Don't shoot the messenger. I was just answering a question about the incentives given to larger schools playing smaller ones.
I'm not a Carroll Co fan, defender, or apologist, but was it a bad example of a school that is isolated due to it's size??
Of the schools you mentioned, only 2 are 60 minutes or less drive city to city, Pulaski(38 minutes) and Christiansburg(52 minutes), and only one of those is 4A. There is only one 4A school in Carroll's region that is 60 minutes or less. Pulaski. Blacksburg is close, 1 hr 3 minutes.
However, there are 10 1/2A schools within 60 minutes drive, city to city, from Carroll.
Galax 22 mins, George Wythe 33 min, Fort Chiswell 26 mins, Grayson Co 37 mins, Floyd Co 37 mins, Marion 54 mins, Rural Retreat 43 mins, Bland Co 41 nins, Giles 60 mins, and Radford 47 mins.
Could be more than 10, but I stopped there because that's a full schedule.
When there are 10 times as many 1/2A schools as 4A within an hour, then, yes, you're isolated.
Also, Carroll can't beat those 1 and 2 A schools on their schedule, so what does it matter in the grand scheme of things. If a 4A school, or any classification for that matter, fluffs their schedule with smaller schools it will come back on them in the playoffs, so it only hurts them NOT the schools they will compete against in the playoffs.