How are divisions determined in High School FB playoffs?

[RyDogg66]

I was looking at the high school football playoff brackets and I noticed that there were plenty of what I would consider Division I schools in the Division II bracket, schools such as Green Bay, Oshkosh, La Crosse, Wausau, Wauwatosa, Brookfield Central, etc, along with schools that I would not normally think of as the same division as those schools (Tomah, Milton, Ft. Atkinson). Schools that in most other sports are D-I are in D-II now. Does anyone know how divisions are determined for the sake of the football playoffs?

[homer]

Enrollment.

 

I went to Tosa and we were always DII for football playoffs.

[M Skjellyfetti]

If i recall correctly, all teams that are eligible for the playoffs are sorted by enrollment size and then put into divisions. So a lot of borderline teams can be different divisions from year to year, I think. Also, football has 6 divisions while most other sports only have 3.

[NeedMoreFans]

I think a lot of the divisions changed a lot when then WISAA and the WIAA merged thier playoffs, which is maybe why you are seeing some "bigger" schools in DII

[RyDogg66]

That seems strange that it would be enrollment, because a school like Oshkosh North as 1,400 students, while the entire city of Tomah is 9,000 people and Milton is just over 5,000, yet from what I can tell, they are in the same division (D-II)

 

I figured that division was based on school enrollment size, but some of those D-II schools are pretty big I think.

[Fatter than Joey]

There are seven divisions -- I know my city is in division 7

[RyDogg66]

The front page of http://www.jsonline.com/ has links to all seven brackets.

[RyDogg66]

If i recall correctly, all teams that are eligible for the playoffs are sorted by enrollment size and then put into divisions. So a lot of borderline teams can be different divisions from year to year, I think. Also, football has 6 divisions while most other sports only have 3.

I think this is the answer I was looking for. Since not all teams make the playoffs the WIAA wouldnt know what the largest 32 schools will be until the seasons are over, so the 33 largest school goes to D-II regardless of where they may play in say, basketball.

 

[hawing]

M Skjellyfetti has it right, except (as FTJ observed) football has seven divisions now.

 

And Rio won last night on the field of my alma mater! (that'd be in Monroe, where the football playoff dream was over by Labor Day)

[brewcrew00]

I thought it was 7 for football and 4 for the others, not 3?

[hawing]

It's four in basketball. I think some of the smaller sports (in terms of how many schools participate) may have as few as two.

[dadofandrew]

Yep, the playoff teams are selected, then they are split based on enrollment...though I think it goes by enrollment a while back, like September of '06.

 

In other sports, they know what division they will be in, but in football, they do not, until a few days before the playoffs begin.

[whizkid]

Here's a link to school enrollments. It says 2006 but it looks to me like it's 2007 teams and records. Oshkosh North is at the top end of D2, Tomah and Milton near the bottom. A lot of the smaller town high schools cover a large geographic area and don't have private schools in the area that drain enrollment.

[Beerambassador]

It's a shame they can't find a way to factor performance into the divisions - Waunakee is just to damn good to be playing in Division II.

[trwi7]

Here's a link to school enrollments. It says 2006 but it looks to me like it's 2007 teams and records. Oshkosh North is at the top end of D2, Tomah and Milton near the bottom. A lot of the smaller town high schools cover a large geographic area and don't have private schools in the area that drain enrollment.

 

My school is the 6th biggest. Wow 85 enrollment, that was the size of my study hall.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif

 

 

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

Yeah, i would think the "final four" teams in each division should move up a division for the next season.

 

I realize it wouldn't be fair to penalize a really good small team (say enrollment 300) to go from Div 5 to Div 1... but then again, the odds of finishing in the top 4 (4 straight years) are pretty slim, especially considering you'd have to do it in a tougher division each year.

 

That said, i think some of the Div II powers should be moved up to Division I, some of the top Div III to Div 2, etc (with a maximum move of say 2 divisions maybe)

[mothershipconnection]

If i recall correctly, all teams that are eligible for the playoffs are sorted by enrollment size and then put into divisions. So a lot of borderline teams can be different divisions from year to year, I think.

 

When I was at EC Memorial, we were holding our breath waiting for divisions and hoping Menomonie would be dropped to DII so we wouldn't have to face them (they ROLLED us 50-0 in the regular season). They dropped, but we were bounced in the 1st round anyway.

[RyDogg66]

Yeah, i would think the "final four" teams in each division should move up a division for the next season.

 

I realize it wouldn't be fair to penalize a really good small team (say enrollment 300) to go from Div 5 to Div 1... but then again, the odds of finishing in the top 4 (4 straight years) are pretty slim, especially considering you'd have to do it in a tougher division each year.

 

That said, i think some of the Div II powers should be moved up to Division I, some of the top Div III to Div 2, etc (with a maximum move of say 2 divisions maybe)

This isnt the Premiership. Really good teams are almost always full of seniors, and few teams can reload year in a year out. You could get a team like Tomah, in D-II this year who could win it all and then move them to D-I and now they graduate their whole team and have to face Holmstead. That just wouldnt work.

 

[dadofandrew]

Yeah, moving up a team because they were good the year before makes no sense at all.

[burniebrewer]

So, now that the system has been figured out, who are we all rooting for?

 

My first two years of high school were spent at New Berlin Eisenhower (curse hawing and her Cheesemakers) and my final two years at Madison Memorial.

 

I never really considered Memorial "my" school, and have always continued to follow Eisenhower.

 

When I was there, NBE was D2, I believe, and now they've dropped to D3.

[Fatter than Joey]

My town (Rio) plays Black Hawk on Saturday (Div.7)

[burniebrewer]

So, Eisenhower beat Milwaukee North 63-6 last night and now face Brown Deer on Saturday.

[hawing]

Sorry, burnie. When I was in high school, Monroe was bad at all high profile sports. Their run didn't start until I was in college. And if it's of any comfort, the Cheese stumbled to a 0-9 record this year (including their first loss to Stoughton since 1980 - my freshman year). It was enough to prompt their coach to resign.

 

FTJ, your Vikings may have a tough row to hoe. Black Hawk apparently tore up the state line area (I've forgotten the name of their conference). Good luck to the R-I-O!

[logan82]

That seems strange that it would be enrollment, because a school like Oshkosh North as 1,400 students, while the entire city of Tomah is 9,000 people and Milton is just over 5,000, yet from what I can tell, they are in the same division (D-II)

 

I figured that division was based on school enrollment size, but some of those D-II schools are pretty big I think.

 

My guess is that Tomah and Milton have a large number of kids from the rural areas which would drive up their enrolment.

[RyDogg66]

That seems strange that it would be enrollment, because a school like Oshkosh North as 1,400 students, while the entire city of Tomah is 9,000 people and Milton is just over 5,000, yet from what I can tell, they are in the same division (D-II)

 

I figured that division was based on school enrollment size, but some of those D-II schools are pretty big I think.

My guess is that Tomah and Milton have a large number of kids from the rural areas which would drive up their enrolment.

 

Yeah that has to be what it is.