by The Schwab » Fri Apr 05, 2019 11:25 am
I firmly believe that we need a 3 class system, sooner rather than later. If we don't get one put in place the gap between the have's and the have not's is only going to grow.
Here are the reasons why I don't think a 3-class system will happen:
1. People will only vote for it if it benefits their school, if it doesn't they will vote no.
2. We can't have a civilized conversation about the idea anymore.
IMO those against a 3-class system fall into one (or more) of these groups:
A. Their school/who they cheer for is a big class B school
B. Their school/who they cheer for is a school without borders
C. They're of the belief that it should have happened around the time when we had 24 districts.
D. They are from a region that doesn't have a large B school or a dominant private school
As a proponent of the 3 class system I will do my best to give my reasons why we should have one by addressing those who fall into each category.
A and B will be the two hardest groups to convince IMO. Currently most of your schools experience a lot of success. I will be the first to admit that a major factor of that success comes from having successful coaches who put the time in to make their program great. I would like you to know that in my version of the plan, you would be free to schedule whoever you want. There would be no requirement that you play only schools in your class and you can still play close to your current schedule if you so choose. Your tournaments would be so entertaining, every game would be a good one. Currently in our system there seem to be a lot of blowouts in the first round of regionals (not in every region). Not saying it would never happen, but it'd improve the quality of almost every game.
Group C- it should have happened then, IMO it would have stopped a lot of co-ops from happening. I'm sorry it didn't, but the old saying "better late than never" applies here.
Group D- I understand the system in your area works just fine, in my plan your area would have most of the same schools you currently have (add a few like size/make up schools) and play your quadrant tournament and send 2 teams from your area to the state tournament! It's a win, win!
Here's my idea for the 3 class system.
Class AA- 18 schools (current class A minus Jamestown, Watford, Valley City and Devils Lake) Play current set up for tournaments, basically left unchanged. Those 4 schools I listed would have a chance to opt up, just using them for the sake of putting a plan together.
Class A- Once you have your AA schools set it would include the next 32 schools, I would include all current class B schools without borders in this group. After you have those 6 schools it would be the next 26 largest schools using grades 7-11 enrollment. Scheduling and Tournament schedule will be outlined below
Class B- The rest
Class A and B would both follow the same system (class A would only play the elite 8 through championship in each quadrant, could do it in one weekend if they choose). It would be a lot like South Dakotas set up. We would divide each class into 4 quadrants for tournaments. Seeding for those tournaments would go off of a power points system that would give a point value for a victory or loss against a team based on their winning percentage (4 tiers). You would gain bonus points for playing a school 1 or 2 divisions higher than you, no negative points for playing a smaller school. All tournament games would be played on a neutral floor (with the exception of having a play in game to determine the final 16 in each quadrant, those would be played on the better seeds floor ex. 14 would host 18). Once we get to the final 16 we would treat it similar to the NCAA set up. 2 locations in each quadrant would follow the sweet 16/elite 8 set up except no days in between. Teams would play Friday and Saturday. Next weekend would be the final four of the quadrant. The two teams playing in the quadrant title would both qualify for state, but we would play the championship game. Once we get the final 8 (2 from each quadrant) we would seed the state tournament 1-8 based on power points. In this system we would play tournament over 2 weekends (girls one weekend, boys the next). B, A, AA would be in different sites on the same weekend. Internet live stream would be available for all games and we would have NBC, ABC and CBS or PBS rotate which tournament they cover based on the year. That way every tournament would be on TV as well as live stream. Just my two cents.
The Schwab
