For all the grief I give the MHSAA and MAIS

[615dawg]

Texas let a 1-9 team in the playoff and got this result:

In MHSAA 7A, the Region 2 teams swept the Region 1 teams and Ocean Springs pulled out a 24-17 win over Northwest Rankin to avoid Region 3 sweeping Region 4. Its ridiculous what we are dealing with. Regions 1 and 4 are atrocious.

MAIS 6A - All six teams made the playoffs. Final Four was again Prep, MRA, Hartfield and JA. Prep and Hartfield play for the state title.

Realignment is happening next year in both MHSAA and MAIS. Looks like MHSAA 7A will be 25 teams instead of 24, with Harrison Central making the move up. Region 4 will have seven teams.

PCS has announced they are going to MHSAA, so it will be interesting what MAIS does with its largest classification. 5 teams, all in Jackson Metro? Do they drop the charade that St. Joe can keep up with the other four in anything? (St. Joe was outscored 326-40 this year against other 6A schools) Does St. Joe go back to the MHSAA?

 

[OG Goat Holder]

System has to change. It’s ridiculous. MAIS big 4 won’t do shlt. They like fake winning against each other. It’s good for Facebook.

 

[patdog]

A few years ago MHSAA had a playoff game between a 2-8 team & a 3-7 team. Virtually everyone makes the playoffs. 4 out of 6 teams in the larger classes & 4 out of 5 in the smaller ones. Ridiculous.

Hearing MAIS may move to a “super” 16 or 20 with 4 divisions of 4 or 5 teams. Presumably the big 4 would be split into separate divisions.

 

[patdog]

System has to change. It’s ridiculous. MAIS big 4 won’t do shlt. They like fake winning against each other. It’s good for Facebook.

The big 3 could compete very well at the 6A level in MHSAA.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

The big 3 could compete very well at the 6A level in MHSAA.

They need to just make them 7A. You recruit, play big boy ball.

Either stay still, or step up.

 

[patdog]

They need to just make them 7A. You recruit, play big boy ball.

That would be wild. They’d be in the 2 strongest (by far) 7A divisions.

 

[615dawg]

Alabama is the model. The problem is they made the change in 1996 so we are nearly 30 years behind.

Here is Alabama's solution to the private schools. Its perfect

https://www.ahsaa.com/Portals/0/PDF's/AHSAA/AHSAA/Re-Classification/2020-22/CBF%20Year%202%20Proposal.pdf?ver=2019-08-01-080022-803

So a school like St. Paul's in Mobile is 7A in volleyball, 6A in football, and 5A in most other sports.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Alabama is the model. The problem is they made the change in 1996 so we are nearly 30 years behind.

Problem is when the MAIS teams start winning titles, like MUS in Mobile. That’s why you do away with multipliers and say, play 7A or don’t.

if private schools dominate, deal with it then. This stuff is ever evolving. They won’t win one for many years anyway. Prep may beat Oak Grove in a one off, but they won’t win a state 7A title for many years.

God forbid the Prep parents not be able to make their “headed to state” Facebook post yearly after the first round.

 

[patdog]

Alabama is the model. The problem is they made the change in 1996 so we are nearly 30 years behind.

Essentially you let the private schools come in where they land. If they win two straight state championships, you move up a classification. So a school like St. Paul's in Mobile is 7A in volleyball, 6A in football, and 5A in most other sports.

What Id like to see & will never happen is promotion & relegation. You win your district you move up. You finish last you move down. You’d quickly sort out the best teams in the top divisions & the worst ones in the bottom. Classifying schools by number of students just leads to a lot of blowouts & not many competitive games.

 

[615dawg]

Problem is when the MAIS teams start winning titles, like MUS in Mobile. That’s why you do away with multipliers and say, play 7A or don’t.

if private schools dominate, deal with it then. This stuff is ever evolving. They won’t win one for many years anyway. Prep may beat Oak Grove in a one off, but they won’t win a state 7A title for many years.

God forbid the Prep parents not be able to make their “headed to state” Facebook post yearly after the first round.

Look at the PDF I just linked.

 

[bulldoghair]

Realignment is happening next year in both MHSAA and MAIS. Looks like MHSAA 7A will be 25 teams instead of 24, with Harrison Central making the move up. Region 4 will have seven teams.

So how many teams will be in each classification?

 

[8dog]

The MAIS has proposed 4 districts with each district having 5 teams (the 20 largest schools) and one of them being a Jackson team. The top finisher in each division would go to its own 4 team playoff- essentially the Jackson schools most of the time. It creates ridiculous travel in basketball and increases blowouts. But the Jackson schools don’t want a 4 team top division. Everyone else wants them too. Mhsaa likely is not currently going to allow them in even if they wanted to make that move.

Related and unknown the impact- Mais head Shane Blanton stepped down this week.

 

[615dawg]

The way it was put to me is the Big Four in the MAIS have three options for long term "survival"

1. The next level of MAIS has to get a lot better, very quickly. This is highly unlikely, as there are MAIS 4A and 5A schools whose entire school budget does not equal what JA pays its coaching staff.

2. Join the MHSAA. The MHSAA schools do not want them, and the MAIS schools do not want to play certain schools.

3. The MAIS is going to have to go more regional and create better championship opportunities for the Big Four. The problem is Alabama schools are mostly AHSAA and Arkansas schools are getting there quickly. The TSSAA and LHSAA aren't thrilled with schools playing out of state either. The option lies in Texas and Florida with the IMG Academy type schools.


I believe the Jackson anchor proposal is going to go through. Travel is going to be ridiculous and it doesn't solve the problem. The playoff will always be the Big Four.

The other thing to watch in all this, and this is a legislative issue - but if school choice is passed in Mississippi, some of these second level private schools are going to be able to pick up some athletes.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

They like fake winning against each other. It’s good for Facebook.

It's all for the glory of God.

 

[patdog]

The MAIS has proposed 4 districts with each district having 5 teams (the 20 largest schools) and one of them being a Jackson team. The top finisher in each division would go to its own 4 team playoff- essentially the Jackson schools most of the time. It creates ridiculous travel in basketball and increases blowouts. But the Jackson schools don’t want a 4 team top division. Everyone else wants them too. Mhsaa likely is not currently going to allow them in even if they wanted to make that move.

Related and unknown the impact- Mais head Shane Blanton stepped down this week.

I think this is the best MAIS can do. The top 4 get 4 district games + 3 non-district games bd each other. Then have to fill in 3 games vs MHSAA, out of state or other MAIS schools willing to play them. The next 16 only have to take 1 blowout loss.

 

[dawgstudent]

There is zero reason for a MHSAA team to play MRA, prep, JA, Hartfield etc. It’s like State playing usm except in this example, those 4 schools can win.

Nothing gained. A lot to lose.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

3. The MAIS is going to have to go more regional and create better championship opportunities for the Big Four. The problem is Alabama schools are mostly AHSAA and Arkansas schools are getting there quickly. The TSSAA and LHSAA aren't thrilled with schools playing out of state either. The option lies in Texas and Florida with the IMG Academy type schools.

MAIS has tried the regional format before with the LISA (Louisiana private) schools and having 3-4 Memphis area schools in it. Rossville returned but Fayette, Tipton-Rosemark, Northpoint are in the TSSAA.

Patrician out of Butler, Alabama, had a two-year spell in MAIS in the 90s too.

For it to work, travel costs have to be reasonable. And as we know, that’s often not the case.

I believe the Jackson anchor proposal is going to go through. Travel is going to be ridiculous and it doesn't solve the problem. The playoff will always be the Big Four.

Playoff travel will be crazy as usual.

A part of me wishes it could become more regional but the football playoff format is actually pretty fair as is. I’d limit playoff participants though since Cinderella stories rarely happen in MAIS.

 

[paindonthurt17]

System has to change. It’s ridiculous. MAIS big 4 won’t do shlt. They like fake winning against each other. It’s good for Facebook.

Still running that D sucker and not saying anything at all

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

MAIS has tried the regional format before with the LISA (Louisiana private) schools and having 3-4 Memphis area schools in it. Rossville returned but Fayette, Tipton-Rosemark, Northpoint are in the TSSAA.

Patrician out of Butler, Alabama, had a two-year spell in MAIS in the 90s too.

For it to work, travel costs have to be reasonable. And as we know, that’s often not the case.



Playoff travel will be crazy as usual.

A part of me wishes it could become more regional but the football playoff format is actually pretty fair as is. I’d limit playoff participants though since Cinderella stories rarely happen in MAIS.

That’s one of the reasons Northpoint/SBEC left was travel. Football was bad enough but basketball travel just got out of hand.

 

[patdog]

That’s one of the reasons Northpoint/SBEC left was travel. Football was bad enough but basketball travel just got out of hand.

Had a co-worker who had a kid playing middle school basketball at a Jackson area MAIS school. Was not uncommon for them to make road trips to Columbus or Hattiesburg on weeknights. In middle school.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Had a co-worker who had a kid playing middle school basketball at a Jackson area MAIS school. Was not uncommon for them to make road trips to Columbus or Hattiesburg on weeknights. In middle school.

When SBEC left they were in a division with Heritage, Starkville, Pillow, Lee, and Washington. That is a lot of travel.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Look at the PDF I just linked.

Not a bad plan, but just curious what happens when the enrollment of the private school gets big enough where the multiplier doesn't matter? Probably won't ever happen, at least for a while.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

It creates ridiculous travel in basketball and increases blowouts. But the Jackson schools don’t want a 4 team top division. Everyone else wants them too. Mhsaa likely is not currently going to allow them in even if they wanted to make that move.

2. Join the MHSAA. The MHSAA schools do not want them, and the MAIS schools do not want to play certain schools.

Sounds to me like a lot of "I want I want I want".

I do see the conundrum the MAIS is in. The current system, plus the one mentioned earlier where they go regional is advantageous to them in the short term. Like said, they love blowouts, parents get in their feels, winning and all that. Plus they get to play a few public schools and have the mentality @dawgstudent mentioned, and not have to worry about playing the same grind of a schedule. Thus, they can crow about being better than MHSAA without having to back it up.

When you say survival, my question is, why couldn't they survive like that? As long as the money comes in, does it matter? We can make fun of them for not playing the best competition week in week out, but that doesn't mean anything. Especially if they are able to clip an Oak Grove or similar once in a while.

Does McGill-Toolen or UMS-Wright in Alabama benefit for 'survive' from playing public?

 

[dawgstudent]

The MAIS has proposed 4 districts with each district having 5 teams (the 20 largest schools) and one of them being a Jackson team. The top finisher in each division would go to its own 4 team playoff- essentially the Jackson schools most of the time. It creates ridiculous travel in basketball and increases blowouts. But the Jackson schools don’t want a 4 team top division. Everyone else wants them too. Mhsaa likely is not currently going to allow them in even if they wanted to make that move.

Related and unknown the impact- Mais head Shane Blanton stepped down this week.

One of the most hilarious things about the proposal is that Park Place who is last in enrollment of the top 20 would go from playing 8 man football this year to playing MRA next year.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

That’s one of the reasons Northpoint/SBEC left was travel. Football was bad enough but basketball travel just got out of hand.

Yeah. Fayette left the old MPSA for the TSSAA when they moved up to the old AAA (which also had to be when SBEC was still based in Tennessee and was originally in the TSSAA).

More recently, University School of Cenla also left MAIS when reclassification moved them up from the lowest 11-man football playing schools to playing Prep.

Tangentially, I’ve no idea why a school based in Pineville/Alexandria, Louisiana would want to be in MAIS to begin with…

Talk about an outlier location…

 

[Maroon Eagle]

One of the most hilarious things about the proposal is that Park Place who is last in enrollment of the top 20 would go from playing 8 man football this year to playing MRA next year.

I wouldn’t be surprised if that district had 4 teams. Park Place struggles to find enough kids to play 11-man.

 

[The Cooterpoot]

Mt. Olive went 0-10 this year and lost 62-6 in the playoffs round 1

 

[dawgstudent]

I wouldn’t be surprised if that district had 4 teams. Park Place struggles to find enough kids to play 11-man.

I think the plan was for them to move to 11 man football next year.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Yeah. Fayette left the old MPSA for the TSSAA when they moved up to the old AAA (which also had to be when SBEC was still based in Tennessee and was originally in the TSSAA).

More recently, University School of Cenla also left MAIS when reclassification moved them up from the lowest 11-man football playing schools to playing Prep.

Tangentially, I’ve no idea why a school based in Pineville/Alexandria, Louisiana would want to be in MAIS to begin with…

Talk about an outlier location…

Football is just a tough thing to put together if you're in the small private and under community. It's expensive and time consuming. Have to do what you have to do.

I wouldn’t be surprised if that district had 4 teams. Park Place struggles to find enough kids to play 11-man.

They keep losing all their kids to Hartfield and East Rankin. It's literally like a transfer portal travel ball system where kids just keep moving to the next opportunity or where their friends are (the ones they want to keep up with, anyway).

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Football is just a tough thing to put together if you're in the small private and under community. It's expensive and time consuming. Have to do what you have to do.


They keep losing all their kids to Hartfield and East Rankin. It's literally like a transfer portal travel ball system where kids just keep moving to the next opportunity or where their friends are (the ones they want to keep up with, anyway).

It was a massive amount of money (and time) saved when they went from MPSA back to TSSAA. Our first year back we played Memphis Catholic, Bishop Byrne, Briarcrest, ECS, and Fayette Academy for our football division games. The farthest drive was Fayette which at the time was a little over an hour away.

 

[maroontide06]

There is zero reason for a MHSAA team to play MRA, prep, JA, Hartfield etc. It’s like State playing usm except in this example, those 4 schools can win.

Nothing gained. A lot to lose.

Why not? West Jones played Prep this year and last year and guess what? They split the series. I don't understand this logic. It's a non-division game. If losing to a MAIS school makes your team better, or if a MAIS school losing to a MHSAA school makes that team better, what's the harm?

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Why not? West Jones played Prep this year and last year and guess what? They split the series. I don't understand this logic. It's a non-division game. If losing to a MAIS school makes your team better, or if a MAIS school losing to a MHSAA school makes that team better, what's the harm?

Because they split the series. Because West Jones lost a game to a private school. There's a lot of butthurt in that, and there's a lot of deep-seeded emotion between MHSAA and MAIS over that sort of thing. Maybe West Jones loses some students to a private school (I don't know if there is one in Jones County).

I personally wouldn't care, but many do. I'm with you, I don't see why they don't all just join up. It's high school football, I don't think it'll cause any big chain reactions. Over time, I could see something to lose for the private schools, if they start losing, and they can't recruit based on sports anymore. But I doubt that's a big deal at all (unless you're Hartfield and your whole identity is competing with your neighbors, haha).

 

[paindonthurt17]

Sounds to me like a lot of "I want I want I want".

This is basically you.

Why are you so upset about so many things that have zero effect on you?

 

[maroontide06]

Because they split the series. Because West Jones lost a game to a private school. There's a lot of butthurt in that, and there's a lot of deep-seeded emotion between MHSAA and MAIS over that sort of thing. Maybe West Jones loses some students to a private school (I don't know if there is one in Jones County).

I personally wouldn't care, but many do. I'm with you, I don't see why they don't all just join up. It's high school football, I don't think it'll cause any big chain reactions. Over time, I could see something to lose for the private schools, if they start losing, and they can't recruit based on sports anymore. But I doubt that's a big deal at all (unless you're Hartfield and your whole identity is competing with your neighbors, haha).

I can assure you West Jones wasn't butthurt over losing to Prep. It was a loss and yeah it hurt, but when you schedule non-division opponents, you want to schedule teams that are equally if not better than you. West Jones beat Prep last year, so was Prep butthurt over losing to West Jones? I can assure you they weren't and when you lose to a team like that, you use that loss to make your team better. Neither the MHSAA or MAIS is better than the other.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

I can assure you West Jones wasn't butthurt over losing to Prep. It was a loss and yeah it hurt, but when you schedule non-division opponents, you want to schedule teams that are equally if not better than you. West Jones beat Prep last year, so was Prep butthurt over losing to West Jones? I can assure you they weren't and when you lose to a team like that, you use that loss to make your team better. Neither the MHSAA or MAIS is better than the other.

Look, I agree with you. But let's not be intentionally ignorant here. There is the stigma that the MAIS is beneath the MHSAA athletically. It's lowering, but it's still there and has been for a long time. Compounded by the idea that MAIS schools don't have districts, so there's always that excuse if they do lose to one.

I will say, it's not as pronounced once you get out of Jackson and central MS. I doubt the Coast, Hattiesburg (Picayune, for that matter) would give a shlt about such things. Same for Memphis area and north MS.

The culture 'issues' in the Jackson Metro extend well beyond the city limits of Jackson. It's like there's something poisonous in the water there. And I'm not talking race either.....I'm more talking about that keeping up with Jones uber competitive, cliquey I'm better than such and such I'm from such and such my dad is such and such mixed with fake religious culture shlt.

 

[L4Dawg]

Problem is when the MAIS teams start winning titles, like MUS in Mobile. That’s why you do away with multipliers and say, play 7A or don’t.

if private schools dominate, deal with it then. This stuff is ever evolving. They won’t win one for many years anyway. Prep may beat Oak Grove in a one off, but they won’t win a state 7A title for many years.

God forbid the Prep parents not be able to make their “headed to state” Facebook post yearly after the first round.

Private schools in the public league is unfair to the public schools by definition.

 

[L4Dawg]

The money grab by the MHSAA has led to nearly everyone going to the playoffs. The MHSAA doesn't have enough schools to have six classes, let alone seven. In some divisions every single team is in before the season starts.

 

[L4Dawg]

Look, I agree with you. But let's not be intentionally ignorant here. There is the stigma that the MAIS is beneath the MHSAA athletically. It's lowering, but it's still there and has been for a long time. Compounded by the idea that MAIS schools don't have districts, so there's always that excuse if they do lose to one.

I will say, it's not as pronounced once you get out of Jackson and central MS. I doubt the Coast, Hattiesburg (Picayune, for that matter) would give a shlt about such things. Same for Memphis area and north MS.

The culture 'issues' in the Jackson Metro extend well beyond the city limits of Jackson. It's like there's something poisonous in the water there. And I'm not talking race either.....I'm more talking about that keeping up with Jones uber competitive, cliquey I'm better than such and such I'm from such and such my dad is such and such mixed with fake religious culture shlt.

I suggest you look at the history of TCPS in the North. That's why private schools aren't wanted in the public league.

 

[bulldoghair]

Because they split the series. Because West Jones lost a game to a private school. There's a lot of butthurt in that, and there's a lot of deep-seated emotion between MHSAA and MAIS over that sort of thing. Maybe West Jones loses some students to a private school (I don't know if there is one in Jones County).

West Jones is not going to lose students to a private school almost 2 hrs alway because they lose a football game to them. PCS and Wayne Academy are 30 minutes away and they don’t lose any students to either. Sylva bay is 25 minutes away and they definitely aren’t losing students to them. Besides they play that weird pointless 8 man football there. It wasn’t long ago west jones was a 4a school. Not only are they a 6a now, they are continuing to grow. If anything they will lose students to local county schools because of their overpopulated growth before they lose them to any private school. For them losing to Prep is the same as losing to any public school. Their is no deep seated emotion toward private schools down there in Jones county. Laurel Christian school is there in the same county, but they are a very weird school with a very weird history of weird things. Not to mention they don’t play football.

The real problem for the majority of the state is not some riff between the public and private schools, the reason you don’t see more cross over play in all sports, is because of the MAIS. Their point system per private school scheduling says they are the problem and have a problem or this deep seated animosity toward public schools. If a private school schedules a public school they get 0 points to their strength of schedule added to their playoff seeding. They get points for scheduling other private school, and more points for scheduling against larger private schools. Again, getting zero points for scheduling public schools heavily discourages them to do so. Probably doesn’t matter as much for the biggest ones in the Jackson area because all they have is a four team play off anyway regardless.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Private schools in the public league is unfair to the public schools by definition.

That's why there is a multiplier.

I suggest you look at the history of TCPS in the North. That's why private schools aren't wanted in the public league.

OK, I just did. I don't see any domination or run of state titles. Pretty average to me.

You're welcome to come up with a better solution.