A Little Southwest Conference Reunion Just Became a Lot More Likely With Recent UIL Release

SAN ANGELO, TX — Every two years, high schools from across the state are required to submit their enrollment numbers to the UIL.  The UIL uses these numbers to determine which schools are in what conference and, ultimately, who plays who in the various districts.  This is referred to as Snapshot Day and took place earlier this year on October 25.  

At that time, the numbers were relatively useless.  Fans could look at the difference between them and compare them to the numbers from two years ago but any conclusion was merely speculation until the UIL released the cutoff numbers.

That news came Tuesday morning.  You can take a look at the information in the chart below:

Here is a look at some area teams and their enrollment numbers from this year, the numbers from the previous realignment, and the change between them:

For a majority of San Angelo and San Angelo adjacent teams, there will not be that much change.  Schools like Lake View, Wall, Sonora, Christoval, Eldorado, Grape Creek, TLCA, Mason, Ballinger, Miles, and Water Valley all remain well within the bounds of their respective regions.  One change that Dave Campbell's has speculated about is Brownwood could be joining Lake View in the 2-4A DI District. 

Brownwood, who played the past two years in the 5-4A DI District, would automatically compete for the district championship.  The Lions finished 11-2 this year with their only losses coming against 12-1 Waco La Vega, who is still in the playoffs, and 13-0 Argyle, who beat them in the third round and is still alive.  We will not know if this is true until February 3, when the UIL formally announces the new districts.

By far the biggest takeaway from the UIL's announcement is that a Little Southwest Conference reunion is looking more and more likely.  San Angelo Central was put in a district with Dallas metroplex teams in the last realignment and was forced to make the roughly four hour trek to play half of their district games.  That decision by the UIL was made mostly because of Amarillo Tascosa being big enough for a 6A label.

Tascosa was put in the 2-6A district with Midland, Lee, Odessa, Permian, and Frenship.  This year, however, Tascosa lost 95 students from the previous submission.  This decrease puts them below the 2,220 threshold, and they will move to Class 5A.

This move opens up a spot for Abilene and San Angelo Central to join the Odessa and Midland schools, along with Frenship, to bring back the Little Southwest Conference.  Central Head Coach Brent Davis has talked at length about how much he would love this to happen.  It would be better for the fans because of the rivalries that are already established.  It would be better for the players who would face similar competition and play styles.  And it would be much better for travel. 

Again, nothing will be official until February 3, but it is very unlikely that Central will be back in the Metroplex area.