In projecting conference alignments, we saved the breakdown and combined Classes 3A-4A-5A into one story because overall there will be very little movement.  Most conferences in all three divisions have their entire roster of league members playing together in the Fall or Spring so the bigger question will be altering non-league schedules.  That information is set for release on Tuesday by CHSAA and MaxPreps.

Below is our breakdown of the largest three classes in Colorado.

CLASS 3A

We think only two teams will be moved to a different conference across the entire classification.  We believe Riverdale Ridge will be moved to the North Central 2 to replace Skyview who has opted for the Spring season.  The Ravens are the lone team from the Denver Prep that will be playing in Season A so they will be moved and putting them in the North Central 2 leaves that division with five teams.

A second team to move could be Canon City for both geography and balance measures.  The Tigers are currently in the Southern 2 division with all five Pueblo schools.  But we place them in the Southern 1 to join Discovery Canyon, Mitchell and Durango.  That conference was left with just three teams so it makes sense for Canon City to move and create a four-team league.

Our Class 3A projected layout:

NORTHWEST

  1. Evergreen
  2. Conifer
  3. Green Mountain
  4. Lutheran
  5. Lewis Palmer

NORTH CENTRAL 2

  1. Mead
  2. Holy Family
  3. Frederick
  4. Thompson Valley
  5. Riverdale Ridge (moved from Denver Prep)

NORTH CENTRAL 3

  1. Roosevelt
  2. Fort Morgan
  3. Mountain View
  4. Northridge
  5. Niwot

SOUTHERN 1

  1. Discovery Canyon
  2. Mitchell
  3. Durango
  4. Canon City (moved from Southern 2)

SOUTHERN 2

  1. Pueblo Central
  2. Pueblo Centennial
  3. Pueblo County
  4. Pueblo East
  5. Pueblo South

CENTRAL WEST

  1. Palisade
  2. Summit
  3. Battle Mountain
  4. Eagle Valley

CLASS 4A

Overall, the division will basically stay as intended.  Our projections include just one team on the move as Grand Junction has been placed in the I-25 and moved from the Metro 2.  The Tigers are the only program in their original conference set to play in the Spring.  A move to the Metro 2 leaves Class 4A with six conferences and all have six league members.

One other possibility to is to recreate the Southwestern league and place Grand Junction, Fruita Monument, Grand Junction Central and Montrose together to create a seventh conference.  But an email sent from CHSAA last week indicated they would do their best to keep current conferences intact if more than 50 percent of the league decided to play in the Fall.  So we don’t believe they will move many teams.

A third possibility involves Pine Creek.  The Eagles are set to play in the 5A division for the regular season and then return to Class 4A for the playoffs if they qualify.  But moving the Eagles to 4A overall leaves the division with an odd number of teams which creates a scheduling issue.  An outside the box thought also brings Prairie View with Pine Creek from 5A.  The Thunderhawks are a 5A team but compete in a developmental league there.  A move to 4A would make sense if CHSAA wants to bring Pine Creek back into 4A.  But again we don’t think that happens.

So we go with the planned 4A setup with the one move involving Grand Junction.

NORTHERN 1

  1. Brighton
  2. Broomfield
  3. Erie
  4. Greeley West
  5. Silver Creek
  6. Windsor

NORTHERN 2

  1. Grand Junction Central
  2. Greeley Central
  3. Longmont
  4. Loveland
  5. Monarch
  6. Skyline

METRO 1

  1. Bear Creek
  2. Chatfield
  3. Dakota Ridge
  4. Golden
  5. Standley Lake
  6. Wheat Ridge

SOUTHERN 1

  1. Air Academy
  2. Heritage
  3. Montrose
  4. Palmer Ridge
  5. Ponderosa
  6. Vista Ridge

SOUTHERN 2

  1. Coronado
  2. Fountain Fort Carson
  3. Fruita Monument
  4. Mesa Ridge
  5. Pueblo West
  6. Rampart

I-25

  1. Grand Junction (moved from Metro 2)
  2. Cheyenne Mountain
  3. Liberty
  4. Palmer
  5. Thornton
  6. Widefield

CLASS 5A

The main question for the state’s biggest class is where to place Overland and Prairie View.  The Trailblazers and ThunderHawks are the only two teams from the Metro 2 that has decided to play in Season A and since the five remaining conferences are intact for the Fall, its a tough decision on where to go with the two clubs.

As mentioned in Class 4A, one solution could be to place Pine Creek back in that division and then have them joined by Prairie View in a play-down opportunity.  Moving those two opens a position in the South division for Overland where they would join the likes of Chaparral, Doherty, Douglas County, Legend and Regis.

Another idea to pull a team from three different leagues to join Overland and Prairie for a new five team conference.  That would create four five-team leagues and two six team conferences.  That may be the route CHSAA goes and if so, our choices for those three teams would be Douglas County, Rock Canyon and Arapahoe.

With that in mind, we layout Class 5A in this order:

NORTH

  1. Fairview
  2. Fossil Ridge
  3. Horizon
  4. Legacy
  5. Poudre
  6. Rocky Mountain

JEFFCO

  1. Arvada West
  2. Columbine
  3. Lakewood
  4. Mullen
  5. Pomona
  6. Ralston Valley

SOUTH

  1. Chaparral
  2. Doherty
  3. Legend
  4. Pine Creek (up from 4A)
  5. Regis

DOUGLAS COUNTY

  1. Castle View
  2. Highlands Ranch
  3. Mountain Vista
  4. ThunderRidge
  5. Valor Christian

CENTENNIAL

  1. Cherokee Trail
  2. Cherry Creek
  3. Eaglecrest
  4. Grandview
  5. Smoky Hill

NEW LEAGUE

  1. Overland
  2. Prairie View
  3. Arapahoe
  4. Douglas County
  5. Rock Canyon