Newest UIL Realignment Released
The latest realignment has been revealed, with not a ton of surprises for the Big Country. Here are a few of my thoughts after looking through the new districts.
5A Division I
Abilene High stays out west with Amarillo and Lubbock schools. They are always a candidate to go east, which would have put them in a district with Aledo.
5A Division II
Cooper and Wylie remain together in 5A Division II. The district is pretty spread out, from Amarillo to Abilene to the two new schools in Wichita Falls, Legacy and Memorial. Lubbock Cooper is back after two years in 5A Division I as well.
4A Division I
Brownwood is back in the same district as rival Stephenville, and the two teams will have a lot of travel to the southeast this time around. The Lions traded trips to Big Spring and Andrews for trips to Burnet, Marble Falls, and Lampasas over the next two seasons. I am a bit surprised at this one, as most of the mock realignments had the Lions headed west. They do remain in Region I, and Decatur moves to Region II.
4A Division II
Snyder is our lone 4A D2 team this time and will be matched up with West Texas teams Fort Stockton, Greenwood, Monahans, and Seminole.
3A Division I
The UIL made a pretty awesome district for the Big Country, putting Breckenridge, Clyde, Comanche, Jim Ned, and Sweewater all together with TLCA San Angelo. I’m excited about plenty of these matchups over the next two years.
3A Division II
Merkel has been the western most team in a district to the east over the past four years but will now be the eastern most and have to travel west and south to face Coahoma, Grape Creek, Stanton, Wall and Odessa Compass.
Eastland and Dublin stay together in a district, but will be joined by Early, who will be hitting the road north a lot more this time, Brady, Clifton and Tolar, who is up from 2A Division I.
2A Division I
Colorado City gets out of district with powerhouses Hawley, Stamford and Cisco and will be making more trips to West Texas. The Wolves are in District 3 with Big Lake, Christoval, Forsan, Ozona and Sonora.
Anson, Hawley, Stamford, Cisco and Olney remain together and will add TLCA Abilene to the mix in District 4. It should be a fun district once again this season.
Ballinger is new to 2A D1 this season and will face some local teams in Bangs and Coleman. De Leon, Hamilton and Hico are all also in District 5.
1A Division I
Knox City sticks with Northside, but the rest of the Greyhounds district is different. Newcastle moves up to 1A D1 this time around. Bryson and Perrin-Whitt also move in from a more eastern based district the past two years.
District 7 remains very strong and exactly the same!
Ranger is in a district for the first time since they started playing six-man football and will be in District 13 with Baird, Gorman, defending state champ Gordon and Lingleville.
May, Santa Anna, Lometa and Jonesboro are all still in the same district. Evant was with them last time, but drops down to 1A D2 for this realignment.
1A Division II
Blackwell, Bronte, Trent, and Loraine stick together and add Olfen as they move from Region IV to Region II this time.
Benjamin’s district only has one change as the Mustangs replace Paducah with Guthrie on the district schedule in District 7.
Aspermont is back in a district with rival Jayton in District 8. Paint Creek, Lueders-Avoca, and Rule are also in it with them in what could be a fun one to follow.
Moran has completely new district teams to face as the Bulldogs join Throckmorton, Woodson, and Strawn in a four-team District 9.
District 13 should be very competitive, as Rising Star joins Zephyr, Sidney, Blanket, and Gustine. A couple of very good teams could miss the playoffs in that one.
Good news, bad news for Brookesmith. The Mustangs are no longer in a district with Cherokee, Richland Springs, and Rochelle, but they are still in with Richland Springs and Rochelle. Panther Creek also joins the mix, moving on from a district based to its north to one further south.
