7 Classes

[Rebel Bert]

How does everyone feel about their schools schedule and play so far?

[pancho]

lots of weak regions but has made for some interesting cross region games which were formerly region rivals.

[David]

Looks like most 7A teams have used the extra games to schedule tough competition in hopes of getting their team better for district. Seems like more Coast teams interacting with the Metro schools and with the Pine Belt. We’ve seen some really good games that give us an idea of the best teams and playoff favorites, namely, Starkville or Tupelo running into Oak Grove. Maybe a couple of challengers in Rankin Cty., Madison, or Ocean Springs. Nobody really padded their schedule too much. Y’all can talk about the smaller schools. 

Edited September 24, 2023 by David

[Rebel Bert]

2 minutes ago, David said:

Looks like most 7A teams have used the extra games to schedule tough competition in hopes of getting their team better for district. Seems like more Coast teams interacting with the Metro schools and with the Pine Belt. We’ve seen some really good games that give us an idea of the best teams and playoff favorites, namely, Starkville or Tupelo running into Oak Grove. Maybe a couple of challengers in Rankin Cty., Madison, or Ocean Springs. Nobody really padded their schedule too much. Y’all can talk about the smaller schools. 

3 or 4 teams per region really hurts 1A. Your always going to weak teams in each region. Now you can have all weak teams in a region.

[Dubaction]

It’s fine. I get a few 5a and 6A schools mixed up as far as classification goes sometimes. And Noxubee being a south team is asinine. Other than that no real complaints. I don’t pay much attention to small school ball I’m sure there are some issues there. 

[Bender20]

1A got 36 team and 21 of them got 1 win or less.

7 division too much in MS

[SPTigerDad]

From a distance, I was wondering how long it was going to take for this question to be asked. Initially I thought it would mean more travel in district play, but hadn't considered if that would water down the competition aspect.

[Rebel Bert]

After considering several options like a super 16 for 7A I finally settled on the following:

7A 20 schools. 

6A 24

5A 24

4A 40

3A 40

2A 40. 39 football

1A 54  43 football and every region gets 5

[Rebel Bert]

2 minutes ago, Rebel Bert said:

After considering several options like a super 16 for 7A I finally settled on the following:

7A 20 schools. 

6A 24

5A 24

4A 40

3A 40

2A 40. 39 football

1A 54  43 football and every region gets 5

Actually 2A could have 41 and 1A 53.

[JagsFan77]

The enrollment difference between the top of 1A and the bottom of 6A was exactly the same as the enrollment difference  between the bottom of 6A to the top of 6A. It needed to happen for the largest schools. It still leads to region games 3 hours apart for 7A but it's better as far as schools not playing in the same region as schools twice their size. Someone at MHSAA had to have a grudge against Tupelo to put them in Region 2 though. They have ridiculous mileage on the year for just 2 away region games. Clinton is 404 miles round trip for them. I think a change in region alignment could help the other classifications. 

[Rebel Bert]

2 hours ago, Raiderguy said:

very true, great post

Drop 7A to 20 schools, Lewisburg drops to 6A and problem solved.

[ccbulldog]

Why do we solely base classes on enrollment ? Why not take competitive balance into account like other States do. Some bigger schools have less emphasis on football than some smaller schools and some schools have more access to athletic students than other schools. By going back to 6 classes and combining enrollment with geography and competitiveness you should be able to come up with much better districts.

[s1nglewing]

The Alabama private school league (AISA) counts boys and girls, so a school with a lot of girls and few boys would have their girls teams in a larger classification that the boys teams.  Florida splits their classes into urban and suburban and also has a rural classification. 

 

So there are a lot of ways to skin a cat... competitive balance is one of the hardest to successfully achieve, but I do agree that seven classes severely waters down the game, especially in 1A-3A, and this year's 4A, too.

 

Mississippi doesn't have enough schools to warrant seven classes.

[ccbulldog]

14 minutes ago, s1nglewing said:

The Alabama private school league (AISA) counts boys and girls, so a school with a lot of girls and few boys would have their girls teams in a larger classification that the boys teams.  Florida splits their classes into urban and suburban and also has a rural classification. 

 

So there are a lot of ways to skin a cat... competitive balance is one of the hardest to successfully achieve, but I do agree that seven classes severely waters down the game, especially in 1A-3A, and this year's 4A, too.

 

Mississippi doesn't have enough schools to warrant seven classes.

you hit the nail on the head with that last statement.

[David44]

9 hours ago, ccbulldog said:

Why do we solely base classes on enrollment ? Why not take competitive balance into account like other States do. Some bigger schools have less emphasis on football than some smaller schools and some schools have more access to athletic students than other schools. By going back to 6 classes and combining enrollment with geography and competitiveness you should be able to come up with much better districts.

 

On 9/24/2023 at 11:41 AM, Bender20 said:

1A got 36 team and 21 of them got 1 win or less.

7 division too much in MS

This and This pretty much sums it up for me. Why does enrollment have to be the only issue? The Old 6A schools were all big anyway, with the resources and plenty of 

athletes to choose from to compete. It's not just 1A that's bad either. In 3-6A there are only 5 schools competing in football with only 2 of those having a realistic chance

to win the region championship. So the whole season basically comes down to that 1 game on the schedule. In competitive regions of past years, you could have 3 or even

4 teams still in the mix with 1 or 2 games left on the schedule. That's all gone now. It was a horrible decision to go to 7 classes.

 

[Rebel Bert]

1 Super Regional 16 to 20

Divide the remaining by 5 and let it be.

No need for 7 classes.

226 ÷ 5 = 45 per class plus 1

or 6A = 24, 5A = 32, 4A-1A = 52 per class

5 to 8 schools per region is just better than 3 or 4 football schools per region.

[Vott]

3 hours ago, Rebel Bert said:

1 Super Regional 16 to 20

Divide the remaining by 5 and let it be.

No need for 7 classes.

226 ÷ 5 = 45 per class plus 1

or 6A = 24, 5A = 32, 4A-1A = 52 per class

5 to 8 schools per region is just better than 3 or 4 football schools per region.

How would you decide what 20 to put in the super regional

[Ghost of Howard Cosell]

Padding up those MHSAA higher ups pockets! 

[Rebel Bert]

9 hours ago, Vott said:

How would you decide what 20 to put in the super regional

20 largest or 10 winningest programs in 7A/6A.