The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

During the annual Legislative Council meeting in April, the Colorado High School Activities Association approved a sixth classification for basketball. The change will take place for the coming 2022-23 season so next March, the State will crown six State champions in both the boys’ and girls’ divisions.

The approval also means that over 100 schools will change classification for the next two-year cycle and Haxtun is on that list as the Bulldogs will bump back up to Class 2A for basketball. Fleming remains in Class 1A under the new classification format.

Haxtun’s long-time rival Merino is another 1A team that will move back up to Class 2A and the two will remain members of the rugged Lower Platte conference. Nine teams will again make up the conference; Akron, Caliche, Haxtun, Holyoke, Merino, Sedgwick County, Wiggins, Wray and Yuma. All of those teams are in the 2A division except for Yuma as they will move to Class 3A for the postseason.

Fleming remains in the 1A North Central conference with traditional rivals in Briggsdale, Pawnee, Peetz, Prairie and Weldon Valley. Longmont Christian will join the list of teams for the District 4 tournament following the end of the regular season.

District tournaments will be still be played in both classifications but the playoff format from that point on will be a bit different than in the past. Only district champions are guaranteed a berth in regionals and those champions can host a regional event if they finish in the top 16 of the CHSAA seeding index. The remaining 24 tournament teams will also be determined by the same seeding index. The eight four-team regional tournaments will be conducted with the winners advancing to the state quarterfinals.

The format in Class 1A is the same which represents an expansion of the regional tournament field. For the past few seasons, only 22 clubs have advanced to regionals but over the next two seasons, 32 clubs will qualify with again the eight regional winners moving to the State quarterfinals.

Another change in playoff format involves seeding for the final eight clubs. In the past, those teams have been reseeded after regionals and before the State quarterfinals. That will not be the case this year as once the 32-team bracket is set at the start of the regional round, the tournament will be played from start to finish without moving teams.

The CHSAA seeding index has also changed as the coaches’ poll has been removed from the mix. For the next two years, playoff teams will be chosen and seeded by a combination of the RPI and MaxPreps rankings. Each poll will represent 50 percent of the overall seeding index.

A full breakdown of the six basketball classifications and where teams are placed for the 2022-23 season can be seen at http://www.coloradopreps.com.