AHSAA drops to 6 classifications, adds new private school divisions
- Thread starter 615dawg
- Start date
MS needs to go back to 6 classifications. 7 with just 24 teams in the top 3 is just ridiculous.
It needs to go back to five. We have half as many schools as Alabama.
I like how Louisiana does it. They have select (schools that can pick their students - magnet, private, charter, football academies like John Curtis) and non-select (district-based admission) divisions in the playoffs. However, during the regular season the divisions are based on student population/proximity to one another. So, you end up with divisions where private schools actually play the public schools nearby if they're comparable sized. For example, Mandeville HS's (non-select) biggest rival is St. Pauls School (select) - they play in the same division, but they don't compete in the same playoffs. It's a lot less travel for the schools and makes for some intense rivalries.
The AISA serves as an accrediting body for schools that can't get SACS approval. Most of the MAIS is like this as well.
Problem is, in the top classification you'd have schools with less than 600 students playing schools with more than 1,500. You really can't have more than 24-32 teams in the top classification in Mississippi without creating some pretty unfair mismatches.
Go to 5A= 32 and 4A = 32 then.
7 is too many for MS. Then you have another 6 in the MAIS. 13 teams are state champions.
They won’t do it. More classifications means more playoff games which means more money for the MHSAA.
Well they're not doing a very good job of it then. Right now only 172 out of about 240 teams make the playoffs. If they add a couple more classifications, they can find a playoff spot for those other 68 schools. **