Welcome playoff changes, worry about alignment
Change, it’s a-comin’. The shrinking playoff picture in high school football, which will see a reduction from 12 teams to 10 starting next year in Classes 2A through 6A, is just the first step in a series of significant moves that will change the prep sports landscape for a number of teams through at least 2020.
Just how much of a change we’re all in store for will have to wait to be seen. The New Mexico Activities Association, which voted in a Wednesday board meeting to cut two teams out of the football playoffs in 2018, effectively eliminated a pair of opening round blowouts for everyone to yawn through.
It’s a money-saving venture designed to reduce travel, make for better competition in the postseason and end what was an unnecessarily large playoff pool. In short, it will make the playoffs more entertaining while sparing a few teams from meeting in what are usually some of the most lopsided contests of all. Is it fair? Absolutely. Observers have long lamented the idea of inviting too many teams to the playoffs. The postseason is an event that deserves to be recognized for prolonged achievement, not just a showcase for teams struggling to stay near the breakeven point.
The real news comes when the NMAA realigns its districts and reclassifies a number of schools based on enrollment counts at the start of this school year. That will come at the Nov. 30 board meeting in Albuquerque. Fasten your seat belts for that one.
It means Capital could likely move into the largest classification alongside of (or possibly ahead of ) Santa Fe High. It could mean St. Michael’s and Española Valley could drop down a class, and it could usher in yet another drastic overhaul of traditional district alignments among northern New Mexico rivals.
Just when you got used to the familiar District 2-4A set-up, it could be wiped clean about two months from now.
Fair? Based on student enrollments and pre-determined cutoffs for each class, it’s the biggest equalizer the