Strongest Class or Region?
- Thread starter CRF4Dan
- Start date
And this question is exactly why we need 3 Boards for VHSL football. One for Class 1 and 2. The 2nd for Class 3 and 4. The 3rd for Class 5 and 6.
Strongest Class is Class 5 no doubt but the strongest Region without question is Region 4B!! no other region is in their stratosphere
I would have to do a little homework before I would totally throw in with you on Class 5, but you are probably correct.
But 4B is hands down the toughest Region. Two reasons. You have the 4-5 top tier teams that will have to kill each other off to see who is the Regional Champion, but there are about 10 more teams that can and may rise up and be a regional contender as well. What is it the Seals say? The only easy day was yesterday? The only easy game in 4B was last week!
I know iron sharpens iron but there is a concern that whoever makes it out of 4B will be so beat up after this gauntlet that they could be banged up going into the state semifinals.
I have not seen anything yet but VHSL has not updated their site or even released a master schedule .
I thought I remember seeing last year when they tried to manipulate a yet another state football final matchup with a late season change that 4A vs. 4C and 4B vs. 4D would be the norm for the foreseeable future for all sports.
Yet, nothing really changed in the bracketing principles in sports which have State Quarterfinal rounds (i.e. baseball) this past Spring.
So who knows what will happen? Anyone’s guess is just as good as someone else’s at the moment.
As I put together our Top Tens, I have taken a look at this and my initial thought is Region 4B is the strongest in state with 5B and 6B not far behind / also in the convo.
In terms easiest to navigate -- look at 3A and 3B. With Lafayette moving up to Class 4 and TJ-Richmond moving down to Class 2, it opens the door for a surprise team to make a run at a regional title / trip to the State Playoffs.
I understand your feelings, but be glad we have what we have -- the the national folks want to consolidate the number of boards even more because in their view it promotes more activity in a singular spot. I fought for what we have, and yes, I like you would have love to 6 instead of this. But this is better than nothing.
I like the idea of discussing what you eluded to, “the easiest Region to navigate.” Without doing any serious thinking on the matter, 4A comes to mind. It’s Phoebus and the rest.
We always tend to discuss how the team moving up or down will do, but as you said, it’s just as interesting to look at where that team left and the opportunities that might have created.
Like Matt said, it ain’t the forum we had, but it’s the forum we have. Maybe we will find it to be a positive in some ways. Some of us have always looked at the threads for all of the classes, but many only focused on the thread that “their” team was a part of. Hopefully some of those hardline folks will enjoy the discussions at other class levels.
Last season, Class 4 claimed that they voted in May for the changes in the bracketing. I’m sure the minutes of their meeting would validate that claim. But if so, why was that change kept as a deep dark secret until after the playoffs were well under way?
That's my issue. If a change is made prior to the first game of the regular season, then have at it. But I think for consistency, then the bracketing principles should be in effect for all classes (and actually all regions).
But that's fine. Nothing should be shocking. But the way it was pushed out...in similar fashion to "fix" the brackets for a Freedom-Prince William/Highland Springs state title game, just came off as dirty.
You and I sometimes disagree, but not on this topic. That crap with Freedom vs HS was so obviously blatant it was undeniable.
The way to remedy this is to go back to the old way of letting ratings determine the state semifinal matchups rather than assigning what region plays who.