NCHSAA " Very Interesting "

[photo0001]

State wide Conferences back to 1969 when Mount Airy ,Elkin, East Surry, Surry Central N.Surry all were 3A and as they dropped to 2A & 1A in the 80s & 90s. Be sure to scroll ,it shows 1A first.
http://www.nchsaa.org/schools/conferences

 

[steady99]

I miss the old Rocky River 2A. That was a solid league.

Edit: Fascinating to look back at conferences from the 70s and 80s and compare them to conferences today. Interesting how the conference footprints in the middle of the state have shifted over the last 40 years. Clearly reflects all the growth around Charlotte as well as the population drain in smaller outlying towns. As an example, in 1981, Albemarle and Sun Valley were in the same 3A conference. Now, Albemarle is struggling to remain competitive in 1A, while Sun Valley is a massive 4A school that would be even bigger but for the opening of nearby Porter Ridge in 2005.

 

[Dogs9]

I miss the old Rocky River 2A. That was a solid league.

Edit: Fascinating to look back at conferences from the 70s and 80s and compare them to conferences today. Interesting how the conference footprints in the middle of the state have shifted over the last 40 years. Clearly reflects all the growth around Charlotte as well as the population drain in smaller outlying towns. As an example, in 1981, Albemarle and Sun Valley were in the same 3A conference. Now, Albemarle is struggling to remain competitive in 1A, while Sun Valley is a massive 4A school that would be even bigger but for the opening of nearby Porter Ridge in 2005.

In 1981 Albemarle was in the Rocky River Conference which was 2A not 3A.

 

[steady99]

You are right - AHS was realigned into a 2A conference in the fall of 1981. But during the school year that ended in spring 1981 they were still a member of the old South Piedmont 3A.

 

[Dogs9]

In 1977 both Albemarle and North Stanly were in 3A conferences and West Stanly and South Stanly were in 2A conferences. West is the only school that has shown growth while the other three are all smaller today.

 

[Squirrel Gravy]

Another thing I found interesting was how the lack of split conferences forced whoever made these alignments to adjust. A good example is Asheville. Asheville (Lee Edwards) was in a three school conference in 69, then spent the next few alignments in conferences with schools in Charlotte and Hickory before finding a home without so much travel after some of the other local schools caught up in attendance numbers.

 

[Pisgah Bear]

Back then they never went by numbers of students.If you didn't finish first in the conference you never made the playoffs.

 

[btango]

Back then they never went by numbers of students.If you didn't finish first in the conference you never made the playoffs.

Since the 1970's the NCHSAA used a pre determined rotating at large bid to even out the playoffs to eliminate byes for some playoff squads. The issue is that you may have a stacked conference with three super teams that split their games with each team having one loss on the season and it was in conference. Straws drawn and one team got in. The neighboring conference was inferior and lost cross conference games. Due to being a predetermined split they got two teams in that may have lost to the two teams that did not get it. The problem before sub-dividing was the lack of using some type of power poll to determine playoff squads. We bought a new car when all we needed was a tune up.