How does each Section determine divisions?

[ClayKallam]

I know every section is different ... and I'd love to know how it works.

In NCS, it's all enrollment based, and teams are assigned to their divisions on their previous year's CBEDs. Schools can't move up, and the rigid guidelines mean some schools move between divisions each year when their enrollment moves up or down by 20.

That said, NCS does tinker with the enrollment numbers for each division to try to balance things out, but once they decide, that's it.

[oldaflfan]

The Sac-Joaquin Section uses the prior year CBEDS to determine the divisional placement. However, this season the SJS is allowing teams to opt up to a higher division with a condition. The condition being, that if you opt up, you must do so in all the following sports: girls and boys basketball, girls and boys cross country and girls volleyball.

5 schools in the SJS have opted to move up. Sacramento High would have been D4 this season, but opted to move up to D3; Rocklin High would have been D3, but opted up to D2; and, Lodi, Monterey Trail and Tokay would have been D2, but opted up to D1.

[ClayKallam]

NCS used to allow teams to move up for specific sports in specific seasons, which led to one unintended consequence: A D4 team, say, would look at the basketball divisions and see that D2 was weaker overall than D4, and then opt up just for the chance to be more competitive in the NCS playoffs. (Once you get to NorCals, of course, that kind of maneuvering is less effective.)

After watching that for a couple years, I felt it only made sense to opt up if you felt you could compete with the best in the state -- that is, go to Division I. If you didn't want to play for a state title, but were just jockeying for postseason position, then you couldn't opt up.

Of course, the Sac-Joaquin plan, involving multiple sports over two years, makes it less likely schools will do that, but I still have to wonder why teams moved up one division. Is it because all the schools around them are in a higher division?

I also notice that St. Mary's of Stockton did not move up -- so, by enrollment, are the Rams still D3?

[CentralSection]

Yeah I'm pretty sure St. Mary's is DIII enrollment word was they were going to opt up as a whole like the previous poster was talking about.

The central section just moved to ability based divisions well sort of. They are going off last years enrollment based divisions and moving the top two teams up a division and the worst two teams in each division down a divison. They will maintain these divisions into the state playoffs.

[ClayKallam]

Is that for every sport, or just basketball?

And if I understand correctly, then the top two teams in the D-2 playoffs would be D-1 this year, regardless of what happened in terms of graduation?

But how do they determine the two worst teams? Won-loss records?

[oldaflfan]

St. Mary's did not opt up as had been rumored. I would only be speculating as to why the 5 schools decided to opt up 1 division. Obviously, it is more than just a girls basketball issue.

[CentralSection]

Correct. Graduation losses are not accounted for.

For the central section its every sport and gender. So you could have a girls team bumped up from DIII to DII and have the same schools boys team still in DIII. This is for all state playoff sports. Volleyball, basketball etc.

Thats a good question on how they determine the worst teams. Probably teams with no points and the worst record. It hasn't been stated.

[bbhcky4]

Hey Clay,

Do you know where I could find the enrollment divisions for 1 through 5 - there's word from some very reliable sources that a certain school was instrument in making the southern section divisions for this season swayed to their advantage for making the state play offs and I wanted to check for myself. If CIS SS used their own formula then it will be easy to check if I have these divisions?

[ClayKallam]

Though I'm sure lobbying takes place, I don't think a section would change its enrollment standards for one school, as they would affect, as I understand it, all state championship sports. So if you fudge the numbers for School X in girls' basketball, you might wind up punishing School Y in cross country.