District Announcement

[MarionHawk]

CLASS 4A

District 1
Des Moines East
Des Moines Roosevelt
Johnston
Sioux City East
Sioux City North
Waukee

District 2
Ames
Ankeny Centennial
Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln
Des Moines Lincoln
Sioux City West
West Des Moines Dowling

District 3
Ankeny
Council Bluffs Lewis Central
Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson
Des Moines Hoover
Des Moines North
Urbandale

District 4
Fort Dodge
Indianola
Marshalltown
Newton
Southeast Polk
West Des Moines Valley

District 5
Cedar Falls
Cedar Rapids Jefferson
Cedar Rapids Washington
Mason City
Waterloo East
Waterloo West

District 6
Davenport West
Dubuque Hempstead
Dubuque Senior
North Scott
Pleasant Valley
Western Dubuque

District 7
Bettendorf
Clinton
Davenport Central
Davenport North
Iowa City High
Muscatine

District 8
Burlington
Cedar Rapids Kennedy
Cedar Rapids Prairie
Iowa City West
Linn-Mar
Ottumwa

 

[areukiddingme]

first part of your Question is Answered 8 districts of 6 in 4A

 

[screwloose]

Have they been released? I haven't seen anything on their website.

 

[BentonCounty]

Any minute now, I'd assume later this afternoon when everyone is headed to practices.

 

[MarionHawk]

I was told it was supposed to be at 2:00, we'll see if they come through.

 

[super_tecmo_bowl]

[URL='https://twitter.com/jeje66']Jeff Johnson ‏@jeje66 1h1 hour agoClinton, IA
4A coaches in Eastern Iowa wanted 6 districts of 8 teams each, Central Iowa wanted 8 of 6. Gee, shocker Central Iowa got its way.[/URL]

 

[MarionHawk]

I like that we are back to a bracket again. So now when a team plays on a Friday night in the first round of the playoffs, they know if they win, they will player the winner of a certain game. So much better than re-configuring everything after every game.

 

[screwloose]

I don't care about eight or six, I just want there to be open qualifying for the non-district champion spots. That way you're assured of getting the eight best teams on each half, since you know they keep that East/West split.

 

[MarionHawk]

They are out.

http://www.iahsaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/2016-and-2017-4A-Football-District-Assignments.pdf

 

[screwloose]

Strange they decided to send Mason City east as opposed to Marshalltown or Newton.

 

[slingitnow]

You're better going east then coming West, consider it a blessing for MC

 

[tnobd]

How much of the West 4A schools "want" for 6 teams was: the flexibility to schedule 4 non district teams with low travel? Or the awkwardness of trying to align 8 teams geographically in Western iowa?

 

[paxregis]

They still didn't use a geographical setup with six-team districts. My guess was that if teams were going to make the long trek to/from Sioux City & Council Bluffs, they should be in district, so the games have meaning.

 

[tnobd]

I don't care about eight or six, I just want there to be open qualifying for the non-district champion spots. That way you're assured of getting the eight best teams on each half, since you know they keep that East/West split.

I agree screwloose...on open qualified playoff teams for 2nd 8 4A berths. Furthermore because the other classes have gone to 8 team districts, why not schedule a full 4A slate with some help from the IHSAA? Full 4A schedules,would help in determining the 2nd 8 teams

 

[screwloose]

Amen.

 

[KidSilverhair]

They still didn't use a geographical setup with six-team districts. My guess was that if teams were going to make the long trek to/from Sioux City & Council Bluffs, they should be in district, so the games have meaning.

Now that the west side has had several years of experience with the district setup - do they still think it turned out better than the MRAC/CIML was? If going to districts was supposed to help travel, well ... the state split up the Sioux City schools into different districts, then set them all up with multiple trips to Des Moines. Same issue for the Council Bluffs schools. Has the travel issue been improved at all compared to what they faced in the old conferences?

 

[screwloose]

For the MRAC schools, I don't think it really matters. The district set-up basically informs which other schools they will be traveling to regardless. The remaining non-district games are filled with teams from along the I-29 corridor and local 3A opponents. The old set-up would have had district games with teams along the I-29 and non-district games against the same local 3A opponents and a few from Central Iowa. With the IHSAA controlling the schedules, the same games and travel are going to be what they are in the end. The only real difference is who a team is competing with for a district bid and/or at-large spots.

 

[areukiddingme]

The Districts are evenly balanced, but what is the purpose of splitting the Sioux City schools up? You could switch SC west and Roosevelt and districts are still even , but avoid the extra travel for both schools. Otherwise the districts look as balanced as they have been in a while overall

 

[screwloose]

No. SC West is still going to play SC East and SC North out of district. This is what I was saying in my post before, it doesn't matter. You put them in that district, then they'll just turn around and have to pick up non-district games, maybe from the group they're in now. It's a wash.

On top of all that, what it also does splitting the Sioux City and Council Bluffs schools up is it spreads out the travel strain on the central Iowa schools who have to go out to play them. There's a reason Marshalltown, Indianola, Southeast Polk and Newton are in District 4 without any of those MRAC schools, the travel is even further - for them and the MRAC schools.

I wish there was a way I could explain it so everybody could understand. It really makes sense if you understand scheduling. Given the alignments how they are, all those MRAC schools are going to be able to play perhaps one 3A opponent and fill the rest of their non-district games with the other MRAC teams.

SC East - @ SC Heelan(3A), vs. SC West, @ CB Lewis Central, vs. CB Lincoln
SC North - @ CB Jefferson, vs. SC Heelan(3A), @ SC West, vs. CB Lewis Central

CB Lincoln - vs. Glenwood(3A), @ CB Lewis Central, vs. CB Jefferson, @ SC East
SC West - vs. Sergeant Bluff-Luton(3A), @ SC East, vs. SC North, @ CB Jefferson

CB Jefferson - vs. SC North, @ CB St. Albert(A), @ CB Lincoln, vs. SC West
CB Lewis Central - @ Harlan(3A), vs. CB Lincoln, vs. SC East, @ SC North

This is an example of what each of the old MRAC teams non-district schedules will look like. If these were district games instead, they would still need opponents for non-district games, which would come from central Iowa anyway. It's really a wash.

 

[tnobd]

Both new 4A teams arrive with a losing record. By bringing in the suburban heavyweights in Valley and SEP, it will be a long time in district 4 before the isolated 4A programs in that alignment see the playoffs with 16 qualifiers. I believe the largest 4A school plays the smallest 4A too. It is nothing new for Newton after their days in the CIML Iowa.

 

[paxregis]

Both new 4A teams arrive with a losing record. By bringing in the suburban heavyweights in Valley and SEP, it will be a long time in district 4 before the isolated 4A programs in that alignment see the playoffs with 16 qualifiers. I believe the largest 4A school plays the smallest 4A too. It is nothing new for Newton after their days in the CIML Iowa.

I don't think there will be much mystery in the West for qualifiers the next two years. Waukee, winner of SC East/Johnston, Dowling, Centennial, Ankeny, Lewis Central, Valley, SE Polk.

 

[tnobd]

If I were Newton or even Western Dubuque I would ask for Waterloo East, Mason City or Waterloo West and play 2- 3A teams from their all other sports league for non district games.

 

[screwloose]

My guess would be that Mason City will play Clear Lake(2A), Marshalltown, Fort Dodge and DM North / DM Hoover for their non-district games.
Guess on Western Dubuque would be West Delaware(3A), Wat East, Wat West and Clinton.
Just throwing darts.

 

[paxregis]

Mason City is more likely to play Waverly-Shell Rock again than a Des Moines school. The other three are spot on.

Western Dubuque played West Delaware, Beckman & Decorah in non-district last cycle. I would expect them to put WDel & Beckman on their priority list since both are close by.

 

[screwloose]

You could be right, pax. But I was trying to keep each with just one 3A opponent, but if the state does give either two 3A's, you're probably spot on.

 

[tnobd]

I am rather disappointed with the fellows in Boone. I still think that 4A needs 8 team districts....especially since they eliminated 16 qualifiers. I just think the kids and coaches would rather play in 7 meaningful games rather then just 5 of 9 every year.

 

[areukiddingme]

No. SC West is still going to play SC East and SC North out of district. This is what I was saying in my post before, it doesn't matter. You put them in that district, then they'll just turn around and have to pick up non-district games, maybe from the group they're in now. It's a wash.

On top of all that, what it also does splitting the Sioux City and Council Bluffs schools up is it spreads out the travel strain on the central Iowa schools who have to go out to play them. There's a reason Marshalltown, Indianola, Southeast Polk and Newton are in District 4 without any of those MRAC schools, the travel is even further - for them and the MRAC schools.

I wish there was a way I could explain it so everybody could understand. It really makes sense if you understand scheduling. Given the alignments how they are, all those MRAC schools are going to be able to play perhaps one 3A opponent and fill the rest of their non-district games with the other MRAC teams.

SC East - @ SC Heelan(3A), vs. SC West, @ CB Lewis Central, vs. CB Lincoln
SC North - @ CB Jefferson, vs. SC Heelan(3A), @ SC West, vs. CB Lewis Central

CB Lincoln - vs. Glenwood(3A), @ CB Lewis Central, vs. CB Jefferson, @ SC East
SC West - vs. Sergeant Bluff-Luton(3A), @ SC East, vs. SC North, @ CB Jefferson

CB Jefferson - vs. SC North, @ CB St. Albert(A), @ CB Lincoln, vs. SC West
CB Lewis Central - @ Harlan(3A), vs. CB Lincoln, vs. SC East, @ SC North

This is an example of what each of the old MRAC teams non-district schedules will look like. If these were district games instead, they would still need opponents for non-district games, which would come from central Iowa anyway. It's really a wash.

No, I disagree. the fact that SC West is in different district does 2 things, 1st it limits the choices they have in non district opponents. They obviously are going to play SC East and SC North, so really only have 2 choice games. Maybe CBTJ and CBLC or SBL, OR Lemars
and it creates more travel, because if SC North and SC East were in same district as SC West, West would have 4 dates to request opponents such as maybe SBL, CBTJ, CBLC, Lemars or Ft Dodge. This would be a lot less travel than current district situation.

 

[screwloose]

You're correct, IF the IHSAA were to put more than two of the old MRAC teams in the same district. BUT, they don't and probably won't. They could place all six of them in a district geographically, but since Sioux City East and Council Bluffs Lewis Central have had any real success, that would create the weakest district in all of 4A. Not to mention, bunching multiple central Iowa teams together without those MRAC teams would create at least two, if not three, drastically stronger districts. Where we have a decent balance right now, that would not be the case. So, expecting more than two MRAC teams in a single district is not a realistic situation.

So I revert back to what I said, considering that there are three districts with two MRAC teams. Really, we're both right theoretically. But one way is how it could actually happen, the other is a lot less likely.