of those things that came to me on the drive home."
"I've had some time to solicit feedback from a number of different people and tried to mesh everything together where the top teams don't have to play a meat grinder of a schedule and the lower teams get some relief by not having to play as many games where they go into the game knowing it will be a running clock as soon as halftime is over."
Anderson's plan would form a Class A scheduling committee that would include the NSAA's director of football (Nate Neuhaus), two representatives from the Metro Conference, two from the Heartland Athletic Conference and one for schools not in either league.
If this were approved and implemented for the next cycle, that fifth representative could be for South Sioux City, already in A, probable move-ups Bennington and Elkhorn North and possible move-ups Gretna East, Lincoln Standing Bear and Lincoln Northwest.
Anderson's plan would allow schools to request no more than two rivalry or out-of-state games that have mutual agreement between the schools. Crossover games between A1 and A2, and out-of-state games, would be considered only if it would not leave teams with open dates. If A2 has an odd number of teams, that opens up games against Class B schools.
For each subsequent scheduling cycle,. the plan calls for switching out an undetermined number of low finishers in A1 for high finishers from A2.
I like the essence of Anderson's proposal.
It acknowledges the reality of a widening gap between the top and bottom of Class A. A gap that can't begin to reverse until the NSAA membership is willing to address its transfer rules concurrently with Omaha, Lincoln and Bellevue school districts dealing with their internal competitive inequities.
It does so without changing the classification structure, which would further stigmatize the struggling schools.
We basically know what teams would be in A1, the perennial state qualifiers.
Since statewide scheduling began in 2011, the top teams, based on their percentage of years in the playoffs, are Omaha Creighton Prep, Elkhorn South, Bellevue West, Omaha Westside, Kearney, Millard West, Grand Island, Millard North, Millard South, Omaha North, Lincoln Southwest, Lincoln Southeast, Omaha Burke, Papillion-LaVista, Lincoln East and Norfolk.
All but Southwest, Burke and Norfolk qualified last year. Grand Island, at 0-6, will be hard-pressed to make it this year.
While the NSAA has done well with statewide scheduling, a drawback in Class A is that some natural matchups, in part because of district assignments, don't get played, increasing travel costs and reducing gate receipts.
Lincoln has six schools in Class A. Lincoln High, Northeast, and North Star have eight games outside the city. East has seven, Southeast six and Southwest five.
OPS has nine schools. Bryan has six games outside the Metro. Benson, North, Northwest, South, and Buena Vista have four, Westview three, Burke two and Central one.
Anderson's plan does beg a question.
Although they are assured of being in the playoffs, would the A1 teams nearest to the cutoff with A2 be accepting of losing records? Instead of those teams being 5-5 after the playoffs, a smaller, higher-quality pool of opponents could take those records to 3-7 or 2-8.
"Completely agree with your point on how teams in the middle that qualify for A1 could view this as a negative," Anderson said. "My hope is that they will also take into consideration that the next two years they would have an easier schedule in A2, where they will more than likely be able to even out their overall record."
by Stu Pospisil, Omaha World-Herald
Housed in Blowout City, Class A needs a new way of scheduling.
Fremont's athletic director may have the first steps toward an answer.
Scott Anderson has a plan, a legislative proposal that the Omaha-area District 2 will consider next month, that would split the class for the state's largest schools into two scheduling pools.
He calls the pools District A1 and A2.
A1 is the top half of Class A schools based on wild-card points from the previous two-year scheduling cycle. A2 is the remainder. A1 would have an even number of schools.
All Class A teams play eight games. The playoffs, expanded in Class A to 24 teams, begin in Week 9.
All A1 teams are in the playoffs. They fill the highest seeds. The remaining playoff teams are the highest in the A2 point standings. The top eight seeds receive a first-round bye (a format the NSAA used in 2020 during the pandemic when all teams qualified in Class A).
A2 teams not qualifying for the playoffs are paired up for Week 9 "bowl games." The two highest-not qualifiers get paired, the next two paired, etc. Allowances would be made for an odd-number of teams or if a game would pair recent opponents.
"I started working on this a year ago after meeting with a group of Class A athletic directors in Lincoln to brainstorm ideas for how we could make changes to the scheduling process to create more competitive matchups throughout the regular season," Anderson said. "This is one of those things that came to me on the drive home."
"I've had some time to solicit feedback from a number of different people and tried to mesh everything together where the top teams don't have to play a meat grinder of a schedule and the lower teams get some relief by not having to play as many games where they go into the game knowing it will be a running clock as soon as halftime is over."
Anderson's plan would form a Class A scheduling committee that would include the NSAA's director of football (Nate Neuhaus), two representatives from the Metro Conference, two from the Heartland Athletic Conference and one for schools not in either league.
If this were approved and implemented for the next cycle, that fifth representative could be for South Sioux City, already in A, probable move-ups Bennington and Elkhorn North and possible move-ups Gretna East, Lincoln Standing Bear and Lincoln Northwest.
Anderson's plan would allow schools to request no more than two rivalry or out-of-state games that have mutual agreement between the schools. Crossover games between A1 and A2, and out-of-state games, would be considered only if it would not leave teams with open dates. If A2 has an odd number of teams, that opens up games against Class B schools.
For each subsequent scheduling cycle,. the plan calls for switching out an undetermined number of low finishers in A1 for high finishers from A2.
I like the essence of Anderson's proposal.
It acknowledges the reality of a widening gap between the top and bottom of Class A. A gap that can't begin to reverse until the NSAA membership is willing to address its transfer rules concurrently with Omaha, Lincoln and Bellevue school districts dealing with their internal competitive inequities.
It does so without changing the classification structure, which would further stigmatize the struggling schools.
We basically know what teams would be in A1, the perennial state qualifiers.
Since statewide scheduling began in 2011, the top teams, based on their percentage of years in the playoffs, are Omaha Creighton Prep, Elkhorn South, Bellevue West, Omaha Westside, Kearney, Millard West, Grand Island, Millard North, Millard South, Omaha North, Lincoln Southwest, Lincoln Southeast, Omaha Burke, Papillion-LaVista, Lincoln East and Norfolk.
All but Southwest, Burke and Norfolk qualified last year. Grand Island, at 0-6, will be hard-pressed to make it this year.
While the NSAA has done well with statewide scheduling, a drawback in Class A is that some natural matchups, in part because of district assignments, don't get played, increasing travel costs and reducing gate receipts.
Lincoln has six schools in Class A. Lincoln High, Northeast, and North Star have eight games outside the city. East has seven, Southeast six and Southwest five.
OPS has nine schools. Bryan has six games outside the Metro. Benson, North, Northwest, South, and Buena Vista have four, Westview three, Burke two and Central one.
Anderson's plan does beg a question.
Although they are assured of being in the playoffs, would the A1 teams nearest to the cutoff with A2 be accepting of losing records? Instead of those teams being 5-5 after the playoffs, a smaller, higher-quality pool of opponents could take those records to 3-7 or 2-8.
"Completely agree with your point on how teams in the middle that qualify for A1 could view this as a negative," Anderson said. "My hope is that they will also take into consideration that the next two years they would have an easier schedule in A2, where they will more than likely be able to even out their overall record."