Split of Class 6A football playoffs is part of proposals
BY MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer
Thursday, January 10, 2013
1/10/13 at 6:49 AM
Two plans for restructuring Class 6A football would retain something like the current district alignment, but divide larger and smaller playoff qualifiers within each district into separate brackets to determine dual state championships, the Tulsa World has learned.
The plans were developed by Class 6A administrators during a meeting Monday in Edmond, sources said.
All but one of the state's largest 32 high schools were represented, and administrators favored by a small margin staging a second football championship within the class.
But the recommendations they will send to the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association differ significantly from a plan presented to the OSSAA's board of directors in December.
The plan developed by Yukon superintendent Bill Denton, chairman of the OSSAA Constitution and Rules Revision committee, would have created a new "7A" classification encompassing the state's largest schools and divided 6A into two 16-team championship divisions, each with two eight-team districts.
Opponents said the Denton model threatened to increase travel demands and jeopardize long-standing rivalries between larger and smaller schools within 6A, but in separate divisions under the plan.
The OSSAA board tabled action on the Denton plan in its December meeting, sending it back to committee for further study. Subsequently, 6A administrators were encouraged to provide additional input.
Under the proposals made in Edmond, 6A schools would continue to play in four eight-team districts with larger and smaller schools intermingled in each district. But larger and smaller schools would be separated into different playoff brackets by school enrollment or Average Daily Membership (ADM).
Under the more-favored of the plans, six teams would qualify in each district, with the three largest qualifiers by ADM advancing to a Division I bracket and the three smallest qualifiers advancing to a Division II bracket. Highest seeds in each division would receive first-round byes in a 12-team, four-tiered championship series.
To understand the process of separating larger and smaller teams for playoff purposes, consider the 2012 District 6A-1 final standings. The top six finishers, with ADM in parentheses, were Owasso (ADM: 2,628), Union (4,237), Sand Springs (1,550), B.T. Washington (1,287), Bartlesville (1,701), Ponca City (1,478).
As the largest qualifying schools under the plan, Owasso, Union and Bartlesville would have advanced as the first, second and third seeds, respectively, in the Division I bracket. Sand Springs, Booker T. Washington and Ponca City would have advanced to the Division II bracket.
Under a less-favored recommendation by the Edmond group, the largest two qualifiers in each district would advance to an eight-team Division I playoff, and the next four qualifiers would advance to a 16-team Division II bracket. The Division I series would have a two-week layoff between the semifinals and championship game, probably over the Thanksgiving weekend.
The OSSAA hopes to have a recommendation by as early as February that it can send to the state's largest high schools for ratification.
Speedy approval is necessary if any change is to be implemented in time for the 2014 and 2015 football seasons, OSSAA executive director Ed Sheakley said. Realignment for the next two-year cycle is expected to be done in mid- to late-summer.
The OSSAA has been grappling with the large discrepancy between the largest and smallest schools in the class. Broken Arrow, the state's largest high school with an enrollment of almost 4,600 students, is about 3.6 times larger than Booker T. Washington, the smallest school in 6A with an enrollment of almost 1,300.
Proponents say splitting into two divisions will "level the playing field" for the smallest schools in the class.
Administrators meeting in Edmond said each district should have a balance of four smaller and four larger teams. That may necessitate more teams committing to travel, such as in the Owasso-Union district, which has only two larger and six smaller teams. To create a balance, two western "bigs" would have to agree to play in an eastern district and two eastern "smalls" would have to go west to replace them.
That may seem like a sacrifice for all four teams. But one administrator said, "People have to understand that they are giving up something to get something else."
The Edmond group discouraged the use of a "7A" designation, feeling it would create the public perception that the sport is being watered down with the introduction of another class.
Opponents of the split say it will only be a matter of time before administrators in other classifications start demanding similar splits.
Changing Picture
These would have been the Class 6A playoff qualifiers if the Edmond proposal had been in effect for the 2012 football season (ADM in parentheses):
District 6A-1
| Owasso (2628) |
7-0 |
| Union (4237) |
6-1 |
| Sand Springs (1550) |
5-2 |
| B.T. Washington (1287) |
3-4 |
| Bartlesville (1701) |
3-4 |
| Ponca City (1478) |
2-5 |
Division I: 1, Owasso. 2, Union. 3, Bartlesville.
Division II: 1, Sand Springs. 2, Washington. 3, Ponca City.
District 6A-2
| Jenks (3077) |
7-0 |
| Broken Arrow (4586) |
6-1 |
| Westmoore (1982) |
4-3 |
| Putnam City (1732) |
4-3 |
| Sapulpa (1393) |
4-3 |
| Bixby (1335) |
2-5 |
Division I: 1, Jenks. 2, Broken Arrow. 3, Westmoore.
Division II: 1, Putnam City. 2, Sapulpa. 3, Bixby
District 6A-3
| Norman North (2069) |
7-0 |
| Edmond North (2445) |
6-1 |
| Yukon (2131) |
5-2 |
| Putnam North (1953) |
4-3 |
| Midwest City (1443) |
3-4 |
| Moore (2153) |
2-5 |
Division I: 1, Norman North. 2, Edmond North. 3, Moore.
Division II: 1, Yukon. 2, Putnam North. 3, Midwest City.
District 6A-4
| Edmond Santa Fe (1973) |
7-0 |
| Norman (1729) |
6-1 |
| Southmoore (1955) |
4-3 |
| Edmond Memorial (2048) |
4-3 |
| Lawton (1722) |
3-4 |
| Mustang (2473) |
3-4 |
Division I: 1, Southmoore. 2, Edmond Memorial. 3, Mustang.
Division II: 1, Edmond Santa Fe. 2, Norman. 3, Lawton.
Original Print Headline: Proposals made for 6A split
Mike Brown 918-581-8390
mike.brown@tulsaworld.com
