Upper State vs. Lower State

[bbrown1240]

Since 5A will be a reality, I would really like to see upper state vs lower state back in football. I think it's been very successful in basketball. The playing field has leveled out between upper state and lower state. Have the upper state championship at D3 and the lower state championship at Harry Parone. The sites can rotate. What do you think?

[Rebel-Fan-74]

IF and that is the operative word here, IF, they can balance the 5A evenly between UPPER and LOWER then yes, that would be a possibility. The difficulty is setting up Regions is HUGE, but then add in the requirement that it be balanced between UPPER and LOWER... wow, I don't know. It's almost impossible just to make regions, let alone balance them.

Then add in the Wild Card teams that make the playoffs (and there will be Wild Cards) because there is no way with REGION TWO being:
Dorman
Byrnes
Gaffney
Spartanburg
Boiling Springs
and taking the top two from that list is fair compared to some of the other Regions... no way the coaches would vote for just the top two making the playoffs.

To me, a Region Championship means very little...

Think of it this way, NFC South Champions from last season. Did they "deserve" a home game? I know what the rules say, but look at it truthfully, who should host? A 11-5 team or a 7-9 team? Who had the better season?

Now let's look at this another way:
Pretend that the REGION TWO listed above was in place last season and you have to bet your next paycheck on these teams results from the 2014 season... Dorman would not have made the playoffs, finishing 3rd in the Region. But Dorman -vs- the runner up from Region Four (1st, can you tell me who it was?) and second who you putting your paycheck on?

I would rather see match ups based on the team's performance on the field than how they did in a Region. Regions are not and never have been and probably never will be "balanced". Hillcrest winning a State Championship last year, who had that pencilled in last August? NO ONE, that's who. Heck, 98.99% didn't have it pencilled in the day before the game. So it is not a science... you cannot project a good Region or even a good schedule.

So when it comes to UPPER STATE -vs- LOWER STATE, I would rather see a 5A bracket that doesn't even consider geography. I would even like a 5A schedule more than a Region Schedule. Now, #1 I know I may be the only one who thinks this is a good thing, some folks LOVE a REGION TITLE and I don't knock them for thinking that way. I'm just a "glass half full" type and I'm always looking for a better mouse trap. Let me draw up the schedule and we'd have

WEEK ONE
Goose Creek at Gaffney
Byrnes at Summerville
Dorman at Sumter
Dutch Fork at Wofford (Playing Spartanburg)
West Florence at Greenwood
Westside at South Florence

Give me the money to set it up, and three of those games would be one site on the last Saturday in August, with three more at another site and three more at another site..... Maybe 3 at Wofford, 3 at Coastal Carolina, 3 at The Citadel, and maybe 3 at the field they play the AA State Championship at in Columbia.

[Rebel-Fan-74]

ps: I looked at the new list and did the 42 again... about the same results

Then I looked at 4A and quit.... WOW????

[bbrown1240]

I got it. A bunch of particulars would have to be worked out but...for football only...

Have 5A upper division and 5A lower division...no regions.

7 games must be played against teams inside the division.

2 games must be played against teams from the opposite division.

2 games must be played outside the classification. This would be for rivalries outside the classification and out of state games. These games would also be considered as mark offs and would not immediately be counted toward points for the playoffs.

Top 8 teams in each division would make the playoffs based on points.

Upper division would have a playoff, and the Lower division would have a playoff.

The winners of each division championship game would be crowned division champions, and would meet for the state championship.

[SF Band dad]

ps: I looked at the new list and did the 42 again... about the same results

Then I looked at 4A and quit.... WOW????

Yup! This is a mess.

[Rebel-Fan-74]

I got it. A bunch of particulars would have to be worked out but...for football only...

Have 5A upper division and 5A lower division...no regions.

7 games must be played against teams inside the division.

2 games must be played against teams from the opposite division.

2 games must be played outside the classification. This would be for rivalries outside the classification and out of state games. These games would also be considered as mark offs and would not immediately be counted toward points for the playoffs.

Top 8 teams in each division would make the playoffs based on points.

Upper division would have a playoff, and the Lower division would have a playoff.

The winners of each division championship game would be crowned division champions, and would meet for the state championship.

The two best ways to split it would be 34 and these are the two divisions. From Midlands to Charleston and the Pee Dee in one division and the I-85 corridor and Rock Hill in another division.

#31 and #32 are both Columbia schools and #33 and #34 are upstate, so you could go to 30 as well... taking those four teams out of the 5A list.

2 Dorman High School 3,219
4 Boiling Springs High School 2,332
6 Byrnes High School 2,299
8 Mauldin High School 2,233
12 Hillcrest High School 2,097
13 Clover High School 2,055
15 Gaffney High School 1,997
16 Rock Hill High School 1,980
20 Fort Mill High School 1,853
21 Northwestern High School 1,851
25 Easley High School 1,794
26 Spartanburg High School 1,779
27 Woodmont High School 1,774
28 T L Hanna High School 1,762
30 Nation Ford High School 1,748
33 JL Mann High School 1,696
34 Laurens High School 1,654


1 Wando High School 4,065
3 Summerville High School 2,878
5 Sumter High School 2,310
7 Carolina Forest High School 2,239
9 Ashley Ridge High School 2,184
10 Fort Dorchester High School 2,135
11 Dutch Fork High School 2,111
14 Spring Valley High School 2,013
17 White Knoll High School 1,916
18 Goose Creek High School 1,864
19 West Ashley High School 1,859
22 Stratford High School 1,821
23 Blythewood High School 1,819
24 West Florence High School 1,796
29 River Bluff High School 1,756
31 Irmo High School 1,716
32 Lexington High School 1,715

[Rebel-Fan-74]

I don't think there is a way to do it so that Carolina Forest and West Florence are "equal" to the other schools.

I still prefer the A, AA, and AAA with splits at playoffs if we are going to have REGIONS.

I think you have Classifications, leave it to the schools to schedule who they want to play, then have a points system that determines the playoff brackets. That way, you determine how far you are willing to travel to play games, but you may hurt your playoff chances by your schedule. Have 5 brackets of 32 teams each and only play 10 regular season games (5 home and 5 away, earn the first round game at home based on the performance of the 10 games.)

You know who this hurts? Dutch Fork, Dorman, Byrnes, etc. Why would some teams play them? You think Riverside or Wade Hampton would be wanting to play them? Byrnes has trouble fielding 4 open dates some times... yeah, I hear the fans screaming "we'll play them, we ain't scared!" but as a coach who gets fired if he doesn't win often and regularly, he would be reluctant to schedule those three year in and year out..... and rightfully so at that! So maybe leaving it to the schools to schedule isn't a realistic idea...

So who would schedule? The SCHSL? <-- Yeah, moving right along on that idea.... How about a 5A Commissioner? I'm available for the right $$$$$

[Go Tigers]

I still prefer the A, AA, and AAA with splits at playoffs if we are going to have REGIONS.

I agree totally!!! I made a similar statement on another board. Three classifications helps with travel expenses in the regular season, and the split at playoff time helps level the playing field as far as enrollment numbers.

[SF Band dad]

I still prefer the A, AA, and AAA with splits at playoffs if we are going to have REGIONS.

I agree totally!!! I made a similar statement on another board. Three classifications helps with travel expenses in the regular season, and the split at playoff time helps level the playing field as far as enrollment numbers.

But for some reason they felt the need to nail down the number of classes before they had the 135ADM lists.

[Rebel-Fan-74]

How about a 5A Commissioner? I'm available for the right $$$$$

What, no phone calls from Columbia for me? I thought for sure "reliable, unnamed sources" speaking on the condition of anonymity, would be leaking word that the SCHSL was about to make an important announcement about a newly created position....

What's up with that? Maybe I better check my phone to make sure it's working properly...