I would venture to say very few schools ever travel 3+ hours to play in Nc if it’s not semi final play or state championship game.
Realignment
- Thread starter Simmons Ratings
- Start date
I would venture to say very few schools ever travel 3+ hours to play in Nc if it’s not semi final play or state championship game.
Region model mean is same as conferences but You have more schools within then so Say have 10 teams with in a region but all 10 are split on 5 team conference
Like in AZ u have team on your conference that you play but In AZ they have a Play in tournament and u play other teams with your region but not within your conference
But SC has a Region model , AZ has Region model so U look those states up n see better for yourself then me bc I could be way off
Well you guys may think it’s no big deal traveling between Greensboro or Winston-Salem to Charlotte or Raleigh or vice versa. But I promise you most schools don’t want to be doing this. Plus, I think it would drastically hurt attendance.
Just my thoughts.
Just my thoughts.
I think depending on program - I know as Mooresville fans i think we would be willing travel. I like going new school n playing different teams so but i understand many may not have same following or expenses or whatever the case maybe but 1hr compared to 4-5 is big difference but i get AZ/NC are too different to compare ideal but im just say if u travel an extra 10-15 miles then so be it
I’m with you, I’ve also seen specifically in playoff round one where a 1 team would play a 32 team and they were two hours apart the visiting team have more coaching staff then fans in the stands. I mean sometimes the fans makes the games better and with long travel during regular season I’m not sure schools will get the support needed.
Why is travel such an Issue? I mean Crest and Alexander Central once use to be in the same conference and they always had solid game. They were about 1hr n 25 min 63 miles - Back in 90s n maybe even in early 2000s Travel times n such didn’t matter as much but Now it seem everyone scared to travel? I don’t mind travel 1hr or so to a game like If Mooresville went to Grimsley or Dudley or East Forsyth or Asheville or whatever I would go bc those big time programs n game imo so
10-15 miles that’s not a problem at all, last year I spent roughly 5 hours round trip following a team to see them play and I don’t regret it one bit, and deep in the playoffs that’s not an issue but week after week I could see lots of fans just deciding to watch the games on youtube, of course the NCHSAA may like that.
I think 1hr + trip isn’t bad n if it’s under 50-60 miles I think Fans will still go imo just my opinion esp if those solid big time games
Travel won’t be an issue until the “out of money schools” starts claiming they can’t pay the gas bill to get the team to the game. If I was a betting man I’d bet a million dollars to a gnats rear end that it would happen. lol
I agree with you also here, it will be fun to see what some schedules look like and how they change over the next few years. I guess we just look forward to August of 2023 and get ready for some long awaited Friday nights.
Have you traveled I-77 from Statesville to Charlotte lately. That 1 1/2 trip from Winston suddenly becomes 2 to 3 hours.
I have seen regular season games with more staff than fans with schools 7 miles apart. And I am talking 4A games.
Let’s have 6 classifications. Among the classifications eliminate any 2A/3A and 4A/5A split conferences. I’d like every conference have 6-8 teams if possible.
Perform realignments every 2 years.
I would have 6 state championship games that could be hosted at 6 different locations, if needed. Have the West teams host the 6 championship games on odd years and have the East do the same on even years. It kinda sucks when a mountain team has to drive to Chapel Hill or Raleigh to play in a championship game.
In the West you could play championship games at WFU, ASU, WCU, Charlotte NC A&T, and Gardner Webb. East locations could be NCSU, Duke, UNC, ECU, Campbell, and Fayetteville State. Mix it up some, give kids a good adventure, make it more entertaining.
Perform realignments every 2 years.
I would have 6 state championship games that could be hosted at 6 different locations, if needed. Have the West teams host the 6 championship games on odd years and have the East do the same on even years. It kinda sucks when a mountain team has to drive to Chapel Hill or Raleigh to play in a championship game.
In the West you could play championship games at WFU, ASU, WCU, Charlotte NC A&T, and Gardner Webb. East locations could be NCSU, Duke, UNC, ECU, Campbell, and Fayetteville State. Mix it up some, give kids a good adventure, make it more entertaining.
Done many times - That’s why u leave early - Teams in AZ leave at 11am or Noon if they go far 3-4 hours away so there are ways to do it from a school stand point
I could be wrong, I have been before. But I dont see 3-4 hour bus rides for too many teams even if there is 7a. I do expect travel times to increase, but not 3-4 hours. That is about half the state. Asheville to Raleigh. I dont think Asheville will be in the same league as Raleigh.
anyone remember the days when Asheville played Elizabeth City (now Northeastern) in regular season games?? think they did that about 4 times or so on a home and home basis....not sure why.....think it was the 60's or early 70's..........................
I would expect any school located between Greensboro and Charlotte has a hundred schools within 1.5 hour drive. Why would they go three hours for a game? Would need to be a special matchup to go farther.
Again I never said they need to travel 3 hours lol I said AZ does that but my point is People are complaining about maybe driving 1hr 30 min here in NC
I mean like I said Above if it’s 40-60 miles difference then I’m still OK with that I mean Playing different team n having competitive one is what u want I mean like I stated above - Crest/AC is 63 miles n 1hr 30 that used to be a very good conference match up
In the Southern Foothills 1A, Maiden was in conference with Polk County and Hendersonville. We all survived it.
In the late 1960's and 70's Asheville, Hickory, Hunter Huss, and Ashbrook were in a conference with the north and western Meck County teams. Roads are better now but traffic is much worse today.
That was a different time. Attendance has dropped off since then. Many schools need to do whatever they can to get people to show up so they can fund all of their athletic programs.
Last edited:
Only big schools in my opinion has dropped off - like char-Meck / Triad then I sure most don’t travel well but Maiden, Mooresville, Brown, SP, New Bern, and many others still have solid following n fan bases maybe not like 90s but still some of best around so I believe they would be fine imo
But the decision makers have to take into account the schools that won't travel well.
Travel to Charlotte from western Forsyth County, especially to any school south of I-85 will probably involve 77.
I wouldn’t expect a whole lot of conference games between 7a teams in Charlotte and Winston/Greensboro. Non conference. Maybe. And playoffs for sure. But we already do that.
6A
Football Only
No split conferences
Reclass every 3 years
It can be done and should be done
Football Only
No split conferences
Reclass every 3 years
It can be done and should be done
Three years does not work due to schools do two year contracts. On a three year alignment the school would have a non conference contract game for years three and four but they would not know what their non conference dates were going to be fir year four. Needs to be two.
Six classes with no split conferences would result in some very large geographic conferences or Very small conferences.
Smaller conferences allows for more flexibility in non conference opponents and cut down on "required" travel time.
Contracts can be figured out...not worried about that. A one time away opponent wouldn't bother Maiden. We would welcome randomly traveling to West Henderson or Thomasville.
I get your point...but nothing is impossible if you want it and will put in the work for it.
I sat down this morning and did it on my own in 5 hours.
Can't really share in it's entirety on my phone since it's in excel...but I can look at what I have and share details about any team.
Both items you noted above have been addressed in the past at football coaches association meetings, AD conferences, and in NCHSAA board meetings. Not specifically the number of years on an alignment but changing the number of weeks in a season on an odd year which caused a lot of heartache and caused some teams to lost games.
The alignment periods discussion will be for only two or four years.
Last edited:
Frankly, I prefer four. Creates more stability. Changing conferences, just like changing coaches, every two years can create chaos. Doesn’t allow building of rivalries. That dramatically can affect the gate for many schools. And, like it or not, the gate has to be one of, if not the major factor.
When there dramatic changes in numbers, such as new schools being built, change those as needed before realignment. I know there are some schools that have drastic ADM swings, but it’s not the norm. Don’t let the tail wag the dog.
When there dramatic changes in numbers, such as new schools being built, change those as needed before realignment. I know there are some schools that have drastic ADM swings, but it’s not the norm. Don’t let the tail wag the dog.
Hear a lot of complaints about the four year realignment but when it comes times to make a decision the schools, especially the ADs, revert back to the four year term very quickly. Your arguments are why and rivalries is the main one. That was also the one noted the most when the NCHSAA offered a separate football only alignment which I thought was the perfect option.
I know it might not seem likely and maybe not desirable for some but really yearly realignment using the enrollment numbers from a certain date or say the 4th Monday of January call it realignment day each year could be done, everyone know it’s coming, everyone has the time to do what they want or need to do for whatever reason. Then Everyone’s conference could be decided and then next years schedules could be released within 2 weeks of that time.
Maybe it’s harder than that.
Maybe it’s harder than that.
You want two years so you can schedule home and away with your conference opponents and have non conference contracts.