OHSAA to add a 7th division for football in 2013

[David Stevenson]

OHSAA to add a 7th division for football in 2013

I'll add more links to this developing story, McKinley by all accounts will be smallest in large school division or I-A, Massillon and Hoover will be I-B.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/hshuddle/entries/2012/04/12/ohsaa_splits_di_adds_another_f.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[David Stevenson]

OHSAA Board Adopts Recommendation to Add Seventh Football Division

Division I Will Be Reduced to 72 Schools; Plan to Begin in 2013



COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio High School Athletic Association will be adding a seventh tournament division in football beginning in 2013, Commissioner Daniel B. Ross has announced. The addition of a seventh division was approved by the OHSAA’s Board of Directors by a 6 to 3 vote during its regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday.



The plan will place the top 10 percent of schools based on enrollment in Division I, with the remaining 644 schools divided evenly among the next six divisions. This will leave 72 schools in Division I with the other six divisions averaging approximately 108 schools. Each of the seven divisions will continue to qualify 32 teams to the tournament. Currently, the six OHSAA football divisions are comprised of an average of 120 schools per division.



The plan for adopting an additional division was in response to a concern by some OHSAA member schools about the enrollment disparity that exists in Division I, where the current range is 494 males at the lower end of the division to 1,164 at the top. Based on current enrollment data, the lower end of Division I would increase to 600 males. Committee meetings were held to address the issue and the recommendation to add a seventh division came from the committee.



“Adding a seventh division not only helps address the enrollment disparity in Division I, but it also will create 32 more tournament opportunities for student-athletes, their schools and their communities, many of which have never or rarely experienced the playoffs,” Ross said. “The committee members believe that this is an issue unique to football, especially since not all schools qualify for the OHSAA football tournament.”



A separate committee, comprised of OHSAA Board and staff members, school administrators and officers of the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association, will be formed to finalize the details of this plan. Among the details to be determined: adjustments to the Harbin Computer Ratings with the addition of another division; regional breakdowns and assignments for Division I, and dates in which specific divisions will play their tournament contests, including logistics of an additional state tournament contest.



Approval of an “athletic count” formula, which is included within a competitive balance proposal that OHSAA member school principals will vote on during the annual referendum process that will occur between May 1 and 15, would also be factored in before placing schools into their respective tournament divisions.



The next two-year cycle for reassigning schools to tournament divisions begins in the fall of 2013. Based on current enrollment figures, a sample of the football tournament divisional enrollment ranges when adding a seventh division would be (again, keeping in mind that this will change before the 2013 season): Division I – 600 to 1,164; Division II – 410 to 599; Division III – 288 to 409; Division IV – 216 to 287; Division V – 159 to 215; Division VI – 114 to 158, and Division VII – 30 to 111. The current football tournament divisional enrollment ranges, which run through through 2012, are: Division I – 494 to 1,164; Division II – 327 to 493; Division III – 243 to 326; Division IV – 172 to 242; Division V – 120 to 171, and Division VI – 30 to 119.



This is the first time the OHSAA has expanded the number of football tournament divisions since 1994, when a sixth division was added. Five years later, the number of tournament qualifiers in each division expanded from 16 to 32. When the tournament first began in 1972, there were three football tournament divisions, and expansion to five divisions occurred in 1980.

[just a fan]

From the article:

D-I: Changes from 494-1,164 to 600-1,164
D-II: Changes from 327-493 to 410-599
D-III: Changes from 243-326 to 288-409
D-IV: Changes from 172-242 to 216-287
D-V: Changes from 120-171 to 159-215
D-VI: Changes from 30-119 to 114-158
New D-VII: 30 to 107

Unless if the Competive Balance proposal changes things,...

D1: McKinley, GlenOak, Jackson, Perry
D2: Massillon, Hoover, Lake, Timken
D3: Alliance, Canton South, Louisville
D4: Fairless, Marlington, Minerva, Northwest, Tuslaw (right at the cutoff for D5)
D5: Central Catholic, Sandy Valley
D6: East Canton, St. Thomas
New Division: Heritage Christian, Lake Center Christian....would this cause them to think about fielding a team?

Massillon, Hoover, Alliance, Louisville, Marlington, Minerva, Northwest, Central Catholic, Sandy Valley, St. Thomas, and maybe Tuslaw will all drop a division.

McKinley, GlenOak, Jackson, Perry, Lake, Timken, Canton South, Fairless, East Canton, and maybe Tuslaw remain in the same division.

[Raymo]

We play three of the teams that have gone down to Div2,am I wrong in thinking this will affect our point total at the end of the season?

[David Stevenson]

Not enough of an equal balance still in my book... keep the six divisions, place more teams in division II, III, IV, V; that would have helped more. Adding a title game is going to prove to be another problem. The competitive balance WILL come into play, and really shake things up.

[canton_fan]

I started loosing interest when they went from 4 to 8 teams. Example is when McKinley had to beat Warren Harding in 98 just to make the 4 team playoff. That was one of the great regulay season games I ever say now you can lose games with almost no consequence at all. Thumbs down to this. And to top it off we are now at the bottom of the D1. But if McKinley keeps loosing boys it won't be long before we're in D2.

[Tony Salapack]

Money talks.....we all no the rest of the phrase!

[David Stevenson]

Sharing an interesting post from http://www.MassillonProud.com

The OHSAA has realigned the high school football teams by placing the 72 schools with the largest enrollments in Division 1 and the remaining schools evenly distributed among six other divisions based on enrollment. If only base enrollment figures are used, then Massillon would be assigned a position in Division 2. However, the OHSAA has a referendum up for vote of the schools that would incorporate a Competitive Advantage formula to adjust the base enrollment up or down depending on specific factors. If this passes, then it’s conceivable that Massillon would find themselves in Division 1 when the dust settles. Here’s how that would happen.

Massillon’s base enrollment for 2011 is 555 boys. The formula would adjust this number as follows:

Open Enrollment – Massillon has state-wide open enrollment, so add 6%.

Free Lunches – Massillon has 44% of its students in the free lunch program, so subtract 4.4%.

Playoff Performance – If a team wins at least one playoff game in four of the last eight years, add 6%. The realignment takes place in 2013, so the years 2005 through 2012 would comprise the eight effective years. The Tigers won at least one game in 2005, 2006 and 2009. If they advance in 2012, this would constitute the fourth year, so add 6%.

Calculation – 555 * (1.06) * (-1.044) * (1.06) = 597

I ran the calculations for all of the future Division 1 and Division 2 teams and found the cutoff point to be 594. So if Massillon’s enrollment does not decrease in the next year and if they win at least one game in the 2012 playoffs, it’s conceivable they could be assigned to Division 1.

On another note, it’s possible that Canton McKinley would be assigned to Division 2 if they don’t win a playoff game this year. They don’t have open enrollment, they have 69% of their students on free lunch and they have one at least one game in just three of the past seven years. Thus, their base enrollment number of 630 would slip to 592. So the pressure’s on with them.

Finally, if the assignments were made today, McKinley, Jackson, Perry, Hoover and GlenOak would be in Division 1. Massillon and Lake would be in Division 2. Other Division 2 teams would include Walsh Jesuit, Toledo Central, Toledo St. John’s, Columbus St.Charles, Cincinnati LaSalle, Cleveland Glenville and Fremont Ross. Trotwood Madison and Louisville would slip to Division 3.

[mattuneDog]

when the time comes B.O.E. - combine two Canton city high school campuses ...enough boys for division 1!BULLDOGS!!!!!!!!!!

[Raymo]

:shock: when the time comes B.O.E. - combine two Canton city high school campuses ...enough boys for division 1!BULLDOGS!!!!!!!!!!

That's the best thing for everyone in the city,as soon as a few new members are voted in to the BOE.

[Scott Caster]

McKinley is D2 with competitive balance along with Lake. Rest of the Fed would be d1. Massillon D2 as well. Official changing of the guard?

http://www.ohsaa.org/members/rcbp/football.pdf

[David Stevenson]

Off to Division II we go.

[BIGTDOG91]

Maybe we can win a title now!!!

[Raymo]

Off to Division II we go.

Good...More points for us when we play D1 teams and playing different teams in the playoffs instead of FL teams again.

[Murphy13]

McKinley is D2 with competitive balance along with Lake. Rest of the Fed would be d1. Massillon D2 as well. Official changing of the guard?

http://www.ohsaa.org/members/rcbp/football.pdf

Not a chance kids want to play for winners regaurdless of division the federal league for the most part is composed of perrenial mediocrity who mooch off of McKinley's past....

[sloanchile]

since none of you pleebs posted this , the great sloanchile will . i think it would be great for mck /mass etc... to drop and be BIG d2 schools as opposed to avg d1 size schools where it is unfair to compete aginst the Xaviers of the world with 1100 boys in ther enrollment ... SLOANCHILE HERO TO ALL > THAN GOD

[IUDOGS]

[quote="sloanchile"]since none of you pleebs posted this , the great sloanchile will . i think it would be great for mck /mass etc... to drop and be BIG d2 schools as opposed to avg d1 size schools where it is unfair to compete aginst the Xaviers of the world with 1100 boys in ther enrollment ... SLOANCHILE HERO TO ALL > THAN GOD[/quote

Where have you been??? I thought you might have gone hibernating for the summer??

Glad to see you come back from the dead.

All has broken out in the OHSAA.

This is IUDOGS signing off.

[just a fan]

Sharing an interesting post from http://www.MassillonProud.com

Massillon’s base enrollment for 2011 is 555 boys. The formula would adjust this number as follows:

Open Enrollment – Massillon has state-wide open enrollment, so add 6%.

Free Lunches – Massillon has 44% of its students in the free lunch program, so subtract 4.4%.

Playoff Performance – If a team wins at least one playoff game in four of the last eight years, add 6%. ... If they advance in 2012, this would constitute the fourth year, so add 6%.

Calculation – 555 * (1.06) * (-1.044) * (1.06) = 597

I ran the calculations for all of the future Division 1 and Division 2 teams and found the cutoff point to be 594. So if Massillon’s enrollment does not decrease in the next year and if they win at least one game in the 2012 playoffs, it’s conceivable they could be assigned to Division 1.

On another note, it’s possible that Canton McKinley would be assigned to Division 2 if they don’t win a playoff game this year. They don’t have open enrollment, they have 69% of their students on free lunch and they have one at least one game in just three of the past seven years. Thus, their base enrollment number of 630 would slip to 592. So the pressure’s on with them.

If I'm understanding the OHSAA guide, Tiger Don's figures might not be accurate. The only time you add a percentage for open enrollment is if the school had a net gain in open enrollment (i.e. had more kids transfer in through open enrollment than kids who transferred out). According to OHSAA's spreadsheet, which could very well be inaccurate, Massillon didn't have a percentage added for open enrollment. If that's accurate, even with a playoff win this season, they'd be sitting at 527 (555-61.4+33.3) and well into D2.

McKinley's current base enrollment is 636, in 2011 there were 1041 free lunch applications, and they've won a playoff game in 3 of the last 7 seasons. So, using current enrollment and free lunch figures (which of course will change a little).....McKinley will be at 532 if they don't win a playoff game this year and 570 if they do win a playoff game. 532 definately puts them in D2, 570 would put them right at the cutoff for D1/D2 and it would depend on enrollment changes of the 10 smallest D1 schools.

If McKinley drops to D2 in 2013, playoff wins in 2013 and 2014 would put them right back on the border of D1/D2 when enrollment figures are updated for the 2015 season. The only way McKinley gets off of that border is if they have repeated significant success in the playoffs (i.e. four trips to the state semi-finals in an eight year span) without a decline in enrollment. For example...if McKinley advances to the semi-finals four times from 2013 and 2020, then their 2021 enrollment would be 595, which would put them solidly in D1. So, if they don't want to be D2, they have to play their way back to D1 by being a regular participant in the state semi-finals.

All of that said, I think there are a good number of schools for which the data in the spreadsheet is inaccurate. For example, the spreadsheet doesn't show a tradition factor for Mayfield but they did win four playoff games in the past seven seasons (three in D2, one in D1). Adding the tradition factors increases their enrollment to 575 and moves them from D2 to D1. Until the data gets cleaned up, it's really hard to tell which division McKinley will be in if the competitive balance proposal passes.