JustL00kin

Do they have in school weightlifting class?

Why is it no one stays? Bad culture in the school, lack of talent, admin, lack of community support?

Thoughts. Kentucky high school football currently operates on a 6-class system (1A through 6A). To create a 5-class system using KHSAA data, we have to redistribute the approximately 220–225 football-playing schools to ensure balanced competition and logical enrollment breaks. Based on recent KHSAA male enrollment averages (grades 9–12), here is a projected 5-class alignment. Proposed 5-Class Alignment This model distributes schools by "averaging out" the current 6-class system, generally aiming for roughly 44–45 schools per class. | Class | Male Enrollment Range | Representative Schools | |---|---|---| | Class 1A | 0 – 210 | Pikeville, Beechwood, Raceland, Mayfield, Kentucky Country Day | | Class 2A | 211 – 350 | Owensboro Catholic, Lexington Christian, Murray, Belfry, Danville | | Class 3A | 351 – 540 | Central, Corbin, Paducah Tilghman, Boyle County, Franklin County | | Class 4A | 541 – 850 | Highlands, Covington Catholic, Bowling Green, South Warren, Owensboro | | Class 5A | 851+ | Trinity, St. Xavier, Frederick Douglass, Male, Ballard, Lafayette | Key Changes from the Current 6-Class System Moving to five classes significantly alters the competitive landscape: * The "Small School" Merge: Class 1A would absorb the top end of the current 1A and the bottom half of the current 2A. This would place traditional 1A powers like Pikeville in more frequent contact with 2A stalwarts like Mayfield. * The Middle Class Consolidation: The current 3A and 4A classes see the most disruption. Schools like Boyle County (traditionally 4A) would likely sit at the top of a new Class 3A, creating a "Super 3A" that is incredibly deep with talent. * The "Elite" Class 5A: Class 6A currently consists of the 32 largest schools. In a 5-class system, this expands to roughly the 45 largest schools. This would bring high-enrollment 5A schools like Southwestern and Pulaski County into the same class as the Louisville giants (Trinity/St. X). Why Use 5 Classes? While Kentucky has used 6 classes since 2007, many fans and coaches argue for a reduction because: * District Size: Several 1A districts currently have only 3 or 4 teams, making the regular season less meaningful. * Playoff Quality: A 5-class system ensures that 4-team districts are the minimum, making the path to a state championship more rigorous. * Travel: With more schools per class, the KHSAA could draw tighter geographic districts, reducing travel costs for smaller programs.

West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSSAC) recently attempted a very similar model, which they called the Competitive Balance Formula. While they eventually moved back toward a strictly enrollment-based system after significant legal turmoil in 2024, their "Competitive Balance" experiment mirrored almost every point in your proposal. The WVSSAC "Competitive Balance" Model From 2020 (starting with basketball) through the 2024 football season, West Virginia moved away from using only enrollment. Their formula weighted different factors to determine a school's final "score" for classification: * Enrollment (80% weight): This covered your "enrollment of boys" and general student population criteria. * Location (10% weight): This addressed your point about "where they draw students." It looked at a school’s proximity to a city with 10,000+ people, acknowledging that schools in urban centers have a larger talent pool and more "resources" (specialized training, larger coaching staffs) than isolated rural schools. * Socioeconomics (10% weight): This used a county-wide socioeconomic status score, which directly correlates to your "Free & Reduced lunch" criteria. The logic was that schools in wealthier areas often have better-funded booster clubs and private resources. The 2024 Football Chaos The model was highly controversial when applied to football. In August 2024, just weeks before the season began, a massive reclassification occurred: * The Appeal: 22 schools successfully argued that the formula was unfair. For example, some schools with high enrollment but extreme poverty or geographic isolation felt they shouldn't be forced to play the "powerhouses" in Class AAAA. * The Injunctions: This led to a series of lawsuits that actually postponed the state football playoffs in November 2024. Courts had to decide whether the WVSSAC could change classifications mid-season based on these "competitive balance" metrics. * The Result: The West Virginia Supreme Court eventually had to intervene to allow the playoffs to proceed. Current Status (2025–2026) Because of the legal "nightmare" caused by the multi-factor formula, the WVSSAC Board of Control voted unanimously in April 2025 to scrap the location and socioeconomic scores. > Current System: They are moving to a four-class system (A, AA, AAA, AAAA) based exclusively on enrollment. However, they did keep one "resource" factor: they now allow a "modified enrollment" where they subtract a portion of students who receive "direct certification" (a proxy for Free & Reduced Lunch) from the total count to give poorer schools a slight break.

Here is the 2025 Kentucky "Selection Sunday" bracket using your 96-team model. This is based on the final 2025 RPI and composite rankings from Tigerpride94, HSRatings, and the KHSAA. Class A (The Small School Super-Class: 1A, 2A, 3A) Division I (Top 16) This is the "Champions Bracket." All three 2025 State Champs (KCD, LCA, CAL) are here. * Christian Academy-Louisville (3A Champ) * Lexington Christian Academy (2A Champ) * Kentucky Country Day (1A Champ) * Owensboro Catholic (2A Runner-up) * Beechwood * Murray (3A Runner-up) * Raceland (1A Runner-up) * Mayfield * Belfry * Bell County * Lexington Catholic * Pikeville * Lloyd Memorial * Union County * Hart County * Central Division II (Middle 16) * Campbellsville * Sayre * Glasgow * Adair County * Lawrence County * Rockcastle County * Russell * Middlesboro * East Carter * Garrard County * Hazard * Bardstown * Newport Central Catholic * Somerset * Green County * Holy Cross (Louisville) Division III (Bottom 16) * Bethlehem * Danville * Paris * Williamsburg * Nicholas County * Bishop Brossart * Newport * Paintsville * Ludlow * Dayton * Pineville * Mercer County * Eminence * Lynn Camp * Fairview * Bracken County Class AA (The Large School Super-Class: 4A, 5A, 6A) Division I (Top 16) The "Heavyweights." Imagine a bracket where Boyle County has to go through Trinity. * Trinity (6A Champ) * Boyle County (4A Champ) * Owensboro (5A Champ) * South Warren (6A Runner-up) * Pulaski County (5A Runner-up) * Franklin County (4A Runner-up) * St. Xavier * Ryle * Covington Catholic * Frederick Douglass * Highlands * DuPont Manual * Corbin * Johnson Central * Cooper * Woodford County Division II (Middle 16) * Paducah Tilghman * Male * Atherton * Madison Central * Scott County * North Oldham * Ashland Blazer * Ballard * Bryan Station * South Oldham * Henderson County * Great Crossing * George Rogers Clark * Daviess County * Bullitt East * Logan County Division III (Bottom 16) * Madisonville-North Hopkins * North Laurel * Bowling Green * Graves County * Tates Creek * Central Hardin * Simon Kenton * Conner * Dixie Heights * Apollo * Fairdale * Christian County * Greenup County * Barren County * New Hope * Collins Division I: Round 1 Feature Matchups If we use a standard #1 vs #16 seed format for the top tier: * Class A D1: #1 CAL vs. #16 Central (A classic Louisville rivalry reborn in the postseason). * Class A D1: #4 Owensboro Catholic vs. #13 Lloyd Memorial (High-flying offense vs. physical defense). * Class AA D1: #1 Trinity vs. #16 Woodford County (Woodford's rising program vs. the Gold Standard). * Class AA D1: #2 Boyle County vs. #15 Cooper (A massive test for the 4A powerhouse against a top-tier 5A/6A contender).

West Virginia implemented a similar system. It ended up being more of a headache than it was worth. Too many ways to “adjust the scales”.

Do they still have the talent they had when Coach Scroggins was there?

Can/will they match that Georgia $?