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New UIL District Alignment & Enrollment Numbers The UIL realigned the districts in early February for the 2006 and 2007 school years. Also, the football playoff system changes for the first time since 1990. In the realignment, there were a few key programs demoted from Class 5A to 4A. Denton Ryan, Copperas Cove, Waco and Schertz Clemens are among those moving down to 4A. The most significant promoted program from 4A is defending state champion Lewisville Hebron. Hebron won the 4A Division II state championship last fall, and have been aligned in district 6-5A. Quite a few new schools will be competing with varsity football teams for the first time. The Woodlands College Park (15-5A), Katy Morton Ranch (18-5A), Humble Atascocita (21-5A), Converse Wagner (26-5A), San Antonio Stevens (28-5A) and Eagle Pass Winn (29-5A) are new schools with their first varsity teams in 2006. Mansfield Timberview (4-5A) and Keller Central (5-5A), up from 4A, only have two varsity seasons under their belts. In region 1, 7-5A and 8-5A are the toughest two districts from top to bottom. 7-5A has Euless Trinity along with the Grand Prairie and Irving Schools. 8-5A is the Arlington, Cedar Hill and Duncanville district. Region 2 is more balanced in strength. 9-5A and 14-5A stand out a little above the rest. Also, 13-5A is right there at the top as well. 9-5A is the Allen, Plano and Richardson district. 13-5A and 14-5A are the central Texas districts in Region 2. The Garland district, 10-5A, should be a fun one to watch as always. No district really stands out above the rest in Region 3, so this is balanced as well. 17-5A is one of the most balanced districts in the state from top to bottom. The district race between the Cypress schools normally always goes down to the final week. Now, they’ve added Strake Jesuit and the Crusaders have proven to be pretty competitive in their time in 5A. The HISD district, 20-5A, has a good amount of returning talent. 18-5A (Katy and Alief) and 24-5A (Bay area) are others to watch. Region 4 has two districts that clearly separate themselves from the pack. 26-5A and 28-5A are the top districts in this region. 26-5A has dominated the region, but the teams in 28-5A seem to be improving. 25-5A welcomes back the Austin schools. Overall, Regions 2 and 3 are the most balanced in terms of where the strength lies in each. Regions 1 and 4 have more clearly defined areas of strength in the new alignment. In recent years, the playoffs have reflected the balance aspect of each region as one would imagine. Southlake Carroll is the dominant program in the state now from Region 1. Of course, Judson and Smithson Valley have been Region 4’s annual flag bearers lately. Lufkin and Katy are the dominant programs in Regions 2 and 3. Speaking of the playoffs, the addition of a fourth team from each district to the post-season is the big change taking effect this fall. Now, both Division 1 and Division 2 will start with 64 teams. The top four teams from each district will advance to the playoffs. The two schools with the largest enrollment will be seeded into Division 1 according to how they finished in district. The remaining two teams (3rd and 4th largest schools making the playoffs) will be seeded into Division 2 based on where they finished in their district. The last major change to the playoff system occurred in 1990 when the “Big School and Small School” bracket proposal was implemented. Over time, big school became known as Division 1 and small school as Division 2. The idea behind it was to separate the larger 5A schools at the time from the smaller to better even the playing field. That doesn’t mean as much today as it did back then, and the move to four teams per district was made with the idea of giving more student-athletes a chance to compete as well as a providing a means to balance the two divisions. The new alignment, coupled with the addition of more teams to the playoffs, should make for an entertaining season as always. One of the more interesting things will be to watch how each playoff division unfolds, and see where the strength of each region falls in the two divisions now that more teams will get in. That always carries a huge impact on the post-season under the former three teams format. For example, Southlake Carroll and Euless Trinity were on a collision course to meet up in the first round of Division 1 until the final week of the regular season last year. Carroll ended up in Division 2 when Fossil Ridge won their final game to sneak into the playoffs at the last minute, and win the Division 1 bid from that district. The two major changes (alignment and playoffs) coupled with the influx of new and promoted schools should create intriguing plotlines to follow in the Fall.
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