No, this is not an article on any kind of media bias…but it is an article on a bias currently taking place in Texas High School athletics that Im not sure many people outside of Texas High School coaches have paid much attention to.
Prior to 1989, the governing body of Texas High School athletics (UIL) divided schools into 6 classifications for football and basketball competition (6-man thru 5A). Using the enrollment numbers of each school in the state, UIL officials would start with the smallest schools and start filling the smallest classification with enough schools to fill out all 32 districts. Once enough schools were in that particular classification, they would draw a line and that enrollment number became the top limit for that particular classification, and the lower boundary for the next larger classification. This method of grouping or classifying the schools continued until every school in the state had been placed into a classification. This process provided every classification with both a lower and an upper enrollment boundary, except the largest classification…..it of course had no upper boundary, but the system worked well for many years. As the enrollment numbers in the largest schools grew, since there was no upper boundary, schools in the 5A classification could find themselves competing against schools with an enrollment of a thousand (or more kids) than they had. Schools in the 5A classification were concerned about the competitive disadvantage this created, as well as the safety factor of competing against schools that were so much larger. So, starting with the 1989 season, the UIL decided to incorporate a system that would separate the 5A schools that qualified for the playoffs into large (Division 1) and small (Division 2) divisions. It was a fairly complicated (and ineffective) system….in fact, there were several times where the small school State Champion had a greater enrollment number that the large school State Champion.
This system was in place from 89-95….creating 7 Football State Champions for those seasons. The system (with some refinements and simplifications) eventually trickled down to the lower classifications over the next 16 seasons, finally reaching the smallest classification for the 2005 season. So, in football, the state of Texas technically still only has 6 classifications (same as basketball, and now called 1A thru 6A intead of 6-Man thru 5A)….but there are 12 Football State Champions since each classification is divided into 2 divisions.
Yet, there are still only 6 State Champions crowned in basketball……..
Lets take a look at some details: There are currently 1226 schools competing in football, for those 12 state championships. 704 of those 1226 schools (57.4%) have the opportunity to advance into the playoffs.
There are more schools (1338) competing in basketball for only 6 state championships (over a hundred more schools, but only half the number of state championships as football). Additionally, a smaller percentage of those schools competing in basketball have the opportunity to advance into the basketball playoffs (only 55.1% as compared to 57.4%)
The difference is a little more glaring if you look at a specific example of the inequity: In 3A, for example, a football school only has to compete against either 105 or 106 schools (depending if the are D-1 or D-2) in order to win a State Championship. However, in basketball, the same school has to compete against 232 schools in order to win a State Championship!
Its time for the UIL to correct this……and by UIL, I mean the Superintendents in the state. The UIL is not the bad guy that most make it out to be. The UIL is directedby the superintendents of the state of Texas. The UIL only acts as the enforcers and governors of public school competitions….the superintendents of the state are the ones responsible for actually creating the guidelines for that competition.
What would be the negative aspect of expanding basketball to 12 state champions? First off….I dont want to hear any of the this is just more of the give everybody a medal garbage. If you are of that opinion, then you need to be campaigning your local superintendent to reduce the number of football state championships! **that will never happen. Besides, structuring the basketball classifications to be the same as the football classifications would actually reduce the number of teams qualifying for the playoffs.
The only negative that I can see, is that doing so would be the end of the State Basketball Tournament format as we currently know it. There is no way to hold 24 semi-final, and 12 championship games in a 3 day weekend at the same sight, like we currently do. I LOVE the state tournament in its current structure…..love it! Love watching all the state championship games…..most coaches that I know love it….its iconic. But, Im guessing that a restructured tournament of 1A-3A at one sight and 4A-5A at another sight, would soon be iconic in its own right.
Things are rarely as easy as they seem that they should be, there would no doubt be some details to work out in setting up 2 State Tournaments. But, its time to balance it all up….there is simply no good reason not to make it happen.