Basketball expanding to 7 divisions

[EasternDspy]

It’s rumored to be a done deal that Basketball will go to 7 divisions in 24

[danicalifornia]

7 is just so many. It’ll spread everything too thin, but not the money

It makes sense about going to the maxpreps number model for ranking teams if they are going to split divisions even more though

I think it’ll be a lot like the Eugene Levy line from Vacation, “you think you hate it now, but wait til you drive it” aka, it’ll suck

[EasternDspy]

7 is just so many. It’ll spread everything too thin, but not the money

It makes sense about going to the maxpreps number model for ranking teams if they are going to split divisions even more though

I think it’ll be a lot like the Eugene Levy line from Vacation, “you think you hate it now, but wait til you drive it” aka, it’ll suck

Hearing it’s a done deal. They might get rid of sectionals

[IVCHAWKS]

I wonder if this a way to get Richmond Hts out of the d4 division, at least move them up some, wonder what the division numbers will look like for the 7 divisions

[The Ultimate Lancer]

I wonder if this a way to get Richmond Hts out of the d4 division, at least move them up some, wonder what the division numbers will look like for the 7 divisions

Nah, the Ohsass doesn’t care about that. It’s simply a way for them to generate more money to pay for their lavish expenses for their “meeting” venues.

[EasternDspy]

I wonder if this a way to get Richmond Hts out of the d4 division, at least move them up some, wonder what the division numbers will look like for the 7 divisions

Nah, the Ohsass doesn’t care about that. It’s simply a way for them to generate more money to pay for their lavish expenses for their “meeting” venues.

Also a way to level the playing field. The gap between the biggest D1 and smallest D1 is crazy.

[OVC]

I feel 7 is too much. I think expanding to 5 would be fine. There could even be an argument for 6, but I think 5 is fair.

[art_vandelay]

Feels like 1 or 2 divisions too many, but at least OHSAA trying something to make tourney more competitive.

Interested to see how state tourney weekend will work with 3 extra championship games and 6 extra semi-final games to play.*

[thebarlowbandit]

I wonder if this a way to get Richmond Hts out of the d4 division, at least move them up some, wonder what the division numbers will look like for the 7 divisions

Nah, the Ohsass doesn’t care about that. It’s simply a way for them to generate more money to pay for their lavish expenses for their “meeting” venues.

Curious where those "lavish" meeting venues have been lately? I mean, they went to Hawaii but that was 30 years ago. So, can you clue us in where they been going lately? Bahamas? Key West?

[trojandave]

All for at least 1 more division because as EasternDspy said, the difference in enrollment from the smallest D1 to the largest D1 is way too big.

[danicalifornia]

All for at least 1 more division because as EasternDspy said, the difference in enrollment from the smallest D1 to the largest D1 is way too big.

Yep, 370 vs 1300 is crazy.

Wilmington made their magical run with Cumberland in 2016 when they were the smallest D1 and rolled through a bunch of huge ones to the get to the Final Four, but how often does a school that size end up with 5 CBB players on the same team?

I’d prefer 6 as the limit, but it is what it is.

[pioneer19]

Using this year's enrollment and competitive balance numbers, here is roughly what 7 divisions would look like (assuming they take the largest schools in D1 like football):

Division 1 (64 schools) : None

Division 2 (122 schools) (cutoff:356) : Logan, Chillicothe

Division 3 (122 schools) (250-355) : Miami Trace, Athens, Marietta, Jackson, Washington, Hillsboro, Sheridan, Warren, Circleville

Division 4 (122 schools) (183-249) : Fairfield Union, Waverly, Unioto, McClain, Vinton County, Gallia Academy, Logan Elm, River Valley, New Lex, Alexander, Meigs, Westfall, Zane Trace, Piketon, Fairland, Wheelersburg, Ironton

Division 5 (123 schools) (137-182) : Minford, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Wellston, South Point, Northwest, Portsmouth West, Oak Hill, Eastern Brown, Adena, Southeastern, Rock Hill, North Adams, Huntington, Crooksville, West Union, Lynchburg-Clay, Paint Valley

Division 6 (126 schools) (96-136) : Coal Grove, Peebles, Lucasville Valley, Nelsonville-York, Belpre, Trimble, Eastern Pike, Manchester, Fairfield, Federal Hocking, Ripley, Symmes Valley

Division 7 (121 schools) (cutoff: 95) : Reedsville Eastern, South Webster, Southern, Notre Dame, Whiteoak, Portsmouth Clay, South Gallia, Waterford, Miller, New Boston, Green, Sciotoville East, St. Joseph Central

[GoBucks1047]

Using this year's enrollment and competitive balance numbers, here is roughly what 7 divisions would look like (assuming they take the largest schools in D1 like football):

Division 1 (64 schools) : None

Division 2 (122 schools) (cutoff:356) : Logan, Chillicothe

Division 3 (122 schools) (250-355) : Miami Trace, Athens, Marietta, Jackson, Washington, Hillsboro, Sheridan, Warren, Circleville

Division 4 (122 schools) (183-249) : Fairfield Union, Waverly, Unioto, McClain, Vinton County, Gallia Academy, Logan Elm, River Valley, New Lex, Alexander, Meigs, Westfall, Zane Trace, Piketon, Fairland, Wheelersburg, Ironton

Division 5 (123 schools) (137-182) : Minford, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Wellston, South Point, Northwest, Portsmouth West, Oak Hill, Eastern Brown, Adena, Southeastern, Rock Hill, North Adams, Huntington, Crooksville, West Union, Lynchburg-Clay, Paint Valley

Division 6 (126 schools) (96-136) : Coal Grove, Peebles, Lucasville Valley, Nelsonville-York, Belpre, Trimble, Eastern Pike, Manchester, Fairfield, Federal Hocking, Ripley, Symmes Valley

Division 7 (121 schools) (cutoff: 95) : Reedsville Eastern, South Webster, Southern, Notre Dame, Whiteoak, Portsmouth Clay, South Gallia, Waterford, Miller, New Boston, Green, Sciotoville East, St. Joseph Central

I don't think they'll make D1 that small with only 64 teams. My guess is D1 will be 80 teams (top 10%) and D2-D7 would be ~120 teams each, which probably doesn't change much, if anything, for SEO. This actually splits up the current D1 into 2 separate divisions pretty cleanly (D1: 561-1300 and D2: 345-560) and the other 3 current divisions are split into the other 5 proposed divisions.

I personally think it should be 6 divisions at most with the 80 team D1 and ~144 teams for D2-D6. This results in 1 play-in game for each of the 16 districts (5 teams in D1 and ~9 teams in D2-D6) with the winner playing the 1 seed.

5 divisions would be 96 teams for D1 and 176 teams for D2-D5. This would be my favorite option since the top teams in each of the 16 districts are rewarded with the bye (6 teams districts for D1 and 11 teams districts for D2-D5).

As mentioned above, an 80 team D1 this year would be 561-1300 vs. 198 schools at 346-1300. 64 teams for D1 would be 638-1300 while 96 teams for D1 is 515-1300.

[GoBucks1047]

My question is how would they breakup State with 7 divisions? Idk if they want to do Thursday games, but if they do, 21 games over 4 days doesn't look too pretty, and I don't see 7 games in a day. With 6 divisions, 18 games over 3 days looks more plausible with 3 games between 10-4 and 3 games 4:30-10:30. Maybe start games sooner if you want 3 2-game sessions instead of 2 3-game sessions. Make some more money with an extra session each day without paying for the facility a 4th day.

[ItsMyOpinion]

I heard from somebody the OHSAA is going to do away with the Final Four if they go to 7 divisions. Only play the state finals on site. Semi-finals will be played at a neutral site somewhere between the participating schools (Similar to football playoffs) They will play 3 games on one day and 4 games on the next and be done with it. Eliminating the Final Four and adding divisions will make a lot more money for the OHSAA. I don't know if there is any truth to this but if so what a shame to eliminate such a tradition as the Final Four for the almighty dollar. The teams that lose in the semi-finals will never have the experience of the Final Four.

[Logangrad]

They dont even vote on it until Feb 2024. Not sure how its a done deal yet.....?

[The Ultimate Lancer]

I wonder if this a way to get Richmond Hts out of the d4 division, at least move them up some, wonder what the division numbers will look like for the 7 divisions

Nah, the Ohsass doesn’t care about that. It’s simply a way for them to generate more money to pay for their lavish expenses for their “meeting” venues.

Curious where those "lavish" meeting venues have been lately? I mean, they went to Hawaii but that was 30 years ago. So, can you clue us in where they been going lately? Bahamas? Key West?

They went to Hawaii? For real? WOW it’s worse than I thought.

[BasketballFan22]

Instead of expanding so much. Take out the private schools from the tournament and let them have their own..

[thebarlowbandit]

Instead of expanding so much. Take out the private schools from the tournament and let them have their own..

That is a vote by the member schools Principals. They have voted (more than once) to stay together. That's on them.

As for State Championship weekend, the Semi-Finals will be played at neutral sites and the finals will be in Dayton.

[muskiefan11]

Completely understand the expansion talks, not sure 7 is the best. Without looking at the exact numbers I am not sure the difference between going to 6 or 7 divisions. I feel like 6 would be better, 7 just seems like too many.

With that said, this probably means neutral site State Semi-Final games which really takes away from the feeling of “making it to state.” But it works in football, so why not basketball, baseball, softball, etc.