The South Dakota High School Activities Association's Basketball Advisory Committee has recommended Class AA switch to a more conventional scheduling format.

In the most recent basketball advisory meeting, Class AA scheduling was put under the microscope as they continue to refine the class following the implementation of the SoDak16. As of now, all scheduling done for basketball (and volleyball) is done by the schools and the activities directors.

Having the scheduling done in house, it is very common to see teams never play against each other. Douglas, for example, never plays the Sioux Falls schools. Up until the Eastern South Dakota Conference (ESD) eased up on the double round robin conference formula, there were many ESD teams that rarely played the Sioux Falls or Rapid City schools. Most of the time if the teams played each other it was in the postseason.

The SoDak16 has flipped the previous faults to a point. This season we have seen a majority of Class AA teams play against each other at least once. The exception has been the west river schools that are still electing to play more conference games (as many as 10-12 games against "A" schools) versus playing its own class.

This is the next step for Class AA. The advisory committee wants to make all 18 Class AA teams play against each other once during the regular season. Those 17 games for each team would determine playoff positioning for the SoDak16. This policy would force schools to play within the class instead of leaning on conference alignment. Teams would also be able to schedule an additional three to five games that wouldn't count towards the postseason to get to 20-22 games for the season.

The committee approved the scheduling motion 6-1 to send it to the SDIAAA for discussion. Activities directors from around the state will debate (in this case it might even be a heated debate) and vote on the policy. If the policy passes the SDIAAA, it will then be sent to the SDHSAA Board of Directors for final approval with a final vote cast in March.

Basketball Advisory Board Recommendations

  • Each Class AA team plays each other one time during the regular season (17 games). Those 17 games would count towards postseason standings.
  • Each Class AA team would be allowed to schedule an additional three to five games (20-22 games total) that wouldn't count towards postseason standings.

 

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