AAA is shifting 4A class in state
The Arkansas Activities Association announced new basketball conferences for the 2024-26 alignment cycle Friday, including a reorganized Class 4A.
Stuttgart will be split from its southeast Arkansas neighbors as 4A shifts from six conferences to eight. The Ricebirds previously played in Conference 4A-8 alongside Watson Chapel and other southeastern teams but will now play in 4A-6 with Forrest City, Lonoke, Batesville Southside, Trumann and Wynne.
Conference 4A-8 will now consist of Watson Chapel, Warren, Star City, Monticello, Hamburg and Crossett. In addition to Stuttgart, Mills University Studies has also been reassigned to another conference, 4A-5 South.
The new eight-conference format means there will be four regional tournaments moving forward instead of three. Region 1 will consist of 4A-1 and 4A4. Region 2 includes 4A-3 and 4A-6. Region 3 will be 4A-5 North and 4A-5 South and Region 4 will be 4A-7 and 4A-8. Therefore, Stuttgart would not face another southeast Arkansas school in the playoffs until potentially the state tournament.
The other major change in southeast Arkansas involves Rison, which is moving up to Class 3A. The Wildcats will join DeWitt, Drew Central, Dumas, Helena, Lake Village Lakeside and McGehee in 3A-8.
Fordyce and Woodlawn will continue playing in 2A8, while Dermott and Hermitage have been separated in Class 1A. Whereas both previously played in 1A-8, Dermott has been moved to 1A-6 while Hermitage remains in 1A-8.
5A South, which includes Pine Bluff, White Hall and Sheridan, remains unchanged from the previous cycle. However, the Zebras will face new competition in their path to a potential third-straight state championship as Little Rock Christian, the back-to-back reigning 4A state champion, has moved up to 5A and will play in 5A Central.
This new cycle will also be the first to implement
a new competitive equity factor, which will now be calculated every two years rather than four. This change, along with reorganizing 4A into eight conferences, was voted on and approved by AAA member schools last summer.