districts are out!
- Thread starter HOOTOWLHOLLOW
- Start date
Agreed! St. Ansgar will reload, WH will be a bit better than last year, Newman will be much better than last year. I think Lake Mills will be a little down but still very competitive! Should be exciting.
I don't know if they are up to ADs or scheduled by the state off wish lists.....
Anyone know why they call them "Groups" in 5A rather than Districts? Just to make it more confusing to the casual observer?
For the new Class 1A districts, here are the combined records of last years teams.
D1: 31-21
D2: 27-23
D3: 24-28
D4: 32-23
D5: 30-24
D6: 29-24
D7: 32-24
D8: 22-32
According to last years records, it looks like D1, D4 & D7 are the toughest overall, and D3 & D8 being pretty weak.
D1: 31-21
D2: 27-23
D3: 24-28
D4: 32-23
D5: 30-24
D6: 29-24
D7: 32-24
D8: 22-32
According to last years records, it looks like D1, D4 & D7 are the toughest overall, and D3 & D8 being pretty weak.
I'm not so sure you can draw much inference, especially since last was a little off. Just going off aggregate win percentage doesn't account for any ND games played against higher classes.
Additionally D7 played 56 games where D2 only played 52. Was that because D7 teams went deeper in playoffs or because they had fewer COVID cancellations? one or two dominant teams, or one or two doormats can really skew that view as well. It does seem to point to D7 as a tough one (more games and a higher win %)
This is the same plan the IHSAA had for last season, before COVID wrecked everything. They’re “groups” because they’re kinda-sorta ranked in the “success model,” with teams in tiers 1 through 6 in each group. They don’t play a full round-robin, so it’s not really a district - in each group there’s only 4 assigned games rather than 5, and the tier 1 team does not play the tier 6 team. The state also assigned an extra game to each team outside their group, with another school from the same tier.
Also playoff qualifiers are purely from RPI ... district or “group” finish has no meaning for playoffs.
Each school has 4 games left to arrange on their own/via wish-lists, and I don’t believe there’s any restrictions on who you can play there.
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One other item of interest I noticed, at least from my point of view:
The Cedar Rapids teams (Kennedy/Washington/Jefferson) refused to schedule Xavier once districts arrived/the football MVC collapsed in 2014, with Xavier becoming a 3A program. Their stated reason was they had no interest in playing a team from 3A, that they wanted to schedule only other 4A opponents.
Welcome 2021, with Kennedy and Jefferson now in the new 5A, and Washington in 4A (along with Xavier and Marion). Lo and behold, what does the Kennedy football program tweet today? That Jefferson and Washington will “most likely” be on the schedule.
But ... I was told you guys refused to play a team from a smaller class. What’s all this about playing Washington, hmm?
The Cedar Rapids teams (Kennedy/Washington/Jefferson) refused to schedule Xavier once districts arrived/the football MVC collapsed in 2014, with Xavier becoming a 3A program. Their stated reason was they had no interest in playing a team from 3A, that they wanted to schedule only other 4A opponents.
Welcome 2021, with Kennedy and Jefferson now in the new 5A, and Washington in 4A (along with Xavier and Marion). Lo and behold, what does the Kennedy football program tweet today? That Jefferson and Washington will “most likely” be on the schedule.
But ... I was told you guys refused to play a team from a smaller class. What’s all this about playing Washington, hmm?
Only for 3A through 5A....
From: https://www.iahsaa.org/football-2021-22-districts-groups/
- Playoff Qualifiers: 32
- Automatic Qualifiers: 32, top four per district
- At-Large Berths: 0, no RPI
Oh! Something else I noticed!
There are 72 schools in 8-player. The classification table that was posted last week on the IHSAA didn't have Woodward Academy listed, or at least I didn't see it (maybe I missed it, although I counted 8P listings twice and came up with 71 both times).
So, anyway, Woodward Academy gets added as an 8-player team, there's 72 total, and we no longer have to worry about a team having a week off every Friday.
There are 72 schools in 8-player. The classification table that was posted last week on the IHSAA didn't have Woodward Academy listed, or at least I didn't see it (maybe I missed it, although I counted 8P listings twice and came up with 71 both times).
So, anyway, Woodward Academy gets added as an 8-player team, there's 72 total, and we no longer have to worry about a team having a week off every Friday.
Yeah, this looks to be the case. The scramble now for filling out the rest of your schedule should be fascinating. Coaches and AD’s will have to balance perceived team strength with opponents due to RPI affect. You’re always better off winning but winning over a tier 5 vs losing to a tier 1? It’s probably best to not over analyze and it may be “you get what you get”.
A few thoughts from what I see
5A: It is almost an east west split, SEP goes east but that's it, I predicted a true east west split with Marshalltown instead of SEP but this is pretty close. I wonder if we will see similar things in the playoffs. 20 years ago the west side cried with to eastern teams in the big school championship and they changed it so there would be an East vs West final, I wonder if their is some pressure from the eastern part of the state this time.
4A: There is a bunch of travel, but that is kind of how it has to be. Xavier and Pella in the same district is fun.
3A: I feel for Grinnell and Knoxville for travel, but overall I like these districts for both geography and balance of power
2A: Iowa Falls to Albia is a haul, and Wahlert vs Waukon should be fun.
1A: Will Regina and West Branch actually play in the regular season?
A: District 2 is loaded, North Butler must have drawn the short straw with Nashua. Other than that things are balanced out pretty well, I am interested to see if they do sister districts for the playoffs. Also odd numbers for districts essentially makes it one non-district game.
8man: There are a lot of teams playing 8 man, and things look balanced overall, I would say most of the districts have a favorite though.
5A: It is almost an east west split, SEP goes east but that's it, I predicted a true east west split with Marshalltown instead of SEP but this is pretty close. I wonder if we will see similar things in the playoffs. 20 years ago the west side cried with to eastern teams in the big school championship and they changed it so there would be an East vs West final, I wonder if their is some pressure from the eastern part of the state this time.
4A: There is a bunch of travel, but that is kind of how it has to be. Xavier and Pella in the same district is fun.
3A: I feel for Grinnell and Knoxville for travel, but overall I like these districts for both geography and balance of power
2A: Iowa Falls to Albia is a haul, and Wahlert vs Waukon should be fun.
1A: Will Regina and West Branch actually play in the regular season?
A: District 2 is loaded, North Butler must have drawn the short straw with Nashua. Other than that things are balanced out pretty well, I am interested to see if they do sister districts for the playoffs. Also odd numbers for districts essentially makes it one non-district game.
8man: There are a lot of teams playing 8 man, and things look balanced overall, I would say most of the districts have a favorite though.
how did c.l.and w.l. end up in the same district they are to good of friends like hull western and boyden hull in basketball
Football: 2021-22 Districts & Groups
www.iahsaa.org
There will only be 71 at most when season starts. Siouxland Christian always says they will play but then cancels their varsity season.
7 teams in each class A district means two non district games. Playoffs will have sister district for 1st rd only then pods for the rest like last year.
Unless mistaken, I think playoff qualifying is based solely on RPI, so although there will be some non-DSM schools in PO’s, by the time you get to the dome it could be like last year, 3 Capital City and one other.
Okay, my fingers are cramping up, but the maps are done. Behold!
Here are visualizations of the districts for 4A through 8-Player, along with something I tried to cobble together to show some of the travel involved with the state-scheduled games in 5A.
Hope you like these!
Here are visualizations of the districts for 4A through 8-Player, along with something I tried to cobble together to show some of the travel involved with the state-scheduled games in 5A.
Hope you like these!
There was some pretty bad blood by the way Kennedy players/coaches were treated after the 2013 quarterfinal game. Xavier students/parents/fans lined the only way off the field and chanted about winning as Kennedy walked through to the locker room. Wasn't very Christian of them.One other item of interest I noticed, at least from my point of view:
The Cedar Rapids teams (Kennedy/Washington/Jefferson) refused to schedule Xavier once districts arrived/the football MVC collapsed in 2014, with Xavier becoming a 3A program. Their stated reason was they had no interest in playing a team from 3A, that they wanted to schedule only other 4A opponents.
Welcome 2021, with Kennedy and Jefferson now in the new 5A, and Washington in 4A (along with Xavier and Marion). Lo and behold, what does the Kennedy football program tweet today? That Jefferson and Washington will “most likely” be on the schedule.
But ... I was told you guys refused to play a team from a smaller class. What’s all this about playing Washington, hmm?
"There was some pretty bad blood by the way Kennedy players/coaches were treated after the 2013 quarterfinal game. Xavier students/parents/fans lined the only way off the field and chanted about winning as Kennedy walked through to the locker room. Wasn't very Christian of them. "
I had not heard this but it makes sense. The Cedar Rapids schools refusal to play Xavier and the obvious bad blood always made me wonder what was the origin. This specific story seems like a logical "Ok, we're done working with them" event. Probably did not exist in isolation, but did exist with previous slights (real or imagined).
I had not heard this but it makes sense. The Cedar Rapids schools refusal to play Xavier and the obvious bad blood always made me wonder what was the origin. This specific story seems like a logical "Ok, we're done working with them" event. Probably did not exist in isolation, but did exist with previous slights (real or imagined).
got it here..unless its not the 21 yr numbers?
You know what, I can believe this. Xavier got a reputation for having fans who were a bit, well, overly enthusiastic, to put it mildly - and given how parent populations go, some years are worse than others.
(I imagine Kennedy players were also frustrated over the fact that the 2013 playoff game - the last time they faced Xavier - was their 4th loss in a row to the Saints by a total of 108-0. So yeah, getting taunted after that would be a good reason to tell a school to go kick rocks or something.)
Other than Harlan I'd say 3A is much weaker than 4A overall. Just in terms of the depth of potential contenders......most of Harlan's usual title competition went up to 4A.
2A looks tough this year IMO! A lot of depth.
2A looks tough this year IMO! A lot of depth.
Yep, I imagine that was a big factor. I also appreciate you understanding I wasn't starting a fight over it!
wow...harlan lost 20 in one year..and perry gained 40? its a wonder harlan could even be competitive against lewis central , seeing they are allmost twice as big
thks....be interesting to see them this year...wonder if u have to play the class u are in..or can play outside it
You can put anyone you want to for non-district, the one thing the state said was if you wanted to play an out of state game you have to have another Iowa school that wants to play an out of state game that week as sort of a "travel buddy" so that numbers stay even. It doesn't mean their going the same place one could be going to Illinois and one to Nebraska, but it is to keep things even in Iowa.
It does make sense, though. With an even number of total teams in the state, if one school opted to play out-of-state that would leave another team high and dry without an opponent that week, unless that team had an out-of-state game, too.
