Welcome playoffs, worry about alignment

NMAA can provide. It levels the playing field and, like it or not, is the only real solution for making a safe and competitive environment for everyone involved.

To start, football will remain the most widespread sport under the NMAA umbrella. The elimination of Class 6A in every other sport — including basketball, track and baseball — leaves football as the only remaining sport with a 6A designation.

Each of the largest classes invited 12 teams, giving the top four first-round byes while leaving the bottom eight to fend for themselves in the opening round.

The new format calls for the bottom four teams to play what is essentially a wild card round and then advance, the lowest remaining seed then moving into the top seed’s part of the bracket.

All things considered, it’s not a dramatic change from what has been done since the NMAA expanded past the old four-class system.

Coaching reactions are mixed. Most contacted this week have shown indifference to the playoff contraction because, you know, coaches are only worried about the next game, not what lies ahead a year from now.

Of chief concern is what happens at the next board meeting when districts are redrawn and classifications take on slightly different looks. Schools with shrinking enrollments — like St. Michael’s, which will likely have an average student count below 400 for grades 9-12 when the districts are redrawn — could drop into the new 3A for all sports unless the multiplier changes it.

Private schools, which includes Santa Fe Indian School, are subjected to a 1.3 multiplier for all sports expect football, meaning their average enrollment is given a boost that public schools are not subjected to. That could potentially push a handful of private schools up a notch.

SFIS officials appealed its case to the board on Wednesday, saying its status as a boarding school is different than more traditional institutions that do not require on-campus residency.

It’s all part of the bigger mess that’s coming, ironically enough, just as this year’s prep football playoffs gear up for championship games in early December.

Like it or not, change is coming. For most, it’s just what the doctor ordered. For some, it’s time to test the NMAA appeals process.