New mixed 4A/3A conferences for 2005...

Realignment is one of my pet topics, so here's something to think about...

Northwestern 4A/3A

Alexander Central
East Burke
Fred T. Foard
Freedom
Hickory
McDowell
R-S Central
St. Stephens
South Caldwell
Watauga

(A.C. Reynolds returns to a mixed 4A/3A MAC, like what they had before 2001...

Big South 4A/3A

Ashbrook
Burns
Crest
East Gaston
Forestview
Hunter Huss
Kings Mountain
North Gaston
South Point

Whoa! Now that's a tough conference right there!
:scared2:

Check out TornadoPride.com...if you dare!

 

Where's the info from?

 

Why destroy the tradition of the NW4A Conference? If Hickory was a big enough school to move to 4A, I would love to see them back in the NW4A.

I hear word that Crest, East Gaston and Hunter Huss may be large enough to return back to 4A classification. Here would be my suggestion for a split conference:

Big South 3A/4A

RS Central, Burns, Kings Mtn, South Point, Crest, East Gaston, Hunter Huss

321 3A Conference: (Neat name huh?)

Hickory, Ashbrook, North Gaston, St. Stephens, Fred T. Foard, Forestview


The NW4A is in a interesting spot. TC Roberson High School in Buncombe County is currently larger than AC Reynolds. The NW4A could do one of two options.

1. Add Roberson to make a 8 team conference.
2. Add Roberson and let Alex. Central move to the Central Piedmont 4A

 

Ashbrook is bigger than Hunter Huss, so in your plan they'd have to go into that Big South Conference.

The two conferences that I mentioned are being discussed informally by coaches, administrators and athletic directors. I heard these from our athletic director. Of course, it's all very preliminary stuff, so... Whatever happens, you can be assured that mixed conferences are the wave of the future and the need to cut down on travel will be the deciding factor most of the time. Since Hickory was a charter member of the Northwestern 4A (as well as it's predecessor, the Western 4A) I personally would love to see Hickory back in that league, however it comes about. That's where Hickory belongs and has always belonged.

If that doesn't happen, then the most viable alternative would be a mixed 3A/2A league that looked like this:

Hickory
Fred T. Foard
St. Stephens
Bandys
Newton-Conover
Bunker Hill
Hibriten
West Caldwell

Check out TornadoPride.com...if you dare!

 

Coach Kirby said that he thinks Crest will be put back in the NW4A the way it stands now. Merger could have an affect on the numbers, but they will go off of the first 20 days of next year and he doesn't think it will affect Crest by then. I would love to see Crest in the NW4A. Some great stadiums, fans, and teams. Crest enjoyed there last venture there and really had started to develop some good rivals.

 

mixed conferences 4a/3a

For the Northwestern Conference, if Roberson and Crest
are 4A, and Reynolds maintains its' enrollment, you would
have a very strong athletic conference, if the Rams and
the Chargers join the league...The x factor may be
Alexander Central...Do they try to join a Winston-Salem area
league, which is perhaps a more natural fit...Alexander
was charter member of the original Northwestern
Conference in 1973, then rejoined the revamped league
in 1985, after the dissolution of the Western Conference.

 

Re: mixed conferences 4a/3a

smashmouth and wncsport..............the NWC is the fit for Reynold and Crest. Our experiences with our group of student/athletes that came through when Crest was a brief member;.........beautiful area, met alot of great people, and with any sport(well most......) you were playing some of the state top athletes(basketball a no brainer-tennis-volleyball, baseball)!

The Big South would be interesting with Gastonia hs involved......worth the 4 year committment, imo

Flip a coin

 

Considering their winning percentage, I bet Crest did enjoyed their last venture in the NW4A, lol...

But seriously...Crest, AC Reynolds, Freedom would make a top-heavy conference, but anything is better than the current look of the conference (in football that is.) East Burke, McDowell and others would have to put more time into their programs to stay competitive.

also, Roberson would be no pushover in football either.

 

What about Asheville High. I have heard that they would have 4a numbers on next realignment.

How about a 10 team league in two divisions

NW4A West

1. AC Reynolds
2. Asheville High
3. TC Roberson
4. McDowell
5. Freedom

NW4A East
1. Crest
2. Hickory(if 4a numbers) or Alexander
3. South Caldwell
4. East Burke
5. Watauga


-The last week before the playoffs is NW4A week. Division champions play in the "Mountain Bowl". 2's in each division play and so on.

 

Now that would be an interesting concept...2 divisions in a 4A conference. BUT, for that to occur Asheville would have to qualify for 4A. I personally don't think they're big enough. My buddy, NW_4A Pride, swears up and down on the charlotte boards that Asheville is big enough, along with Tuscola.


Scheduling for football would be the hard sell in this proposal. Here is how I would schedule football:

Take McDowell as the example, play each team in the division once. Then designate a natural rival from the other division. For this example, I would designate Watauga as McDowell's natural rival. East Burke would be Freedom's, Reynolds would be Crest's, Asheville would be Hickory's rival, and so on.

Then finally, with the four remanding non-division teams, alternate those teams on a yearly basis. In other words, play two teams one year, and then the next year, play the other two.

That would be a total of 7 Conference games (division, rivals, alternating non division)

Three non-conference games and a bye week added would be an 11 week season. On the 12th week, have the Conference Championship.


Playoff Selection would also be a hard sell to the member schools. Here is how I would do it:

Division winners get automatic playoff bid. And four wildcard bids based on NCHSAA requirements (i.e minimum 4 wins). The point here is not to designate each division with so many spots, but to designate the conference as a whole with a certain number of playoff spots. Being a ten team conference as proposed above, the conference would get 6 playoff spots.