Ever since the Governor and CHSAA agreed on offering two seasons, many have questioned what the Spring football season could look like. Only 58 teams spread over seven classifications will step on the field at that time and CHSAA has announced that state champions will be crowned in both seasons.
As it stands right now, the same six-week regular season with an eight-team playoff bracket scheduled for the Fall is planned for the Spring. Some classes may find it difficult to produce that many games including Class 4A (6), 8man (7) and 6man (2) which have just a combined 15 teams competing. The six-man division has just two teams slated to compete so a spring season there seems impossible.
Our information below looks at possible layouts. The first involves leaving teams in the same classification and awarding a championship in each bracket. Other scenarios include combining the five 11-man classifications into three and crowning three champions.
If all classes remain intact, I could see the classifications breaking up into these leagues.
CLASS 5A
| SOUTH | NORTH |
| Hinkley | Westminster |
| Rangeview | Mountain Range |
| Denver East | Northglenn |
| Adams City | Boulder |
| Far Northeast | Fort Collins |
- Each team could compete in a four-game conference schedule with two games against the other division and with an even number of teams, the schedule lays out nicely. Eight of the ten teams would qualify for the playoffs based on the combination of RPI and polls from CHSAA, MaxPreps and Packard.
CLASS 4A
| ALL | |
| Centaurus | |
| Falcon | |
| Aurora Central | |
| Gateway | |
| Vista Peak | |
| Denver South |
- Just six teams from Class 4A will compete for the 4A title and a round-robin schedule allows for just five games per team. That would necessitate the need for a few teams to face each other twice. A full eight-game playoff bracket is not possible so it may be trimmed to just four qualifiers.
CLASS 3A
| SOUTHERN | NORTHERN |
| Sierra | George Washington |
| Sand Creek | Kennedy |
| Harrison | Lincoln |
| Littleton | Skyview |
| Glenwood Springs | Denver North |
| Steamboat Springs | Thomas Jefferson |
- The layout allows all the Denver Prep teams to stay together and limit travel there as well but it creates more travel for the other conference. Regardless of layout for leagues, the 12-team alignment works well for five conference games and one cross over contest.
CLASS 2A
| METRO | WESTERN |
| Academy | Basalt |
| Faith Christian | Rifle |
| Northfield | Aspen |
| Denver West | Coal Ridge |
| Kent Denver | Salida |
| Classical Academy | Montezuma Cortez |
- Again, a simple breakdown on geography for this classification. Each club gets in five conference games and then one crossover with the other conference.
CLASS 1A
| WESTERN | METRO |
| Grand Valley | Estes Park |
| Buena Vista | Manual |
| Roaring Fork | Ellicott |
| Clear Creek | Flatirons Academy |
| Sheridan | St Mary’s |
| Ridgeview Academy |
- 11-teams in the division causes some scheduling conflicts as each week could consist of five games with one team sitting out. So not all clubs would get a full six-game schedule.
EIGHT MAN
| ALL | |
| Justice | |
| Custer County | |
| Front Range Christian | |
| John Mall | |
| Plateau Valley | |
| Las Animas | |
| Hoehne |
- Seven teams in the division right now so the schedule has the same issues of Class 1A as one team would get a bye each week of the season. And it appears that all teams could qualify for the playoffs wit the top seed getting a first round bye. One solution could have John Mall moving back to Class 1A for this season only and balancing out that division with 12 teams and leaving an even number of squads in eight man as well.
SIX MAN
- CHSAA lists two teams competing in six man for the spring season but we have been notified of just one (Primero). Whether the number is one or two, it remains questionable whether a season can be played.
LETS GREAT CREATIVE
One possible solution for the Spring season involves the combination of classifications. There’s not much that can be done in eight man and six man since their game is specialized with the number of players on the field. But we could easily condense the five 11-man divisions into three and there are two possible scenarios.
SCENARIO ONE
We create three separate divisions by combining Classes 5A-4A and Classes 3A-2A while leaving Class 1A as is. The leagues by combining classes could look like:
CLASS 4A/5A
| AURORA | DENVER PREP | NORTHERN |
| Hinkley | Denver East | Westminster |
| Rangeview | Far Northeast | Northglenn |
| Aurora Central | Denver South | Mountain Range |
| Gateway | Adams City | Fort Collins |
| Vista Peak | Falcon | Centaurus |
| Boulder |
- Since there are 16 teams in the combined classification, the schedule works out well. Leagues are not important as champions are not guaranteed a playoff berth. The top eight teams overall in the combined playoff formula serve as qualifiers.
CLASS 2A/3A
| WEST | SOUTHWEST | DENVER PREP | METRO |
| Glenwood Springs | Salida | Denver West | Faith Christian |
| Steamboat Springs | Montezuma Cortez | Thomas Jefferson | Kent Denver |
| Basalt | Classical Academy | George Washington | Skyview |
| Rifle | Sierra | Denver North | Academy |
| Aspen | Sand Creek | Lincoln | Littleton |
| Coal Ridge | Harrison | Kennedy | Northfield |
- This seems like a very favorable layout as travel is limited (except for Montezuma Cortez) and traditional rivalries remain intact. 24 teams spread into six-team leagues allows for one crossover game and an even five-game conference slate for all teams.
SCENARIO TWO
We again combine some classifications, but here we leave Class 5A alone and then put together Classes 4A and 3A for a second division and Classes 2A and 1A for a third bracket.
CLASS 4A/3A
| AURORA | SOUTHERN | METRO |
| Aurora Central | Falcon | Denver South |
| Gateway | Sierra | George Washington |
| Vista Peak | Sand Creek | Kennedy |
| Littleton | Harrison | Lincoln |
| Centaurus | Glenwood Springs | Denver North |
| Skyview | Steamboat Springs | Thomas Jefferson |
- Tougher alignment here as Glenwood Springs & Steamboat Springs are outliers a bit. Could easily see them joining the Aurora conference with Littleton and either Centaurus/Skyview joining the South. 18 teams overall allow for nine games each week including five league games and one cross over for each club.
CLASS 1A/2A
| METRO | NORTH METRO | WESTERN | SOUTHWEST |
| Denver West | Academy | Basalt | Salida |
| Kent Denver | Faith Christian | Rifle | Montezuma Cortez |
| Sheridan | Northfield | Aspen | Buena Vista |
| Manual | Estes Park | Coal Ridge | St Mary’s |
| Ridgeview Academy | Flatirons Academy | Grand Valley | Classical Academy |
| Clear Creek | Roaring Fork | Ellicott |
- One major hole here is found as an odd number of teams (23) will cause a scheduling issue with one team getting a bye each week.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I’m not sure that all this is even a discussion point for CHSAA at this time or even in the future. Our guess is that the state group leaves the classifications alone and awards a state champion in each. The exception would be for six man where just one or two teams slated to play makes a schedule and state playoffs impossible.
We think a good solution is our second scenario which leaves 5A alone and then combines 4A/3A and 2A/1A into bigger divisions. Winning a state championship against a field of 20-plus teams seems better than six, 10 or 12 opponents.
Give us your thoughts in the comment section below or send us an email to [email protected]. It’s an interesting discussion.
