On Tuesday, January 21st, the NCHSAA released its second draft of the new conference assignments for the 25-26 realignment. (Just before Christmas, the NCHSAA had released its first draft,)
While there are numerous changes, the overall picture remains the same.
Of the 61 conferences, only 13 will be composed entirely of schools within the same classification. Forty-four conferences have two classifications represented, and four are three-way splits.
Of the 441 schools assigned to conferences (2 were classed as "independents"), only 90 are shown in conferences composed entirely of schools in a single classification, while 322 are in two-way splits, and 29 are in three-way splits.
Eight schools (down from ten in the first draft) are listed as the only school of a given classification in its conference, and 46 schools are one of two schools in a given class in its conference.
The prevalence of split conferences is true in all eight classifications, and is testimony to the fact that the Realignment Committee prioritized geography and natural rivalry over grouping schools of similar size.
Click here to see the complete conference assignment report as posted on the NCHSAA website.
The NCHSAA will entertain appeals to the conference assignments through Tuesday, January 28th, and will release a final report once all appeals have been resolved.
For a complete discussion of the coming realignment, including the conference assignments, as well as the issues the realignment poses for high school tennis, check out our Notes on the 25-26 Realignment.
This article has been updated to reflect the second draft of the conference assignments released by the NCHSAA on January 21st.
You don`t have permission to comment here!