In case you may have missed it, it has been announced by the Arkansas Activities Association[more] that, tentatively, Bryant will return to a realigned 7A/6A-Central Conference for the 2014-16 attendance cycle. The league includes Alma, Conway, Greenwood, Little Rock Catholic/Mount St. Mary, Russellville, Siloam Springs and Van Buren.
The Central and the East will continue to be mixed conferences with Class 7A (16 largest schools) and 6A (next 16 largest schools) while the West and South will return to purely 7A and 6A schools, respectively. Schools are split up into 7A and 6A for State competitions despite competing in the mixed conferences during the regular season.
A move to fully separate Class 7A and 6A has been proposed but the AAA Board of Directors extended a "do not pass" recommendation to the full membership who will vote on the proposal later this year. Travel considerations have been among the primary issues pointed to by those who oppose the move.
The South Conference, which will once again include Bryant in 2013-14, will include Benton, El Dorado, Lake Hamilton, Little Rock Hall, Little Rock Parkview, Pine Bluff, Sheridan and Texarkana in 2014-16.
The proposed East Conference will include Cabot, Jonesboro, Central, Marion, Mountain Home, North Little Rock, Searcy and West Memphis. The West will be the traditional group of Bentonville, Fayetteville, Fort Smith Northside, Fort Smith Southside, Rogers, Rogers Heritage, Springdale and Springdale Har-Ber. For the current cycle, the Fort Smith teams are competing in the Central.
