Difference between 3a and 4a

[Cpep_greatest]

I know this doesn't matter much but I was looking at the other brackets and the difference in records between 3a and 4a is crazy.

In 4a there are 10 teams that are either 10-0 or 9-1 and only 4 teams in 3a with those records. Also there is only 1 team with a losing record in 4a and 15 teams with a losing record in 3a!

I don't know if the level of competition is different or just not as many athletes in 3a. Maybe y'all know what makes for the big difference between the two classes, but to have 15 teams with losing records in the playoffs kinda takes the meaning out of a playoff caliber team.

 

[ForksUp]

I know Lakeland is just in a good district. They're the only 3A school in the district that is stacked with 6A, 5A, and 4A schools.

They have good athletes tough and play good ball. Just can't compete with most teams in their district.

 

[86CulpGrad]

3a and 4a teams play each other a lot and I believe I'm correct in saying that 3a did not fair well against 4a teams. I don't have a compilation of results for 3a vs 4a this year, but I'm guess it skews very much in favor of 4a. Big difference between the 2 divisions currently. I don't think there is a big difference between 4a and 5a.

 

[VAHSFootballFan]

Taking a look at the alignment page for VHSL it looks like there is only one district of mostly Class 3 teams (Northwest). Most other 3's are lumped in with 4's, 5's, even 6's. There are plenty of 1's only or 2's only or 1's and 2's with no 3's. There are plenty of 4-5's with no 6's. Basically the 3's are mostly playing "up" and therefore their records are going to reflect that.

 

[southbottomU]

Lots of really good 3a teams, just not as many as 4a

 

[VAHSFootballFan]

Lots of really good 3a teams, just not as many as 4a

Not sure if you are agreeing, disagreeing, or not commenting on my assessment of the situation but I was merely commenting on why the records look like they do, not the quality of teams.
If most of the Class 4 schools were playing in districts loaded with 5's and 6's I think we would see the same thing.