New Divisions 'official'

S

Salad76

Well-known member
Of course there will be some adjustments and regions still need to be determined.... but here they are:

OHSAA Announces Preliminary 2024 Fall Sports Divisions and Representation

News Release – Ohio High School Athletic Association Executive Director Doug Ute www.OHSAA.org | www.twitter.com/OHSAASports | www.Facebook.com/OHSAASports For Immediate Release – April 30, 2024 Contact – Tim Stried, Director of Media Relations, tstried@ohsaa.org OHSAA...
www.ohsaa.org
 
 
soccerdad72 said:
Bay's move to D4 was one of the first things I noticed.

There's some powerful schools that went from D1 to D3 as well, like US, Twinsburg and deSales.
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Bay has probably the clearest path of anyone. Historically they have been a cut above anyone else in north in D4. It's now or never for them.

Wyoming also dropped to D4 which is interesting.

The recent D2 powers like Howland, Tipp, Shawnee and some others are looking at this wondering what they did wrong to deserve this D3.

At first glance D2 might come down to St Charles, New Albany, Walsh and Hudson?
 
Andrews Osborne graduates 4. Don't know if all the other international players will return, but they should be a tough opponent in Div. 4 in the NE.
 
Salad76 said:
At first glance D2 might come down to St Charles, New Albany, Walsh and Hudson?
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Glancing through the D2 list, I would tend to agree, not knowing the makeup of all their teams. I would put Walsh as an early favorite this year - they're bringing back nearly their whole starting lineup with most of their key players being juniors this year and they were strong last year, even in D1.
 
missouri88 said:
Andrews Osborne graduates 4. Don't know if all the other international players will return, but they should be a tough opponent in Div. 4 in the NE.
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Based on the AOA model from the past few years, their roster will be a complete overhaul of new international players (with a couple holdovers of local kids who will be down the bench). Look for them to struggle early in the season (as the players learn each other's names ;) ) and then build momentum in October and be back in the mix by playoff time.
 
missouri88 said:
Andrews Osborne graduates 4. Don't know if all the other international players will return, but they should be a tough opponent in Div. 4 in the NE.
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Sign me up for the possible Bay v Andrews Osborne game. That's a D1/D2 game in D4.

That also must clear the way for some D5s to make further runs.
 
D1 - NE 3 regional bids, NW 1 regional bid (central and SW have 6 each).
NE -> St. Ignatius is the favorite in the north and also statewide, as they return essentially everyone from a team that won the state title, despite being their weakest team in a long time. Medina and Brunswick are well positioned to take the other two regional spots. Massillon Jackson and Strongsville would be candidates to play spoiler
NW -> there are only three schools in D1 ... Perrysburg, Findlay, and Whitmer ... given that, let's just put Perrysburg in the sweet 16

D2 - NE 7 bids, NW 1 (central 5 and SW 3)
NW -> Toledo Start, Anthony Wayne, Sylvania Northview, Toledo St. John's, and Toledo St. Francis are the lone schools. The latter four schools will be battling for the spot, and it should be well-contested
NE -> Hoover, Hudson, and Walsh Jesuit are going to be the class of the area with the other four spots likely to be tightly contested

D3 - NE 6 bids, (NW 3, central 2, east 1, southeast 1, SW 3) ... this is the bottom of the old D1 along with the top half-plus of the old D2
NE -> I think it's going to be a very open battle for regional spots in this new division. Maybe US, Revere, and Twinsburg as a top three ... though I think this division is going to have the least gap between the regional advancers and the district semifinalists.

D4 - NE 4 bids (NW 3, central 2, SW 3, east 2, southeast 2) ... this is the back about half of old D2 along with the top portion of old D3
NE -> Bay and Cardinal Mooney look to be the class of this division. If Andrews Osborne does well in the international market like they did last year, they'll be right there with Bay (and Mooney). Going to be an interesting division though, as the old D2 teams will be seeing this as an opportunity for regional advancement with the bigger enrollment schools not standing in their way.

D5 - NE 5 bids (NW 3, central 1, east 1, SE 2, SW 4)
From a statewide perspective, you also have Worthington Christian up in DIV along with AOA, plus four other members of the final OSSCA top 15 for the old D3 at the end of last year. With SCD dropping down, they become the instant clear favorites for the state title.
NE -> AOA is out of the division and Beachwood is out of the division (regional finalist the last two years in old D3). United (with Candrea returning), Warren JFK, and South Range might be the three best teams in the geography for the fall.
 
Unfortunate to see another state tournament get watered down like this. There simply aren’t enough good teams to justify this many divisions. Really cheats the kids out of having a fun tournament experience with lots of competition.
 
cincyeaglefan said:
Or it enhances the tournament for kids playing against schools twice their size that they had no business playing.
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This for sure.

The only thing I would like to see now is a small school public division. Still nothing to curb the dominance of privates.
 
Salad76 said:
Bay has probably the clearest path of anyone. Historically they have been a cut above anyone else in north in D4. It's now or never for them.

Wyoming also dropped to D4 which is interesting.

The recent D2 powers like Howland, Tipp, Shawnee and some others are looking at this wondering what they did wrong to deserve this D3.

At first glance D2 might come down to St Charles, New Albany, Walsh and Hudson?
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St. Charles opted up to D1
 
cincyeaglefan said:
Or it enhances the tournament for kids playing against schools twice their size that they had no business playing.
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This is what it's all about. There are tons of schools who'd never compete at any division they were in for many years, that now possibly have the ability to have a much better showing in state tournament play.
 
belied dat said:
This is what it's all about. There are tons of schools who'd never compete at any division they were in for many years, that now possibly have the ability to have a much better showing in state tournament play.
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Then why not add even more divisions. I get it, but it seems watered down too much.

Football has been a joke with so many divisions.
 
Why do you care so much? said:
Then why not add even more divisions. I get it, but it seems watered down too much.

Football has been a joke with so many divisions.
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What is your cutoff for not being "watered down"?

If those who complain about this divisional alignment have better solutions, propose those and get them through.

There's usually no better solutions. Having schools with 1000 boys compete against schools with 200 boys isn't highly realistic for the majority of schools (I just inserted numbers, just for the sake of it). Sure, some can compete, but most cannot.

I graduated from a high school that would graduate 175 total each year, it's now down to 155 each year. The district champion would always get matched up against a Columbus-area school and would lose 99% of the time. I believe only one time ever has our district champion won in the next round. That's just not ideal.

Why do HS sports exist? Extension of the classroom. Give kids opportunities to compete. Etc. In the end, if it opens up opportunities for more to compete, it's a good thing. Why does it truly matter if the DI level now gets to compete more within their own competitive structure? Insert the same question for DII, DIII, and so forth.

In the end, there's never going to be a perfect structure, because there are always people who want to just complain.
 
belied dat said:
What is your cutoff for not being "watered down"?

If those who complain about this divisional alignment have better solutions, propose those and get them through.

There's usually no better solutions. Having schools with 1000 boys compete against schools with 200 boys isn't highly realistic for the majority of schools (I just inserted numbers, just for the sake of it). Sure, some can compete, but most cannot.

I graduated from a high school that would graduate 175 total each year, it's now down to 155 each year. The district champion would always get matched up against a Columbus-area school and would lose 99% of the time. I believe only one time ever has our district champion won in the next round. That's just not ideal.

Why do HS sports exist? Extension of the classroom. Give kids opportunities to compete. Etc. In the end, if it opens up opportunities for more to compete, it's a good thing. Why does it truly matter if the DI level now gets to compete more within their own competitive structure? Insert the same question for DII, DIII, and so forth.

In the end, there's never going to be a perfect structure, because there are always people who want to just complain.
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For 90% of schools I agree.

For the other 10% it's a big change. For some it's welcome news. For others it's a tough pill to swallow. For the biggest D1s and the smallest D5's nothing changed at all.

Those 10% already moved on a while ago though
 
Salad76 said:
For 90% of schools I agree.

For the other 10% it's a big change. For some it's welcome news. For others it's a tough pill to swallow. For the biggest D1s and the smallest D5's nothing changed at all.

Those 10% already moved on a while ago though
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What makes it a tough pill to swallow? And, what would really mean anything to those 10%?

You cannot make everyone happy, so making 90% happy, I'd say that's an okay move.
 
Did Summit Country Day not submit a request to the OHSAA to move up a Division. With the success they have had in D2 (when there were 3 divisions) why would they accept being in the smallest division? Their regular season schedule tells you they want to play D1/2 caliber teams. I just don't understand the logic, I guess.
 
Old_School said:
Did Summit Country Day not submit a request to the OHSAA to move up a Division. With the success they have had in D2 (when there were 3 divisions) why would they accept being in the smallest division? Their regular season schedule tells you they want to play D1/2 caliber teams. I just don't understand the logic, I guess.
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Win D4 State pretty much any year you want, or have to compete with the big enrollment schools and maybe not even get out of Cincy in D1?
 
cincysports4 said:
Win D4 State pretty much any year you want, or have to compete with the big enrollment schools and maybe not even get out of Cincy in D1?
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There are 5 divisions in boys soccer. Not saying they should be playing Division 1 or 2, but why not put yourself in division 4 when given the opportunity. Given their success, either division will be a cake walk through regionals.
 
Old_School said:
Did Summit Country Day not submit a request to the OHSAA to move up a Division. With the success they have had in D2 (when there were 3 divisions) why would they accept being in the smallest division? Their regular season schedule tells you they want to play D1/2 caliber teams. I just don't understand the logic, I guess.
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You can only petition to move up to D1, so for Summit it's either D5 or D1.
 
cincysports4 said:
Win D4 State pretty much any year you want, or have to compete with the big enrollment schools and maybe not even get out of Cincy in D1?
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Summit is a great program, but I am not sure they have a cakewalk in D4. D4 in SW Ohio is pretty good, including a Wyoming team that has knocked Summit out of the tournament a couple of years recently. Not knocking Summit, but the D4 SW is pretty loaded (Alter, Wyoming, Oakwood, Madeira, Mariemont, Waynesville)
 
bucksman said:
D1 - NE 3 regional bids, NW 1 regional bid (central and SW have 6 each).
NE -> St. Ignatius is the favorite in the north and also statewide, as they return essentially everyone from a team that won the state title, despite being their weakest team in a long time. Medina and Brunswick are well positioned to take the other two regional spots. Massillon Jackson and Strongsville would be candidates to play spoiler
NW -> there are only three schools in D1 ... Perrysburg, Findlay, and Whitmer ... given that, let's just put Perrysburg in the sweet 16

D2 - NE 7 bids, NW 1 (central 5 and SW 3)
NW -> Toledo Start, Anthony Wayne, Sylvania Northview, Toledo St. John's, and Toledo St. Francis are the lone schools. The latter four schools will be battling for the spot, and it should be well-contested
NE -> Hoover, Hudson, and Walsh Jesuit are going to be the class of the area with the other four spots likely to be tightly contested

D3 - NE 6 bids, (NW 3, central 2, east 1, southeast 1, SW 3) ... this is the bottom of the old D1 along with the top half-plus of the old D2
NE -> I think it's going to be a very open battle for regional spots in this new division. Maybe US, Revere, and Twinsburg as a top three ... though I think this division is going to have the least gap between the regional advancers and the district semifinalists.

D4 - NE 4 bids (NW 3, central 2, SW 3, east 2, southeast 2) ... this is the back about half of old D2 along with the top portion of old D3
NE -> Bay and Cardinal Mooney look to be the class of this division. If Andrews Osborne does well in the international market like they did last year, they'll be right there with Bay (and Mooney). Going to be an interesting division though, as the old D2 teams will be seeing this as an opportunity for regional advancement with the bigger enrollment schools not standing in their way.

D5 - NE 5 bids (NW 3, central 1, east 1, SE 2, SW 4)
From a statewide perspective, you also have Worthington Christian up in DIV along with AOA, plus four other members of the final OSSCA top 15 for the old D3 at the end of last year. With SCD dropping down, they become the instant clear favorites for the state title.
NE -> AOA is out of the division and Beachwood is out of the division (regional finalist the last two years in old D3). United (with Candrea returning), Warren JFK, and South Range might be the three best teams in the geography for the fall.
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Nailed most of these.

D3 is indeed wide open in the north with an army of solid programs. Playoffs are gonna be a meat grinder from the get go.

Biggest surprise to me is Bay.

Then again with that schedule could be their record is deceiving.

South Range is another surprise. Both boys and girls programs are way down.
 
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