2018-19 Football Changes
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Aquinas was C2 for 9 years before 2016. (2006-2015) Nothing really new.
But yeah Catholic will be for sure.
I thought I read about Logan View and Scribner-Snyder co-oping next year and I did see in a game summary by Bobby Mills that Riverside will be playing 8 Man next cycle.
I just read that on Omaha.com. It'll be good for everyone. Boys Basketball has gone well for them since they co-opted.
Riverside could compete in D2 no doubt. That area has some good 8 man football. I wonder if Spalding Academy will continue to go alone at 6 man? They seem to be doing well, they are currently 5-0.
I just saw Wynot's classification number is 34 for D2. Second smallest in front of Parkview Christian. It's pretty amazing how well they do with low numbers. I'd imagine they'll want to stay playing 8 man?
Arcadia-Loup City looks to be going to 8 man in the next cycle. Will be under the "47" from what I have heard.
Would probably make more sense for the neighborhood they're in.
How about some of the schools that are 11-man C2 and have around 20 kids out. Any of them planning on going 8-man? I've heard Madison might go 8 and be ineligible, which would be good for them to try and build their program. Or how about the schools who have forfeited games this year are any of them dropping down a division? Common sense tells me that if you are 11 or 8 man and have to forfeit because you can't field a team then next cycle you pry should drop down a classification.
Why would you opt down to C2 next year if Acquinas & NC are there as well? Think I'd rather play C1!
I understand your point, but I think what you are missing is that not all teams are trying to win a state championship. There are a boat load of teams in C2 that know they aren't going to beat Aquinas or Norfolk Catholic, they just want to have some games on their schedule that are winnable. Yes, they might end up with Aquinas and/or NC on their schedule, but they might also get 2 or 3 games that they can be competitive in. That makes it worthwhile. I think you just have to look at where the program is at, and I don't mean geographically.
This next cycle could be real interesting with many changes. Couple of thoughts.
A - will be interesting to see Elkhorn South, Gretna, etc. compete in Class A. Would love to see this year's Elkhorn South battle it out with A's best. Likely would make a deep run in the playoffs.
B - Not a fan of the new B. Likely will just too small of a class. Would like to see A and B at 36 a piece. This would make B from Lexington on down to around Columbus Scotus, Wayne, Gothenburg, etc. area. With the big dogs in class A the larger class C1 schools would make B a very fun class. Unfortunately it will be a very small class.
C1 - will be wide open if Aquanis and Norfolk Catholic are gone. Might become the battle of Wahoo and however else joins them.
C2 - this class may change a lot with potentially Aquanis and Norfolk Catholic coming in. Beating one is tough but both? Good luck! What if Shelby/Rising City, Twin River, or others is placed into a district with those two? On the bottom side C2 could potentially lose 8-10 schools. Assuming schools have a an exact 50/50 girls/boys split, 9 C2 schools would be eligible for D1 playoffs this year with new cutoff. Hard for schools to stop playing 11 man if they can but at the same time the appeal of playing 8 man and being playoff eligible has to be appealing to North Platte St Pats, Oakland-craig, and others.
D1 - Fun class with some good top teams which will get even better next year.
D2 - Quickly turning into a dud. Overall just so many bad teams in this class because of low enrollments. Big difference in my opinion between D1 and D2. Trickle down effect from C2 schools dropping down to D1 will force bottom teams of D1 into D2, hopefully making it stronger. Gut tells me we will see more coops of D2 schools with other D2 or D1 schools creating other D1 or C2 schools. Other option for many of these is to drop to 6man (backyard catch).
I've always thought that 9 man was out of the question as it would just be too much of an overall change. But now I'm starting to wonder if dropping 8 man completely and going to 6 and 9 man is possible. Just seems like the partipation rates may allow it. Most D2 could easily go 6 man. Also most D1 could add a player add do 9 man. I think a lot of people (coaches, players, fans, etc) just view 9 man much different than 8 man. For schools dropping down I thinknit would be much more appealing. 9 man just resembles 11 man football so much more than 8. So much more you can do on offense and defense.
A - will be interesting to see Elkhorn South, Gretna, etc. compete in Class A. Would love to see this year's Elkhorn South battle it out with A's best. Likely would make a deep run in the playoffs.
B - Not a fan of the new B. Likely will just too small of a class. Would like to see A and B at 36 a piece. This would make B from Lexington on down to around Columbus Scotus, Wayne, Gothenburg, etc. area. With the big dogs in class A the larger class C1 schools would make B a very fun class. Unfortunately it will be a very small class.
C1 - will be wide open if Aquanis and Norfolk Catholic are gone. Might become the battle of Wahoo and however else joins them.
C2 - this class may change a lot with potentially Aquanis and Norfolk Catholic coming in. Beating one is tough but both? Good luck! What if Shelby/Rising City, Twin River, or others is placed into a district with those two? On the bottom side C2 could potentially lose 8-10 schools. Assuming schools have a an exact 50/50 girls/boys split, 9 C2 schools would be eligible for D1 playoffs this year with new cutoff. Hard for schools to stop playing 11 man if they can but at the same time the appeal of playing 8 man and being playoff eligible has to be appealing to North Platte St Pats, Oakland-craig, and others.
D1 - Fun class with some good top teams which will get even better next year.
D2 - Quickly turning into a dud. Overall just so many bad teams in this class because of low enrollments. Big difference in my opinion between D1 and D2. Trickle down effect from C2 schools dropping down to D1 will force bottom teams of D1 into D2, hopefully making it stronger. Gut tells me we will see more coops of D2 schools with other D2 or D1 schools creating other D1 or C2 schools. Other option for many of these is to drop to 6man (backyard catch).
I've always thought that 9 man was out of the question as it would just be too much of an overall change. But now I'm starting to wonder if dropping 8 man completely and going to 6 and 9 man is possible. Just seems like the partipation rates may allow it. Most D2 could easily go 6 man. Also most D1 could add a player add do 9 man. I think a lot of people (coaches, players, fans, etc) just view 9 man much different than 8 man. For schools dropping down I thinknit would be much more appealing. 9 man just resembles 11 man football so much more than 8. So much more you can do on offense and defense.
I've been a big advocate for 9 man as well.
A-C2 play 11 man.
D1 play 9 man.
D2 play 6 man.
Class B is a tough spot to begin with. Not a lot anyone can do. But I agree the top 8-10 in class B should be in Class A.
It's not going to happen but if the state would ever adopt 9 man I would assume the cutoff could be even higher than 47, probably more around 50 or 52. At that point C1 and C2 could become one class, especially if A and B would be at 36 a piece. Would be nice to see A and B at 36 schools then C, 9 man, and 6 man roughly evenly split up.
I could be totally wrong but I assume one reason, among many, that schools are slow to coop especially in football is that often a coop results in one if not both schools competing in a higher classification if not two classifications higher. Usually one school needs to coop much more than the other. It is hard for the larger school, who may not need to, to accept the other school and move up a classification. If/when we ever go from 7 classes down to 5 or 6 (or 6 in basketball down to 4 or 5) I think schools would be much more open to cooping/consolidation.
could NC or for that matter DCA opt up and stay in C1, NC was on the bottom of the enrollment for C1.
They could, if they chose to.
Schools can declare for 6, 8 or 11 man.
Schools can also opt up or down a class.
For other activities, if you opt up (say in volleyball) it pulls up all your other sports too. Due to the safety concerns, football is exempted from that. Opt up in football, only football goes up. Opt up in something else, the rest go up but not football. I believe that's how opting up/down works, but I've never encountered it in reality.
Some thoughts I have after reading above:
1. Some successful teams that may have the numbers to move down may still choose to opt up. Just speculation but would Norfolk Catholic opt up to insure their rivalry game with Pierce was still played? Would Aquinas do the same to be more likely to play Scotus? I know the second example is a bad one as they had no problem often playing each other while Aquinas was C2. But I think the ability to opt up next cycle could see some of these things happen.
2. 9 Man as I have seen in South Dakota is less an alternative to 8 man and more just 11 man dropping the tackles. If it is played like our neighbors to the north teams would spend a lot of effort and time between cycles reconfiguring fields going between 2 divisions of D. I think it's a better solution for C schools that lack line depth and may see it return than class D
1. Some successful teams that may have the numbers to move down may still choose to opt up. Just speculation but would Norfolk Catholic opt up to insure their rivalry game with Pierce was still played? Would Aquinas do the same to be more likely to play Scotus? I know the second example is a bad one as they had no problem often playing each other while Aquinas was C2. But I think the ability to opt up next cycle could see some of these things happen.
2. 9 Man as I have seen in South Dakota is less an alternative to 8 man and more just 11 man dropping the tackles. If it is played like our neighbors to the north teams would spend a lot of effort and time between cycles reconfiguring fields going between 2 divisions of D. I think it's a better solution for C schools that lack line depth and may see it return than class D
That's exactly what it is. Louisville hasn't been that competitive since moving to C1 a few years ago. Moving down to C2 would allow them to be more competitive and enjoy more success. Also the chances of then having NC or DCA on their schedule are probably pretty slim. I don't know if they have ever played those schools before.
I believe 9 man in South Dakota plays on a 100 yard field. Could be wrong. Personally I would rather see it on an 80 yard field, or more importantly on a narrower field, the length doesn't necessarily matter.
Very good point about teams playing down a class just to be competitive. For example Wakefield, Laurel, and Homer are all in D1 right now. A few years ago these were all very struggling teams in C2, often having to forfeit games. While a necessity just to field a team, they are also much more competitive now. None are state championship caliber teams, they are at least playing games more competitively and having a chance to win. Big difference for them now than a few years ago where they would either forfeit or play, lose big, and have safety concerns in the process.
Very good point about teams playing down a class just to be competitive. For example Wakefield, Laurel, and Homer are all in D1 right now. A few years ago these were all very struggling teams in C2, often having to forfeit games. While a necessity just to field a team, they are also much more competitive now. None are state championship caliber teams, they are at least playing games more competitively and having a chance to win. Big difference for them now than a few years ago where they would either forfeit or play, lose big, and have safety concerns in the process.
I've heard that St Pat's is seriously considering going 8 man. I've heard their number is low 30's which would put them in D2?
I think schools opting down is ridiculous, personally. Is it really THAT important that you keep shopping to find schools small enough that you can beat up on? If you can't field a competitive team, you can't field a competitive team. Tough Toodles. And furthermore, those schools should only be allowed to play other schools that opt down. IF they can find schools in that class willing to play them, fine, but absolutely no impact should be allowed on the playoff standings. Period. If it's played with a legitimate member of that class, it's played as an exhibition.
I think schools opting down is ridiculous, personally. Is it really THAT important that you keep shopping to find schools small enough that you can beat up on? If you can't field a competitive team, you can't field a competitive team. Tough Toodles. And furthermore, those schools should only be allowed to play other schools that opt down. IF they can find schools in that class willing to play them, fine, but absolutely no impact should be allowed on the playoff standings. Period. If it's played with a legitimate member of that class, it's played as an exhibition.
St. Pat's isn't that low in enrollment numbers, just football numbers. I believe they have 26-28 out for football this year.
St Pat's number will be 35. They are low on enrollment numbers, which has had a direct effect on their football numbers.
Is that with the just boys numbers? I can't remember if that's happening next cycle. Separation between boys numbers and girls numbers.
Just boys. They take the boy enrollment this Friday and that is the number they use for classification for the upcoming cycle
Nebraska is the only State in the USA that allows opting down, the joke is on Nebraska SAD
St Pat's might still play 11 man. I don't know, but their enrollment number will definitely allow them to play 8 man.
Get to the root cause of why schools opt down. It's because our cutoffs are way to high! Compare it to any other state that has 8 man and it is lower. So is the joke that schools opt down or that the NSAA has taken this long to reform the cutoff lines?
Sure. I guess my post was that being closer to 6 man cut than 11, they might even be D2. Anybody know where THAT line might be drawn? Where 50% of 8 man eligible schools could be?
Joke is that Nebraska school control cutoffs and not NSAA So Nebraska is the joke
I'm glad that the NSAA is separating those numbers now. Should make things a lot easier going forward. Very intrigued to see when the numbers come out. Is it December or February when the classification numbers come out?
I wonder why ALL sports don't go to gender specific numbers. If it makes sense in one sport (And I think it does) wouldn't it make sense across the board?
Sitting hairs here nuts. Are we debating who or what is the joke? NSAA or member schools, whatever you want to call it. The joke is their decision on enrollment cutoffs that has caused the problems the last few years.
While the new figures are better I'm adamant that 47 boys only enrollment is still too low.
And I'm on the other side. A 47 boy number means you have about 62-63 boys in High School. If you aren't getting 60% of your boys out in a small school, either you're just not a football town, or you have something very wrong in a systemic sense.
47 is to low and I believe still the lowest in the USA but schools decide these numbers NSAA just does what schools want, opting down is a joke on Nebraska sports, it says if you can not compete just go down and play smaller schools until you can compete, what message is that sending or what life long skill is that productively teaching. This is why NO other state allows it, but in Nebraska we do. The other States must have it all wrong and Nebraska is the only state that has figured it out ( sarcasm )
I believe the NSAA is looking into that right now....