What goes around, comes around.
In 2010, the Bryant Hornets were co-champs of the 7A-Central Conference but were denied a first-round bye in the post-season. Because of the ratings points and the fact that West Memphis, playing in the East Conference against seven Class 6A teams, won its league, the Hornets were relegated to a No. 3 seed. The Blue Devils were seeded in the Central, a 7A league with one 6A entry, and got for the top seed and the first round bye. (Conway, the co-champs with Bryant, got the second bye.)
There was a lot of head-shaking in the Hornets’ camp but they went out and beat Springdale in the first round before heading to Bentonville to get ousted by the eventual State champion.
Fast forward to 2013. Bryant has now been assigned to the South Conference, a league of otherwise all 6A schools. The Hornets win the league and, in accordance with the point system, get seeded No. 2 in the West, a league with all but one 7A team. In the northwest corner of the state, there’s now much consternation, wailing and gnashing of teeth. Not only is Fayetteville, the defending State champion (coached, ironically, by former Bryant head coach Daryl Patton), denied the bye but Springdale, a team that many up there claim is better than Bryant, is left out of the playoffs entirely.
But the Hornets aren’t gloating. They know how it feels. Friday night, after his team captured the South Conference title with a nerve-wracking 21-17 win over El Dorado, Bryant head coach Paul Calley admitted he didn’t know for sure what his team’s playoff course would be at that point but he understood what was apparently unfolding upon news that Bentonville had beaten Fayetteville.
“Anytime the point system is involved, you just never know,” he related. “Nobody wanted us to win because we’re going to be a two seed and get a bye in the West.
“It’s not fair,” he admitted, recalling the 2010 situation. “It’s really not; 6A ought to play 6A and 7A ought to play 7A. That’s the way it ought to be and the AAA (Arkansas Activities Association) ought to make sure that happens. But they haven’t.”
Of course, Bryant has filed a lawsuit to try to prevent being placed in a mixed 7A/6A league next cycle (2014-16) with far-away schools like Siloam Springs, Van Buren, Greenwood and Alma.
But whether Bryant wins or loses that case, perhaps the AAA should just make the travel considerations secondary across the board and do just what Calley was saying.
I say, to heck with the travel. If Bryant can be in a conference with (Class 6A) Siloam Springs and Little Rock Central can be in a league (as it currently is) with (Class 6A) Mountain Home, why not just end the mixed leagues and let the teams travel where they must to make that happen?
Perhaps just for football.
For the other sports, particularly those that play league games twice a week (volleyball, basketball, soccer), realign the leagues for conference play and let them be mixed. Numbers affect all sports, admittedly, but in no way as much as football.
Why do the leagues have to be uniform for all the sports? In football, at least, let 7A play in conferences with 7A, let 6A play in conferences with 6A.
