Big enrollment playing Division II

[Old Cardinal]

Because of massive realignments some big schools most probably will be playing Division II. I will list the bigger school, possibly making the playoffs IN CAPITALS as the big school that will play Div II.....Borger(888) CANYON (874.5); Forney (821) KAUFMAN (796); Everman(896) FW CARTER-RIVERSIDE (892); Carthage(878) TYLER CHAPEL-HILL(850); Gonzales(784) CUERO (726.5); Navasota (856) STAFFORD (805); LaFeria (805) RAYMONDVILLE(739) What that says, to me, is that depth is a primary factor in playoff progression. Although some small Div II schools may shine, for most of the year, these big enrollment schools may exert some weight, in post-season, simply because they have more athletes to work from-if they have a semblance of developmental Coaching. It could get really interesting who-plays-who in Division II bracketing this year..It's even possile that a Division II school winning State could have a larger enrollment than the Div. I winner...

[This message has been edited by Old Cardinal (edited August 18, 2002).]

[This message has been edited by Old Cardinal (edited August 18, 2002).]

[eye of the tiger]

We really do need a 6A to ease some of the pressure. Maybe in '04 it will happen.

[Specklebelly]

Old Cardinal, you have got to be high if you think Stafford is making the playoffs. They are awful. Navasota will even be in for a fight in that district with Columbus for that 3rd spot. No way Stafford will be in there though.

Aside from that particular comparison, your point is taken. I have always felt though that 3A has the largest difference from the smallest to largest. In 5A, Plano East may have 3000 more students than other 5A schools but 2000 students or so is still plenty large to have a nice talent pool to choose from. When a team with about 350 students has to face a team with nearly 900 like in 3A, thats different. 350 seems a lot smaller than 900. You talking about a town of 3,500 against a town probably close to 13,000. Thats a drive in and a Dairy Queen vs. a town with all the fast food chains, maybe even a 24 hr drive through somewhere. It can seem a bit unfair but the UIL has to draw a line in the sand somewhere I suppose.

[BigRed01]

Not only is Stafford terrible 0-9 last year, FW Carter Riverside is the dungeon of 3A football, they were 0-10 last year, and everyone will beat them again this year. That is about one of the worst teams in 3A this year. Sometimes enrollment doesn't really matter, look at Newton.

[duckbutter]

A small school such as Newton can play with the big boys but having a small enrollment can kill you late in the playoffs. If you had a team with only 25-30 varsity players odds are that your best ones will be playing. If one or more of those players gets hurt you don't always have a backup that can play with half of the ability of the starter. I've seen us have to use a starting LB at guard and a starting safety at center. In a nutshell schools with small enrollments are at a big disadvantage late in the season and in the playoffs because we have no depth. One key injury can end your season quickly.

[Old Cardinal]

Duckbutter, I agree wholeheartly, you lost Gulley and several others and consequently, you lost to Giddings, which had a little more sustaining depth......YES, there were some weaker teams listed folks, I started to list the high enrollments of the 3Rd team possibilities that might just play Div II, also; but it would have clouded the water of the point I was trying to make....Don't write these bigger teams off---Who knows, teams like Pecos, big schools, might be Regional playoff teams in both Div. I & Div II! I like the crazy system because you have no real idea just who you might have to play as the brackets are decided.

[This message has been edited by Old Cardinal (edited August 20, 2002).]

[OrangeBlood]

So I'm not the only idiot that thinks we desperately need a 6A??????



[This message has been edited by OrangeBlood (edited August 20, 2002).]

[Matthew328]

I'd say 99% of the state thinks we need a 6A!

[mwynn05]

yes we do need 6a but im not really sure where the would divide 3A bout 650 or is that too high or not high enough

[Jacket2000]

We need more than 6a. I actually did the math once. In order to have 32, 7 team districts in each class, you would have to go to 7a. This does not include 1a and sixman, since there is no enrollment celling for sixman.
Oh,here's an interesting fact; the first season of the two-tier system, which was only 5A, crowned Marshall as the division 1 champion and Aldine as the division 2 champion. Aldine had around 1,200 more students than Marshall. So, in other words, this thing was messed up from the very start!
J2K

[This message has been edited by Jacket2000 (edited August 21, 2002).]

[OrangeBlood]

I recently went to a wedding and was talking to a school superintendent about this very problem. He seemed to think that forming a sixth class would never happen for a variety of reasons, travel distances etc...Have any of you talked to anyone that believes this can happen. We are all obviously 3A fans and smaller 3A schools seemed to get crapped on the most....man, I wish the school superintendents in this state could make this happen.

[BobcatFan]

One option I have heard that may come up in the next realignment is to start the class breakdowns from the bottom up, with the schools at 99 and below being still in 6-man and then equally dividing the remainder of the schools above that into 6 classes. Under the current numbers, that would mean that there would be approximately 25-30 schools dropping down from 2A to 1A and would create the same affect all the way up through the classes, depending on how many new schools open between now and the 2004 realignment and how large they are.