4-5 Class Model

[CRF4Dan]

So there has been a lot of discussion over the last year or two from fans about the 6-class system and how it should be either a 4 or 5 class system. So in the few weeks since the state championship games, I put together a couple of models... one a 4-class and the other at 5-class. Take a look and see what they could look like.

5-Class Model

4-Class Model

 

[Gridiron1960]

So there has been a lot of discussion over the last year or two from fans about the 6-class system and how it should be either a 4 or 5 class system. So in the few weeks since the state championship games, I put together a couple of models... one a 4-class and the other at 5-class. Take a look and see what they could look like.

5-Class Model

4-Class Model

I believe Grundy, Twin Valley, & Hurley are combining into one school with anticipated opening fall of 2026. Under the current classification, the new school will fall in Class 2A where all three individual schools are currently single A. I’m not sure how that affects your models. 4 class model will hurt smaller schools like Bland competing against schools like Graham in the same classification in my opinion.

 

[redzone4us]

I believe Grundy, Twin Valley, & Hurley are combining into one school with anticipated opening fall of 2026. Under the current classification, the new school will fall in Class 2A where all three individual schools are currently single A. I’m not sure how that affects your models. 4 class model will hurt smaller schools like Bland competing against schools like Graham in the same classification in my opinion.

Just curious. Will new school have confederate flag front doors?

 

[redzone4us]

Just curious. Will new school have confederate flag front doors?

😛

 

[Gridiron1960]

Just curious. Will new school have confederate flag front doors?

Since their colors are going to be black & gold and the mascot an eagle not a Rebel, I sort of doubt it, lol.

 

[Prognosticator]

Just curious. Will new school have confederate flag front doors?

Maybe not, but those are pretty cool. Maybe they can preserve them and store them away somewhere.

 

[BigWinners]

Moving to four really would hurt the current 2A teams that would not be 1A. They’d never win a state title again. Even five really puts some schools with less than 500 kids against schools pushing 800 or more. That’s a huge advantage.

 

[Fairlawncat]

5 classes work
Class 1, 385 and under
Class 2 386 to 750
Class 3 750 to 1150
Class 4 1151 to 1700
Class 5 1700 and above

1700 compared to 3000 in Class 5? You can find 22 that can play with an enrollment of 1750 and most of the schools approaching or at 3000 have 1500 students out of that 3000 that consider a football something that's round, you kick, and has big white and black hexagonal panels on it. Graham and Radford are close to the cutoff for Class 1 and they do fine in class 2. Riverheads moved up for 2 years and played for and almost won a title as they hang out around the cutoff.

 

[BigWinners]

I think five is feasible, I don’t mind the six classes but I think five would be a much more fair system than four. Four is tough for the midsize schools in the middle classes.

 

[Gridiron1960]

I think five is feasible, I don’t mind the six classes but I think five would be a much more fair system than four. Four is tough for the midsize schools in the middle classes.

5 is doable but 4 would be definitely be tough as far as overall fairness. I’m okay with the current system of 6 classifications.

 

[19GHS87]

I would vote for 5, but the cutoff #s would be tricky. You would have to make it so that about the same # of schools are in each classification, if possible, then there's the deal of how many are in each region. That would be tough to figure out I guess you could start with the 6 we have and move some schools to lower classifications.

 

[Fairlawncat]

Doubt they will ever drop to 5, much less 4. Money money

 

[MCAthletics]

There were only 3 divisions for a long time and it worked. All this “it’ll hurt this team or that team” is not really an argument IMHO. I’ve always felt that the 6 divisions just waters down the systems too much. How many sub .500 teams get in the playoffs currently? 3 divisions would all but eliminate that wouldn’t it? I guess if the state population has increased enough, 4 divisions could be justified. Just my 2 cents (from a guy who was on 6-4, 8-2, 8-2 teams and never got to the playoffs).

 

[EPJr]

How about only change football and basketball state playoffs and leave everything else as is.
We can do something like we did a long long time ago:
* Large School Championship Class: 6-5-4
* Small School Championship Class: 3-2-1

State Championship would be a 12-team affair with four first round byes.
4 teams from each Class (four region winners)
yearly rotation as to which class gets the bye

 

[19GHS87]

I like what you're saying, but think it would be better with 3 champions. There's over 300 schools in Virginia. A 1A school has no chance against a 3A school in either of those sports.

 

[SWDRules]

There were only 3 divisions for a long time and it worked. All this “it’ll hurt this team or that team” is not really an argument IMHO. I’ve always felt that the 6 divisions just waters down the systems too much. How many sub .500 teams get in the playoffs currently? 3 divisions would all but eliminate that wouldn’t it? I guess if the state population has increased enough, 4 divisions could be justified. Just my 2 cents (from a guy who was on 6-4, 8-2, 8-2 teams and never got to the playoffs).

There was only a 3 class system for 15 years from 1970-1985. After 1986 it was called 1A,2A,and 3A with 2 divisions each. Six state champions have been crowned since 1986. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the current system since they fixed the classification designation. In 2001 Graham at 500 students had to play Harrisonburg who had about 1300 students in the same class. That was a problem. Today's system is not perfect but it's way better than it used to be.

 

[MCAthletics]

There was only a 3 class system for 15 years from 1970-1985. After 1986 it was called 1A,2A,and 3A with 2 divisions each. Six state champions have been crowned since 1986. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the current system since they fixed the classification designation. In 2001 Graham at 500 students had to play Harrisonburg who had about 1300 students in the same class. That was a problem. Today's system is not perfect but it's way better than it used to be.

Opinions vary…