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KHSAA releases draft football classification for next season

The Kentucky High School Athletic Association has released its classification plans for the upcoming football realignment for 2023 through 2026 seasons. Press release on July 25th on how the classification and redistricting process works.

At the bottom of the article is a full table with all teams and their rank based on enrollment with their old/proposed class.

Now that the enrollment reports are complete, the KHSAA will get feedback from member schools on who would like to play up a class.

Notable changes:
Frederick Douglass – 5A to 6A
Great Crossing – 5A to 6A
Dixie Heights – 6A to 5A
Covington Catholic – 5A to 4A
Scott – 4A to 5A
Mason County – 3A to 4A
Greenup County – 3A to 4A
Ashland – 3A to 4A
Bourbon County – 4A to 3A
Lloyd Memorial – 2A to 3A
Belfry – 3A to 2A
St. Henry to start in 2A in 25-26
Bracken County – 1A to 2A
Newport – 2A to 1A
Cov. Holy Cross – 2A to 1A
Trimble County – 2A to 1A

Now the fun and speculation begin on who will elect to play up, creating a domino effect of “what ifs”. Some questions to think about:

Will Covington Catholic elect to play up to 5A to be with Highlands, Scott, Conner, Cooper, Boone County, and Dixie Heights in NKY?

Will Dixie Heights elect to stay in 6A with Simon Kenton, Ryle, and Campbell County?

With Scott moving to 5A, Holmes is now the only 4A school in NKY, do they stay in the huge geographical district with Harrison, Boyd, and Rowan?

With Ashland, Boyd, Greenup, and Rowan in 4A, does that form the district? Or will new 4A Mason County be thrown into the mix?

How will you divide the district with Fleming, Russell, Lewis, Magoffin, Estill, East Carter and Powell all in 3A and somewhat close together?

With Beechwood’s entire 2A district of Lloyd, Cov. Holy Cross, and Newport now gone, where do they go? The closest would be Walton-Verona, Carroll, and now 2A Bracken County.

With Newport and Cov. Holy Cross going down to 1A, will that break Bishop Brossart away from their current district with Bracken, Paris, and Nicholas?

Will someone in 1A elect to play up or drop their program so Bracken County can remain in 1A? (Like Trimble County)

With 1A Lexington Sayre being formally included in the alignment, do they get included in a district with Frankfort, Eminence, and Berea? Or do they get put with Paris, Nicholas, and maybe Brossart or Bracken?

View the current KHSAA Alignment here.

Classification based on enrollment:

Rank Team Name OldNewAverage BoysChange in Boys Enrollment
1Lafayette6A6A1192.365
2Trinity (Louisville)6A6A1179.7-20
3St. Xavier6A6A1150.3-181
4Eastern6A6A1127-48
5Madison Central6A6A1085.7118
6Henry Clay6A6A1045.3-52
7Ryle6A6A101560
8Paul Laurence Dunbar6A6A1006.3-13
9McCracken County6A6A994.71
10Henderson County6A6A989.3-10
11Ballard6A6A975.365
12Central Hardin6A6A955.725
13Fern Creek6A6A937.7-35
14Male6A6A928.3-28
15Simon Kenton6A6A923.323
16Tates Creek6A6A91275
17Bryan Station6A6A910138
18Daviess County6A6A894.3-40
19Oldham County6A6A86521
20Great Crossing5A6A843.7175
21North Hardin6A6A839.761
22George Rogers Clark6A6A833.743
23DuPont Manual6A6A81951
24Frederick Douglass5A6A804.3143
25Meade County6A6A800-21
26Southern6A6A786.374
27Bullitt East6A6A780.782
28Pleasure Ridge Park6A6A776.7-29
29Campbell County6A6A771.365
30Apollo6A6A765.32
31South Warren5A6A75457
5A
32Dixie Heights6A5A737.3-7
33Cooper5A5A731.74
34Conner5A5A721-18
35Fairdale5A5A719.368
36Butler6A5A717.3-115
37Barren County6A5A692.773
38Boone County5A5A688.7-59
39Bullitt Central5A5A68848
40Owensboro5A5A686.740
41South Oldham5A5A682.7-14
42Greenwood5A5A68221
43Moore4A5A679.347
44North Laurel5A5A679-75
45Grayson County5A5A6783
46Southwestern5A5A677.7-26
47Montgomery County5A5A672.7-11
48Atherton5A5A667.359
49Bowling Green5A5A66039
50Marshall County6A5A655.3-28
51Seneca5A5A65378
52Woodford County5A5A650.323
53Christian County5A6A643-33
54West Jessamine5A5A630.347
55Muhlenberg County5A5A624.3-19
56Collins5A5A623.3-28
57Pulaski County5A5A614.3-46
58Iroquois5A5A613.7-77
59Ohio County5A5A606.7-2
60Madison Southern5A5A606.3-22
61Scott County5A5A603-15
62Anderson County4A5A60063
63North Bullitt5A5A597-6
64South Laurel5A5A590.7-62
65East Jessamine5A5A58321
66Scott4A5A578.329
67Madisonville‐North Hopkins4A5A57175
68Graves County5A5A565.7-35
69Warren Central4A5A538.725
70Highlands5A5A532.344
71Harlan County4A5A527-21
4A
72Whitley County5A4A524.344
73Spencer County4A4A523.326
74North Oldham4A4A522.7-5
75Lincoln County4A4A519.3-16
76Grant County5A4A517.32
77Doss5A4A515-51
78Warren East4A4A508.368
79Rowan County4A4A50654
79Jeffersontown5A4A506-36
81Shelby County4A4A505.74
82Johnson Central4A4A505-108
83Hopkinsville4A4A503-33
84Logan County4A4A4993
85Covington Catholic5A4A495-75
86Franklin County4A4A489.374
87Valley4A4A476108
88Wayne County4A4A475-42
89Holmes4A4A465.332
90Perry County Central4A4A461.713
91Breckinridge County5A4A459-15
92Boyle County4A4A458.710
93Western5A4A457114
94Boyd County4A4A456.3-19
95Harrison County4A4A4556
96Ashland Blazer3A4A454.710
97Corbin4A4A453.7-17
98Allen County‐Scottsville4A4A453.3-22
99Paducah Tilghman3A4A452.311
100Calloway County4A4A451.7-20
101Waggener4A4A447.3-37
102Letcher County Central4A4A436.3-43
103Russell County4A4A428-33
104Mason County3A4A42748
105Taylor County3A4A4249
106Greenup County3A4A422.3-28
107Western Hills3A4A420.32
108Nelson County3A4A419.749
109Elizabethtown3A4A415.740
110John Hardin4A4A4149
3A
111Adair County3A3A410.3-10
112Franklin‐Simpson4A3A40648
113Hopkins County Central4A3A404-42
114Rockcastle County3A3A400.3-31
115Garrard County3A3A399.740
116Bourbon County4A3A399.3-22
117Mercer County3A3A397.7-17
118Central4A3A393.3-1
119Clay County4A3A388.7-59
120McCreary Central3A3A388.3-43
121Lexington Catholic4A3A386.7-71
122East Carter3A3A383.311
123Knox Central4A3A382.3-46
124Marion County4A3A381-87
125Lawrence County3A3A372.728
126LaRue County3A3A371.7-2
127Pendleton County3A3A369-15
128Bell County3A3A364.7-5
129Thomas Nelson3A3A352.725
130Webster County3A3A35033
131Powell County3A3A348.38
132Lloyd Memorial2A3A346.3-7
133Butler County2A3A343.3-1
134Fleming County3A3A342.7-5
135Hart County3A3A341.311
136Henry County3A3A339.323
137Russell3A3A336.3-43
138Bardstown3A3A334.71
139Casey County3A3A330-9
140Estill County3A3A327-15
141Magoffin County3A3A325.743
142DeSales3A3A322-9
143Union County3A3A317.740
144Lewis County3A3A317-18
145Bath County2A3A31633
145Morgan County2A3A3160
145Trigg County3A3A316-39
148Christian Academy‐Louisville3A3A307.716
149Edmonson County2A3A306.332
2A
150Breathitt County2A2A302.7-5
151Carroll County2A2A301.320
152Floyd Central3A2A299-57
153Glasgow3A2A298.716
154Pike County Central3A2A291.3-1
155West Carter2A2A290-21
156Jackson County3ANC28812
157Monroe County2A2A286.7-26
158Caldwell County2A2A28618
159Somerset2A2A283-24
159Walton‐Verona2A2A2839
161Martin County2A2A281.7-14
162Murray2A2A27851
163Belfry3A2A277.7-56
164Owen County2A2A272.329
165Todd County Central2A2A270.3-22
166Washington County2A2A268.326
167Hancock County2A2A267.7-8
168Mayfield2A2A26721
169Beechwood2A2A266.3-4
170Knott County Central2A2A265.3-31
171Danville2A2A2640
172Shelby Valley2A2A259.3-31
173Prestonsburg2A2A256-30
174Metcalfe County2A2A250.317
175Green County2A2A236-33
176Gallatin County2A2A234.728
176Shawnee2A2A234.716
178Lexington Christian2A2A234.3-4
178Leslie County2A2A234.3-10
180East Ridge2A2A228-30
181Clinton County2A2A227-3
182McLean County2A2A215-36
183Crittenden County1A2A210.77
184Fort Campbell2A2A207.3-4
185Owensboro Catholic2A2A202.3-1
186Fort Knox1A2A20054
187Betsy Layne1A2A1993
188Bracken County1A2A1910
1A
189Newport2A1A189.3-16
190Middlesboro2A1A183.3-1
191Pikeville1A1A179.3-49
192Berea1A1A177.317
193WEB DuBoisNC2A1710
194Trimble County2A1A168.7-20
195Holy Cross (Covington)2A1A168.3-16
196Campbellsville1A1A163.746
197Russellville1A1A15921
198Ballard Memorial2A1A154.3-28
199Frankfort1A1A15427
200Hazard1A1A152.3-4
201Bishop Brossart1A1A149.311
202Raceland1A1A148.77
203Bethlehem1A1A146.719
203Nicholas County1A1A146.7-8
205Kentucky Country Day1A1A146.38
206Williamsburg1A1A144.74
207Eminence1A1A141.728
208Lynn Camp1A1A138.7-17
209Dayton1A1A136.35
210Sayre1A1A127-6
211Holy Cross (Louisville)1A1A126.7-32
212Ludlow1A1A123.3-22
213Bellevue1A1A121.716
214Paintsville1A1A119.3-7
215Newport Central Catholic1A1A115.7-23
216Paris1A1A115.329
217Fairview1A1A110.74
218Caverna1A1A1073
219Pineville1A1A104-12
220Harlan1A1A929
221Fulton County1A1A90.7-5

Not Competing: Phelps, Jackson County, Jenkins

Returning to Competition: Knott County Central, Caverna, Bellevue, Fulton County

Moving to 2A for 24-25: WEB DuBois

Moving to 2A for 25-26: St. Henry

From their press release on September 25th:

Once the 2022-23 second month data is collected, schools will be ranked (for both football and track and cross country) by the average of the 2019-20 school year combined with 2022-23 numbers doubled (used twice). It is predicted from the data available that while 2019-20 is somewhat predictive, the most likely predictor of school size will be 2022-23, so those numbers will be doubled.

  • The top 32 ranked schools will be assigned to Class 6A
  • The lowest 32 ranked schools will be assigned to Class 1A
  • The remaining four classes will be evenly divided, with the uneven remainders from the division being placed in a lower class.
  • No Board action is necessary on this initial ranking of teams.
  • The current alignment is not a factor in these divisions.

Once these are determined, the Competition rules call for the schools to be given an option to “play up” for the four-year cycle, that being to play into a higher classification.

  • Many times this is due to geography, but the current rules do not stipulate a required reason.
  • NOTE: These decisions are made BEFORE any district groupings are determined. No Board action is necessary on these requests.
  • The options allowed in the competition rules for the lines to be redrawn for the class boundaries after the playing up decisions is to be continued.

After these decisions are made by the schools, staff will then place the schools in geographic districts and bring this information to the Board of Control as a draft alignment.

  • The draft alignment does not place weight on the present alignment, it is a total re-shaping of the alignment.
  • While the new results may end up similar, it is not part of the process to “start” with the current.

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