Possible Realignment Looks in 2018

SAN ANGELO, TX-- As the 2017 football season winds down, the 2018 University Interscholastic League realignment announcement is right around the corner.

Back on October 27, schools released their enrollment figures, or "snapshots", to the UIL. Those numbers will be used by the UIL to formulate who will be in which district for the 2018-2020 period. A new feature in the upcoming realignment is that 5A football will be split in to Division 1 and Division 2 at this realignment rather than divvy up teams into divisions for the playoffs. 

The UIL Cutoff Numbers go like this:

• 6A: 2,190 and above
• 5A D1: 1,840 to 2,189
• 5A D2: 1,150 to 1,839
• 4A D1: 790 to 1,149
• 4A D2: 505 to 789
• 3A D1: 335 to 504
• 3A D2: 225 to 334
• 2A D1: 161.5 to 224
• 2A D2: 105 to 161.4
• 1A D1: 55.5 to 104.9
• 1A D2: 55 and below

For the Class 1A Division 1 cutoff, some schools can opt to stay at the 11-man level if they choose.

Bronte, a 2A Division 2 team in 2017, decided to move down to six-man before the season had even started.

Irion County faced a similar situation with an enrollment of 83 students at the high school level. But the Irion County School Board voted to stay at the 11-man level in 2A Division 2.

Lake View made headlines when they released their figures and it was revealed that the current 5A team will be moving down to class 4A.

Grape Creek High School looks like they will drop from 3A Division 1 to 3A Division 2. Christoval and Eldorado should drop to 2A Division 2.

With the numbers out and the February announcement less than three months away, here's the possible districts for Concho Valley teams and their enrollment numbers. Mind you, this is an educated guess based off the preliminary cutoff numbers released by the UIL.

San Angelo Central (3,044): The Bobcats should stay in District 2-6A. Their possible district could shake out like this: Central, Wolfforth Frenship, Midland, Midland Lee, Odessa, Odessa Permian, and Amarillo Tascosa. Don't be surprised if Abilene finds their way back into Central's district as well.

San Angelo Lake View (1,064): The Chiefs drop by 155 students in enrollment and fall into Class 4A Division 1. The initial thought is that this will benefit a Lake View team who went 0-10 in 2017. Then you look at their possible district, 3-4A D1: Lake View, Andrews, Big Spring, Brownwood, and Stephenville. With Abilene Wylie moving to 5A Division 2 and Snyder dropping to 4A Division 2, Andrews and Lake View would fill the void left by the those two. But Lake View would face another daunting district schedule, however.

Wall (360): The Hawks will be the only Concho Valley team to remain at the Division 1 level in Class 3A with Grape Creek dropping to Division 2. That means Wall's district could look like this in 2018: Wall, Jim Ned, Kermit, and Tornillo. The UIL could also put Clyde in as the fifth team in this district.

Ballinger (259), Grape Creek (310), Reagan County (227), Sonora (249), TLCA (317): The UIL factors in the cost to travel when aligning districts. These five teams should almost be a lock for the new-look District 3-3A D2 because of that.

Christoval (161), Eldorado (151), Irion County (83), Menard (87), Miles (133): With the UIL known for their travel cost criteria, don't be surprised if Menard and Irion County are plucked away from District 5-2A Division 2 and get put in with Miles. Christoval and Eldorado are also dropping to Division 2. All of those factors makes this possible district a viable option for the UIL.

Bronte (73), Garden City, Robert Lee (77), Sterling City (93): This should be the new District 5-1A Division 1. Once again, these five teams are close together, playing in to the cost factor for the UIL.

Eden (56), Paint Rock (90), Veribest (82), Water Valley (99): The UIL should keep District 8-1A D1 a four team district with Eden joining the fray. However, the UIL may decide to keep Santa Anna in the district as well.

The official realignment announcement will come on Wednesday February 1, 2018.