MSSportsGuy

I've posted more than one rant here about the silliness of 7 classes and won't provide anything new to add but to summarize: 1. The gap between the top and bottom of 6A for the 32 teams wasn't a bad point to make. However, I contended it wasn't new and something that had just happened, it had always been there to some degree. 2. A better solution would have been for 6A to become the top 24 teams, with 5A also being the next 24. There are approximately 240 MHSAA members so 240 minus 48 is 192, which divided by 4 means 48 teams per class. That's basically one more team per region in classes 4A down, which we know 1A has several who don't play football. 3. The director claimed it would "increase excitement" which is one of the most disingenuous things I've ever heard. Everyone knows darn well it was a money grab under the guise of giving students a chance to play for a state championship. 4. I recall Grenada being one of schools saying how unfair the gap was since they were towards the bottom of 6A under the old system. This season Grenada voluntarily played Oak Grove, Oxford, Clinton, Desoto Central and Bartlett TN (their enrollment per TSSAA is 2,822 for 9-12 so much larger than Tupelo). They won all those games besdies Oak Grove. They clearly have a talented team this year but seems a bit overblown they "couldn't compete" with top schools due to enrollment numbers. 5. School consolidations will continue to happen and decrease the total number of schools overall in the state. Why continue to spread out schools among more classes and regions when the enrollment differences are miniscule beyond the top layer? Almost everyone on this board agrees 7 classes is silly yet it will not go back unless coaches and administrators vote to change it. They should but won't.

At the risk of being too negative, Desoto County in general isn't what it was even ten years ago. The student body tends to be very transient and the OB zone is one of the smaller ones in terms of geography and population. That being said Desoto County schools just don't have good football cultures and isn't a priory for the communities in general. The Memphis influence keeps increasing there and they are dealing with more challenging behaviors from students and families as well. A good friend of mine teaches at one of the better schools in the county and due to his wife being in a more lucrative career, his kids attend Briarcrest in Collierville rather than the public school near their house and it's considered one of the "better" ones.

I inquired with my Tippah connections yesterday and the candidate opposing consolidation lost the race. It was on the November 5 ballot,. Saw the Ripley coach is retiring. This year was a struggle for them but I've heard he's a great coach. They've had some up and down years but it's not a bad situation.

From what I was told yes and I'd say it's not likely to be reversed. I didn't grow up in Tippah but in that region. I have relatives in Ripley and with students there and at Pine Grove. It's been a little contentious as one would suspect but I figure it will go through. It's overdue.

This is where the obsession with keeping an even number of teams in each division despite the travel challenges can lead. Ripley will struggle to get fans and take fans to those places other than Senatobia. This won't just be for football but other sports as well. This one jumped out at me when I saw the lists which overall aren't that bad.

Outside of a few weird ones this looks as reasonable as can be expected. I don't know why Tupelo and Oxford would trade places in 1-7A. However, I'm glad the association kept a 7 team region on the coast since WH and Meridian tied rather than scramble multiple teams and regions. Ripley in 3-4A gets a weird placement that will likely hurt their ticket sales as I would be surprised if a couple of those teams travel well. I would also suspect their fans won't travel as well to a few of those spots. Why in the world would you keep 8 regions in 1A? It's beyond dumb. Several regions have teams with less than stellar football programs historically and will find themselves in the playoffs virtually by default. I guess this will "increase excitement". 7 classes is ridiculous. 6 was plenty and 5 wouldn't be as awful as people may think. I recall Grenada being one of the schools chirping about being at a disadvantage due to the 6A gap. Considering they voluntarily played Oak Grove and Bartlett TN this year (Bartlett's enrollment is 2822 per the TSSAA and much larger than any school in MS) perhaps they weren't as disadvantaged as they claimed.

We probably all agree that even 5 classes are adequate for a state our size, particularly in light of the consolidations that are coming down the line. I still maintain district consolidations are more needed than individual schools in most cases but also know school consolidations will happen as populations drop and facilities decline which will mean even fewer schools spread out over more classes.

No doubt, could cut those and the legislature almost in half and not see much of a difference in services. Like I said I'm a native of NE Miss and the districts probably need to be consolidated as much as schools but it would start a domino effect. Tippah, Union, Alcorn, Prentiss, Pontotoc all have two different districts. Why? "It's the way it's always been". I won't name names about who I think should be closed but if each of those counties just had one district, you'd have at least a couple of candidates since the "city" and "county" would disappear in some of them. Ingomar and Pine Grove are schools with excellent basketball traditions and (as safely as I can put it) demographics that favor what the parents want. I didn't say who I think should be for sure but I have my thoughts. As far as BM and Ripley, I was told by a Tippah relative that the board fears pushback from the justice department if they close a minority serving school (BM) while keeping a larger yet still small school with no minority students (PG) open. I won't swear that's legit but given what Tate County went through trying to get Coldwater closed, I wouldn't be surprised.

I've posted earlier in this thread and before the association has often been too inflexible on region and classifications where it would make sense from a travel perspective to let schools play up or down if the enrollment difference is miniscule while also letting a region have maybe one more school. Based on the numbers we just saw, what would be the harm in letting Murrah play 6A or if not, keeping HC down on the coast rather than drive to Jackson or Hattiesburg for game? Football may only make one trip a year but there are sports beyond that. They should go ahead and let 3A have 41schools with OLA and 2A as well with New Site who don't play football. At least that makes every region have 5 teams and it's not as though the 1 school will greatly impact the level of competition in other sports. Of course we usually don't do things that make sense in Mississippi.

Continuing school consolidations are another reason why I've been so insistent on not needing 7 classes. More will happen and more would likely have already happened if there were fewer school districts in our state. Districts need to be consolidated more than schools to save on administrative costs and may pop up again in the near future. The county where I grew up in Northeast MS has two districts for no reaon beyond "that's the way it's always been". People are quick to say school and district consolidations should happen but when it's their school system being impacted they tend to fight it. I never predict who will consolidate and I've repeatedly said bigger doesn't mean better but there are many communities where it would make sense on paper but that doesn't mean it will happen.

I'm glad Leflore County is moving forward with consolidation and has the bond backing to help them get it built. Too many schools are in terrible condition physically and new spaces are needed. I don't think bigger is necessarily better but our state just has too many small schools in aging and poor condition that are very close to one another. It makes sense from a financial and logistical standpoint to combine some of them. This is yet another reason why 7 classes isn't necessary in a state with a shrinking public school count and total student population.

To me this just illustrates why the larger regions of 8 teams are preferrable. It makes filling a schedule easier. Of course that would mean fewer classes overall and we know that's not going back in the bottle.

Several of the blowouts demonstrate why winless teams don't need to be in the "playoffs" by default just because of a 4 team region. 1A should go back to 4 regions between 7 and 10 schools the next cycle and be on the same playoff schedule at 7A - 5A. It would also help with scheduling for the schools.

I've always perceived and believed the association has been way too rigid about schools on the lines playing up or down to possibly create more equity in travel. If there is a situation where a school just at or below the cutoff would find themselves making too many long trips for all sports just to keep things even when the enrollment difference is miniscule, then they should be willing to let them appeal their placement. I gather that doesn't happen and maybe never has but it should. Fuel isn't cheap and we are talking about kids making lengthy trips, sometimes during school days and nights, just to play a regular season game and also parents and fans who are often unable to travel due to the circumstances. This impacts both the traveling and hosting schools.

If this is in fact "the" list, I would put Murrah as 6A and allow for the Jackson schools to be grouped together as much as possible and if there are in fact 25 7A, let West Harrison play with the coast teams for a 7 team region. The association has always been more rigid than necessary when it comes to making teams play up or down slightly if it helps with travel or being placed in a particular division and also obsessed with keeping an equal number of teams as much as possible. . If the school is on the line or no more than 2 or 3 difference, it has no bearing over if they have an advantage. Given OLA and New Site don't play football, I'd also have 41 schools each in 3A and 2A. (of course if I were in charge we would only have 5 classes but oh well lol).

These lists seem pretty plausible and it doesn't look like too many major shifts, just some here and there along the normal lines of division. I still hope the association will make 1A football just be 4 regions so we don't have winless teams in the "playoffs". Ingomar and Baldwyn swap places in 1A and 2A with a football and non football member.

Posted before and sound like an old man but: When I was a sophomore or junior in HS (early 90s) we were 7-3 or 8-2 but lost two division games and finished third, left out of the playoffs of a 8 team division. It hurt but we knew we had to play each week. Taking the top 4 if there are 7 or 8 teams in a region/district is fine. However, as we added 6A and now 7A, plus the consolidation of many small schools, there just aren't as many member schools playing so many districts have 5 or 6 teams with 1A football having 4 team divisions by default with the non football schools taking part in basketball. If this remains the case the association should either only take the top 2 or at most 3 with division champs getting a first round bye. However, it would cut into "playoff" revenue. Of course 7A was to "increase excitement" which basically means to extract as much money as possible from the public and that includes school systems.

Ingomar and West Union are both in Union County along with Myrtle and East Union. New Site fielded a football team for a few years but dropped it, likely due to lack of interest. Basketball has long been the sport of choice for the northeast corner of the state in those small schools. I would be surprised if Ingomar or West Union ever attempted to play football. Agreed 1A football needs 4 regions.

Myrtle plays football in Union County now as well. Hickory Flat tried to play away from Ashland for a year I think but utimately dropped football with my suspicions being any boy from that area is allowed to attend Myrtle or Potts Camp outside of their district with no pushback rather than be forced to attend Ashland. The state seems to stay out of school consolidation but forced district consolidation in some places, which is still badly needed as some small counties have two or sometimes three school districts with superintendents and staff to support them when their total enrollment is less than a large high school. It makes no sense but it's how we operate. I guess it frustrates me when I know schools in many areas struggle for adequate funding yet wind up forced to spend money to support athletic teams and "playoffs" when in reality they are only there due to a lack of competition in their district. Strayhorn, Potts Camp, and Coffeville were the only 3 teams in their region after Coldwater closed and the association chose not to move another school in to even give them 4 members. That's crazy to me but again, it's how we operate.

Six classes or even five is plenty for a state our size with no more depth of talent among the public schools, particularly in the smaller classes.

From what I can find online, Mt Olive, Ashland, and Thrasher all made the "playoffs" without winning a single game. In these 1A districts with only 4 teams due to the non football members this will happen, as I predicted would when we foolishly went to 7 classes and reduced the number of teams in a region. I can recall when 1A went from 8 regions to 4, it was due to coaches complaining they couldn't find enough opponents for home games from larger schools to make a schedule. Apparently that wasn't a concern with the move back to 8 regions happening with the decision to move to 7 classes despite the fact some of those 1A schools around during that time have closed/consolidated and some of the parochial schools left the association for MAIS. If we want to keep 7 classes, then only the top 2 from a region should be in the playoffs, or 1A should move back to 4 regions of 7 to 10 schools. It's a shame that a winless team has to practice, get ready, and travel to a playoff game. I feel this way for many sports where there just isn't a lot of depth or competition among members due to lack of students, resources, personnel, facilities, or general support from the community.

I think this alignment would work well for now. It would give some additional competitive balance to the lower classes while ensuring the "gap" at the top isn't too large. I confess the gap between the top and bottom of 6A was a legit concern but it should have been addressed by making 6A 24 teams and the same with 5A. The small schools will keep consolidating and while that isn't a large number, I suspect on average there will be one per year due to enrollment declines and financial difficulties in districts.

My thing was the gap wasn't new. Tupelo always had about 2,000 students even when I was in high school in the late 80s/early 90s so it's not as though they just exploded in growth and made it wider. The point about the size difference is not a bad one but could have easily been solved by making 6A the top 24 rather than 32. It would have pushed some schools further down the line of course but the enrollment differences are miniscule based on where the line is drawn. I've fussed about the silliness of it for over two years now and think it's done more damage to other sports besides just football with respect to competitive balance. Plus there will just be more school consolidation and also fewer enrolled overall as private schools and home school will only siphon more students out of the system.

I think most people recognize it's a money grab on part of the association but the coaches and administrators could have said no but didn't for whatever reason. Tennessee has 6 classes for football, 4 for baseball, softball and basketball, and 3 for other sports. Even that I could live with as it would create more competitive balance across some sports where there is currently none. For the record, the largest 6A in TN is Collierville with almost 3,000 students while the smallest has just over 1,500. I wonder if the Tennessee schools think this decreases excitement?

With many, many more schools plus much larger schools in terms of enrollment, this should be an example of why 6 classes is more than enough for a state our size, if not 5. Fewer classes with larger regions would help with scheduling and travel for all sports, not just football.