Section 2 had an outstanding year in the State tournament this year with 4 State Champions at 4 different levels in both boys and girls basketball. Congratulations to the Troy girls, Watervliet, Lake George and Argyle boys for their title run through the state. It's an amazing accomplishment and also really hard to do.
I was able to watch the three boys finals thanks to Time Warner Cable. Agyle was so impressive in their win and it was unbelievable the rebounding advantage they had over a much bigger and taller team. It just shows how with hustle and hard work you can still outplay someone who might be bigger faster and stronger. To that point, no one showed more resolve in the Sectionals and State Tournament than Lake George. I picked them to lose to Berne-Knox, who they beat by two, and Hoosic Valley, who they beat by three in sectionals. In the State tournament they beat Moravia in OT after being down by 7 midway through the fourth quarter and beat Pine Plains for the title who started 5 kids 6'4" or taller. Even the announcers on TV were amazed Lake George was even in the game.
After watching the first half, I still wasn't blown away by Lake George's athleticism (other than Joel Wincowski), but it's amazing how well they play together as a unit. I don't mean to knock them and I hope it's not coming off that way, they are incredible athletes, it's just that they play better than athleticism would suggest (again, it's really hard to win a State title and you have to be really good to even get the chance to play for one). It's a credit to each of the players on that team and their coach that they are able to play to a level greater than the sum of their parts. It's something only a few teams can say and they were rewarded with a State title.
The Watervliet game had me worried, especially since I thought they would blow it open in the second half. You have to admire their poise in the final minute of regulation to keep their head, make baskets and play outstanding defense. Also their ability to shrug off losing a 16 point lead and having to go to overtime where they outscored Babylon by 12.
On the whole, I couldn't be more proud of the athletes from these four teams hailing from the section I where I live and was born and raised and from the classification, Class C, to which I belonged. Congratulations again to everyone for an outstanding season!
Monday, March 18, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
The Long Winding Road of Data Entry
So I've started compiling all of the box scores I have into a spreadsheet so I can list each player's stats on the site and update them annually so you too can see how many points each player has scored over their careers. The problem is, it takes forever. I have completed 3 of the 180 plus section 2 teams' schedules. It's not as bad as it sounds because I'm putting both teams in at once for each box score so by the time I get to Watervliet there won't be any games left to input. Still it's slow going.
As far as the State Tournament goes, we still have four of the five boys teams remaining and all of those that won did so by healthy amounts and the one who didn't kept it to a handful only losing by five. The girls didn't fare as well with only two of the five advancing, but even in defeat they held their own averaging five point losses as Scotia did in the boys. It's also nice they are on television because who wants to drive to Onondaga Community College or Plattsburgh? Not I.
Good luck to those who remain and congrats on a great season for those who don't. Keep watching.
As far as the State Tournament goes, we still have four of the five boys teams remaining and all of those that won did so by healthy amounts and the one who didn't kept it to a handful only losing by five. The girls didn't fare as well with only two of the five advancing, but even in defeat they held their own averaging five point losses as Scotia did in the boys. It's also nice they are on television because who wants to drive to Onondaga Community College or Plattsburgh? Not I.
Good luck to those who remain and congrats on a great season for those who don't. Keep watching.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Final Standings and Season Wrap-up
While there are still games to be played in this basketball season, we have now passed the Section 2 playoffs. What this means is that almost all the student athletes that participated during the season are now spectators like the rest of us. It also means we can now fully evaluate the Section 2 season with regards to the Sectional Forecast this blog is mainly based. Before I do that though, a quick word on the two AA finals that happened last night.
In the first game, Albany ended the Suburban's streak of AA championships in impressive style. Unfortunately for Bethlehem it doesn't appear as though they played their best game, but losing to a team as good as Albany should not be viewed negatively. Making the finals of any class in any section is a great accomplishment and also, by the way, really hard to do. After the first game I was wondering if Green Tech could pull off a twin killing in ending the Big 10's AA championship streak as well. While they fell short, there was a bit of vindication for Troy's decision to play in the AA sectionals instead of their rightful A bracket based on enrollment. Early in the season I said how they must feel like they are good enough to win it all or they wouldn't have made that decision and they proved it last night.
Overall the season was a good one and though I didn't accomplish all the goals I had set out at the beginning of the year, I can only be happy with how everything turned out. The forecast did really well and as good as I could expect. If only I could do that well in the NCAA tournament I'd be a lot better off. I look forward to seeing how the girls' model responds to another full season's data and 5 more data points from this year's sectionals. I was a bit worried about even presenting it this year, but considering its flaws due to lack of data I think it can only go up from here. I've tried to be as transparent as possible about the math and its limitations and again, if you haven't, I encourage you to read the methodology page. Without further adieu, the final sectional standings:
In the first game, Albany ended the Suburban's streak of AA championships in impressive style. Unfortunately for Bethlehem it doesn't appear as though they played their best game, but losing to a team as good as Albany should not be viewed negatively. Making the finals of any class in any section is a great accomplishment and also, by the way, really hard to do. After the first game I was wondering if Green Tech could pull off a twin killing in ending the Big 10's AA championship streak as well. While they fell short, there was a bit of vindication for Troy's decision to play in the AA sectionals instead of their rightful A bracket based on enrollment. Early in the season I said how they must feel like they are good enough to win it all or they wouldn't have made that decision and they proved it last night.
Overall the season was a good one and though I didn't accomplish all the goals I had set out at the beginning of the year, I can only be happy with how everything turned out. The forecast did really well and as good as I could expect. If only I could do that well in the NCAA tournament I'd be a lot better off. I look forward to seeing how the girls' model responds to another full season's data and 5 more data points from this year's sectionals. I was a bit worried about even presenting it this year, but considering its flaws due to lack of data I think it can only go up from here. I've tried to be as transparent as possible about the math and its limitations and again, if you haven't, I encourage you to read the methodology page. Without further adieu, the final sectional standings:
Boys
Sectional Forecast Rating 64 9 .877
Sectional Prediction Rating 62 11 .849
Section 2 Committee 60 13 .822
Section 2 Committee 60 13 .822
Common Opponents Analysis 52 21 .712
Girls
Sectional Prediction Rating 55 12 .821
Section 2 Committee 55 12 .821
Common Opponents Analysis 53 14 .791
Sectional Forecast Rating 50 17 .746
As previously stated, there is another element I’m tracking as well and that is for the two regression models. Since they base things on how far a team advances, I wanted to see how well it’s doing when teams crossed those thresholds. In order to advance to the second round, the model would have to give you a score of 0.556. To get to the semifinals, a 0.778 is needed to be achieved. The table below shows how those teams did. For example, there were 17 boys’ teams that had a rating above 0.556, which 16 of them won in the first round. (These ratings were calculated using all the regular season games including those after the brackets were released and none of the sectional games.)
Boys – Sectional Forecast Rating
1st Round 16 1 .941
2nd Round 7 1 .875
3rd Round 1 0 1.000
4th Round 0 0 n/a
Total 24 2 .923
3rd Round 1 0 1.000
4th Round 0 0 n/a
Total 24 2 .923
Boys – Sectional Prediction Rating
1st Round 16 1 .941
2nd Round 7 1 .875
3rd Round 2 0 1.000
4th Round 0 0 n/a
Total 25 2 .926
4th Round 0 0 n/a
Total 25 2 .926
Girls – Sectional Forecast Rating
1st Round 10 3 .769
2nd Round 6 0 1.000
3rd Round 1 0 1.000
4th Round 0 0 n/a
Total 17 3 .850
4th Round 0 0 n/a
Total 17 3 .850
Girls – Sectional Prediction Rating
1st Round 8 2 .800
2nd Round 7 0 1.000
3rd Round 2 0 1.000
4th Round 0 0 n/a
Total 17 2 .895
4th Round 0 0 n/a
Total 17 2 .895
There is one other analysis I’m tracking and that includes the teams the models did not have with necessary rating to advance, but were seeded to advance. So this is a situation where a team had a 0.500 rating, but was seeded 6th for instance. The one caveat here is that, since my seeds aren’t used, I could have teams that played each other even though I have them both advancing. This analysis counts that as both a win and a loss.
Boys – Sectional Forecast Rating
1st Round 12 3 .800
2nd Round 10 2 .833
3rd Round 8 1 .889
4th Round 5 0 1.000
Total 35 6 .854
4th Round 5 0 1.000
Total 35 6 .854
Boys – Sectional Prediction Rating
1st Round 11 5 .688
2nd Round 9 3 .750
3rd Round 7 1 .875
4th Round 4 1 .800
Total 31 10 .756
4th Round 4 1 .800
Total 31 10 .756
Girls – Sectional Forecast Rating
1st Round 5 4 .556
2nd Round 10 4 .714
3rd Round 7 2 .778
4th Round 1 4 .200
Total 23 14 .622
4th Round 1 4 .200
Total 23 14 .622
Girls – Sectional Prediction Rating
1st Round 9 4 .692
2nd Round 5 4 .556
3rd Round 4 4 .500
4th Round 2 3 .200
Total 20 15 .571
Along with some of the items I mentioned in my last post I also anticipate doing a bit more in terms of analyzing how the model and I'll be posting those items when I get them done. I'll also be updating the championship pages and the enrollment page for next year when they come out. Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later.
3rd Round 4 4 .500
4th Round 2 3 .200
Along with some of the items I mentioned in my last post I also anticipate doing a bit more in terms of analyzing how the model and I'll be posting those items when I get them done. I'll also be updating the championship pages and the enrollment page for next year when they come out. Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Sectionals are Over
I just watched James Allen's live coverage on my computer while putting kids to bed and making sure the dog had enough outside time. The Section 2 season is over and though I'll be watching and probably posting some thoughts on the State Tournament, for the most part, my job is done here.
I'll be posting a wrap-up post with all the final standings and thoughts about tonight's games probably tomorrow night. I'm also considering trying this with baseball which will be even more fun because hardly anyone posts baseball box scores anymore. I'll also finish up the leading scorer tally at some point and I'm going to try to put up a list of the the final stats for each player in my database, so stay tuned.
In the meantime, (mostly just before tomorrow's post) I want to thank everyone for reading and commenting and for your overall general interest in something I worked so hard on. Only one night this season did I not feel like dumping scores into the database, but I did it anyway. I thoroughly enjoyed doing this and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Thank you, and I'll see you again tomorrow.
I'll be posting a wrap-up post with all the final standings and thoughts about tonight's games probably tomorrow night. I'm also considering trying this with baseball which will be even more fun because hardly anyone posts baseball box scores anymore. I'll also finish up the leading scorer tally at some point and I'm going to try to put up a list of the the final stats for each player in my database, so stay tuned.
In the meantime, (mostly just before tomorrow's post) I want to thank everyone for reading and commenting and for your overall general interest in something I worked so hard on. Only one night this season did I not feel like dumping scores into the database, but I did it anyway. I thoroughly enjoyed doing this and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Thank you, and I'll see you again tomorrow.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Championship Thoughts
I didn't have the chance to visit either Glens Falls or Hudson Valley today, but I watched the scores on the TU website most of the afternoon. While my scouting ability might not be top notch, so far, the forecasting model is doing very well. For the boys it had 9 of the 10 teams to make the finals and is four for four thus far on the champions. For the girls it also had 9 of the 10 finals teams, however it only had one of the four champions. A second years' data should help improve those numbers for the girls next year.
Looking through the final brackets I can't help but be impressed with what the Watervliet teams have done. Both the boys and girls have had to deal with suspensions to starters with the girls having one during sectionals as well as an injury to another starter. Both teams overcame adversity and should be commended for their accomplishments. The Troy girls also made a great second half run to defeat Holy Names today. After being down 11 and giving up 19 points in the first quarter, they outscored Holy Names by 13 in the final period to secure their first title in a long time.
Despite what the model was saying, I always thought the Hoosic Valley girls were the best team in the C bracket, though I really didn't think there was that much space between them and everyone else as today's score would seem to indicate. Now that I think back on it, I made a point about how Waterford and Maple Hill each beat Taconic Hills by 2 and 4 points respectively (and Maple Hill had beaten Berne-Knox by 4) arguing that they shouldn't be that far apart in the seedings. While I didn't realize it at the time, it seems apparent now that their proximity was a sign of Maple Hill and Berne-Knox's weakness, rather than Waterford's strength. Fort Edward finished off a perfect Section 2 run by beating Fort Ann for the third time this season. It's always cleaner that way.
In the boys', Scotia finished off their own perfect Section 2 season by beating Glens Falls by 6. Scotia has had a fantastic season but I do wonder if teams were starting to catch up as the season went on. Five of the eight teams they played more than once lost by less the last time they played them than the previous game by an average of 14.6 points. Luckily, from this point on, they only play everyone once.
I was wrong in my analysis of Lake George in one key respect, Joel Wincowski was the best player on the floor and he proved it today as he was the difference between them and Hoosic Valley. Luckily for me, the model is better at predicting than I am. I'd rather the model be right anyway since that's what the blog is based on. I also have a feeling this may not be the last time we see these two teams facing off in sectionals. Joel Wincowski is a Sophomore as is John Rooney and Mike Pierre is a Junior. We'll see what kind of supporting casts they'll have with them, or maybe it won't even matter.
Finally, Argyle took care of business in the D bracket and settled the discussion of how the CHVL's best would compete against them. I don't think anyone is shocked or surprised at how this one turned out. Congratulations to all the winners today and good luck at the State tournament. I don't have a forecast model for that one so I root for all the Section 2 teams, not just the ones I pick.
Looking through the final brackets I can't help but be impressed with what the Watervliet teams have done. Both the boys and girls have had to deal with suspensions to starters with the girls having one during sectionals as well as an injury to another starter. Both teams overcame adversity and should be commended for their accomplishments. The Troy girls also made a great second half run to defeat Holy Names today. After being down 11 and giving up 19 points in the first quarter, they outscored Holy Names by 13 in the final period to secure their first title in a long time.
Despite what the model was saying, I always thought the Hoosic Valley girls were the best team in the C bracket, though I really didn't think there was that much space between them and everyone else as today's score would seem to indicate. Now that I think back on it, I made a point about how Waterford and Maple Hill each beat Taconic Hills by 2 and 4 points respectively (and Maple Hill had beaten Berne-Knox by 4) arguing that they shouldn't be that far apart in the seedings. While I didn't realize it at the time, it seems apparent now that their proximity was a sign of Maple Hill and Berne-Knox's weakness, rather than Waterford's strength. Fort Edward finished off a perfect Section 2 run by beating Fort Ann for the third time this season. It's always cleaner that way.
In the boys', Scotia finished off their own perfect Section 2 season by beating Glens Falls by 6. Scotia has had a fantastic season but I do wonder if teams were starting to catch up as the season went on. Five of the eight teams they played more than once lost by less the last time they played them than the previous game by an average of 14.6 points. Luckily, from this point on, they only play everyone once.
I was wrong in my analysis of Lake George in one key respect, Joel Wincowski was the best player on the floor and he proved it today as he was the difference between them and Hoosic Valley. Luckily for me, the model is better at predicting than I am. I'd rather the model be right anyway since that's what the blog is based on. I also have a feeling this may not be the last time we see these two teams facing off in sectionals. Joel Wincowski is a Sophomore as is John Rooney and Mike Pierre is a Junior. We'll see what kind of supporting casts they'll have with them, or maybe it won't even matter.
Finally, Argyle took care of business in the D bracket and settled the discussion of how the CHVL's best would compete against them. I don't think anyone is shocked or surprised at how this one turned out. Congratulations to all the winners today and good luck at the State tournament. I don't have a forecast model for that one so I root for all the Section 2 teams, not just the ones I pick.
Scoring Updates on the TU website
If you're like me and couldn't make it up to the Civic Center or HVCC, the Times Union has frequent scoring updates on their website. The links for the boys and girls are below.
http://blog.timesunion.com/sidelines/2013/03/02/saturdays-boys-basketball-championship-scores/
http://blog.timesunion.com/sidelines/2013/03/02/saturdays-girls-basketball-championship-scores/
http://blog.timesunion.com/sidelines/2013/03/02/saturdays-boys-basketball-championship-scores/
http://blog.timesunion.com/sidelines/2013/03/02/saturdays-girls-basketball-championship-scores/
Friday, March 1, 2013
Standings Through the Semi-Finals
All the classes are awaiting their finals in both boys' and girls' sectionals so I thought you might like to see how everyone is doing so far. I'll also give you who each has as the winners in each class.
3rd Round 2 0 1.000
Total 25 2 .926
3rd Round 1 0 1.000
Total 17 3 .850
3rd Round 2 0 1.000
Total 17 2 .895
3rd Round 8 1 .889
Total 30 6 .833
3rd Round 7 1 .875
Total 27 9 .750
3rd Round 7 2 .778
Total 22 10 .688
Boys
Sectional Forecast Rating 59 9 .868
Sectional Prediction Rating 57 11 .838
Section 2 Committee 56 12 .824
Section 2 Committee 56 12 .824
Common Opponents Analysis 49 19 .721
Girls
Sectional Prediction Rating 52 10 .839
Section 2 Committee 51 11 .823
Common Opponents Analysis 48 14 .774
Sectional Forecast Rating 48 14 .774
As previously stated, there is another element I’m tracking as well and that is for the two regression models. Since they base things on how far a team advances, I wanted to see how well it’s doing when teams crossed those thresholds. In order to advance to the second round, the model would have to give you a score of 0.556. To get to the semifinals, a 0.778 is needed to be achieved. The table below shows how those teams did. For example, there were 17 boys’ teams that had a rating above 0.556, which 16 of them won in the first round. (These ratings were calculated using all the regular season games including those after the brackets were released and none of the sectional games.)
Boys – Sectional Forecast Rating
1st Round 16 1 .941
2nd Round 7 1 .875
3rd Round 1 0 1.000
Total 24 2 .923
3rd Round 1 0 1.000
Total 24 2 .923
Boys – Sectional Prediction Rating
1st Round 16 1 .941
2nd Round 7 1 .875
3rd Round 2 0 1.000
Total 25 2 .926
Girls – Sectional Forecast Rating
1st Round 10 3 .769
2nd Round 6 0 1.000
3rd Round 1 0 1.000
Total 17 3 .850
Boys – Sectional Prediction Rating
1st Round 8 2 .800
2nd Round 7 0 1.000
3rd Round 2 0 1.000
Total 17 2 .895
There is one other analysis I’m tracking and that includes the teams the models did not have with necessary rating to advance, but were seeded to advance. So this is a situation where a team had a 0.500 rating, but was seeded 6th for instance. The one caveat here is that, since my seeds aren’t used, I could have teams that played each other even though I have them both advancing. This analysis counts that as both a win and a loss.
Boys – Sectional Forecast Rating
1st Round 12 3 .800
2nd Round 10 2 .833
3rd Round 8 1 .889
Total 30 6 .833
Boys – Sectional Prediction Rating
1st Round 11 5 .688
2nd Round 9 3 .750
3rd Round 7 1 .875
Total 27 9 .750
Girls – Sectional Forecast Rating
1st Round 5 4 .556
2nd Round 10 4 .714
3rd Round 7 2 .778
Total 22 10 .688
Girls – Sectional Prediction Rating
1st Round 9 4 .692
2nd Round 5 4 .556
3rd Round 4 4 .500
Total 18 12 .600
Sectional winners for each method based on who is playing, not original prediction:
Section 2
Boys AA - Troy Girls AA - Bethlehem (based on first round matchup of second round opponent)
Boys A - Scotia-Glenville Girls A - Troy
Boys B - Watervliet Girls B - Watervliet
Boys C - Hoosic Valley Girls C - Hoosic Valley
Boys D - Argyle Girls D - Fort Edward
Sectional Forecast Rating
Boys AA - Troy Girls AA - Bethlehem
Boys A - Scotia-Glenville Girls A - Holy Names
Boys B - Watervliet Girls B - Watervliet
Boys C - Lake George Girls C - Berne-Knox
Boys D - Argyle Girls D - Fort Edward
Sectional Prediction Rating
Boys AA - Troy Girls AA - Bethlehem
Boys A - Scotia-Glenville Girls A - Holy Names
Boys B - Watervliet Girls B - Watervliet
Boys C - Lake George Girls C - Hoosic Valley
Boys D - Argyle Girls D - Fort Edward
Common Opponent Analysis
Boys AA - Green Tech Girls AA - Albany
Boys A - Scotia-Glenville Girls A - Troy
Boys B - Watervliet Girls B - Watervliet
Boys C - Hoosic Valley Girls C - Hoosic Valley
Boys D - Argyle Girls D - Fort Edward
3rd Round 4 4 .500
Total 18 12 .600
Sectional winners for each method based on who is playing, not original prediction:
Section 2
Boys AA - Troy Girls AA - Bethlehem (based on first round matchup of second round opponent)
Boys A - Scotia-Glenville Girls A - Troy
Boys B - Watervliet Girls B - Watervliet
Boys C - Hoosic Valley Girls C - Hoosic Valley
Boys D - Argyle Girls D - Fort Edward
Sectional Forecast Rating
Boys AA - Troy Girls AA - Bethlehem
Boys A - Scotia-Glenville Girls A - Holy Names
Boys B - Watervliet Girls B - Watervliet
Boys C - Lake George Girls C - Berne-Knox
Boys D - Argyle Girls D - Fort Edward
Sectional Prediction Rating
Boys AA - Troy Girls AA - Bethlehem
Boys A - Scotia-Glenville Girls A - Holy Names
Boys B - Watervliet Girls B - Watervliet
Boys C - Lake George Girls C - Hoosic Valley
Boys D - Argyle Girls D - Fort Edward
Common Opponent Analysis
Boys AA - Green Tech Girls AA - Albany
Boys A - Scotia-Glenville Girls A - Troy
Boys B - Watervliet Girls B - Watervliet
Boys C - Hoosic Valley Girls C - Hoosic Valley
Boys D - Argyle Girls D - Fort Edward
Shuffling the Deck
I've eluded to this in previous posts and since we're nearing the end of the season and I still have an audience, I thought I would throw it out there (even though it will never happen). You never know what the future holds but realignment in Section 2 is something I've thought about extensively over the years and though you could do a complete overhaul of the conferences, you could also do a little massaging here and there to make things more compatible.
My first problem with the current alignment goes hand in hand with the lesser 18 game schedule. I am of the opinion that more non-league games is better. It gives you a better chance to compare the leagues and makes the seeding process easier on everyone. It also provides teams that have serious State Championship ambitions to play out of section games (for the CBA's and Albany Academy's of the world) and still have room for some in section non-league games. In the current format, I believe an 8 team league is the perfect size. You get 14 league games, and 4 non-league, a nice ratio and enough league games to give a representative sample and crown a champion. There are currently 91 schools in Section 2. Simple math will tell you that you can't get all 8 team leagues. The second best option is a ten team league with two divisions and a championship round where each team in one division plays each team in the other. That would give you 8 division games, 5 non-division league games and 1 championship round game, for a total of........14, just like an 8 team league. So how do you do it? Any one of a thousand different ways, but I'll show you my favorite (that's my favorite as of today, I'll still change my mind a thousand more times).
My first problem with the current alignment goes hand in hand with the lesser 18 game schedule. I am of the opinion that more non-league games is better. It gives you a better chance to compare the leagues and makes the seeding process easier on everyone. It also provides teams that have serious State Championship ambitions to play out of section games (for the CBA's and Albany Academy's of the world) and still have room for some in section non-league games. In the current format, I believe an 8 team league is the perfect size. You get 14 league games, and 4 non-league, a nice ratio and enough league games to give a representative sample and crown a champion. There are currently 91 schools in Section 2. Simple math will tell you that you can't get all 8 team leagues. The second best option is a ten team league with two divisions and a championship round where each team in one division plays each team in the other. That would give you 8 division games, 5 non-division league games and 1 championship round game, for a total of........14, just like an 8 team league. So how do you do it? Any one of a thousand different ways, but I'll show you my favorite (that's my favorite as of today, I'll still change my mind a thousand more times).
Let’s start by making the Big 10 an actual 10 teams. I have thought for a long time that Bishop Gibbons was misplaced here. While the league is based largely around the big three cities, Albany, Schenectady and Troy, lets not fool ourselves into thinking all the schools in those cities are in the league, nor should they be. We’re going to take Gibbons out and replace them with Green Tech and Albany Academy. That brings the total to 10 teams like it should be. We’ll split them into two divisions, the Capital and Collar divisions. For the girls, we’re going to replace CBA, Green Tech and LaSalle with Holy Names, Albany Leadership and Emma Willard. While this may seem a bit harsh to Albany Academy and Emma Willard on the girls’ side, the Big 10 is not what is for the girls as it is for the boys, and with the potential downgrading for Bishop Maginn and Troy now being an A, this isn’t too much of a stretch. It also gives the people who think all the private schools should be in one conference a reason to be happy, as most now are. The schedule would allow for two games against each division opponent, one game against each league non-division opponent, one championship game where each team plays the corresponding team in the other division (1st place plays 1st place, 2nd plays 2nd, etc) and a league champion will be crowned, and four non-league games. The new Big 10:
Boys
Capital Division
Albany
Albany Academy
Bishop Maginn
CBA
Green Tech
Collar Division
Amsterdam
Catholic Central
LaSalle
Schenectady
Troy
Girls
Capital Division
Albany
Albany Academy
Albany Leadership
Bishop Maginn
Holy Names
Collar Division
Amsterdam
Catholic Central
Emma Willard
Schenectady
Troy
The Suburban will removing four teams and while you may see this as a slight against the Suburban, it’s more of an addition by subtraction. The four teams to be moved out are the three A schools, Averill Park, Burnt Hills and Mohonasen as well as a AA, Ballston Spa. The two reasons for Ballston Spa are their proximity to Burnt Hills geographically and their relative close enrollment to the AA/A border. This allows the remaining teams more room to explore non-league opponents, whether in the Big 10, with the 4 teams that left, or other out of section teams. This will now be an 8 team league so they’ll have 14 league games, 2 against each team in the league and 4 non-league games. The new Suburban Council:
Boys and Girls
Bethlehem
Colonie
Columbia
Guilderland
Niskayuna
Saratoga Springs
Shaker
Shenendehowa
The Foothills Council will remain the same despite some long travel distances. There are just not enough options for the teams up North. All the schools around them are significantly smaller and the competitive advantage is too great to put them in the same league. Trust me though I have tried very hard to move things around. In the end, while a few small changes could be made, the way it is constructed works out best for the rest of the teams, more so than for the teams in the Foothills. Also, for the girls, I really don’t know what is going on with Gloversville, but can only assume that at some point they’ll have a team again. This is an 8 team league and would have the 14 league and 4 non-league games. No change to the Foothills.
Boys and Girls
Broadalbin-Perth
Glens Falls
Gloversville
Hudson Falls
Johnstown
Queensbury
Scotia-Glenville
South Glens Falls
Here is where it gets fun. In order to do this as efficiently as possible with 8 team leagues, you need to add a new league. This actually accomplishes a couple things the first of which is it appeases the math. Secondly, it might appease some politically as well. I don't know who runs each of the leagues, but I know someone does and creating a new person to run a new league might help in the favor department (and actually get something this dramatic done). Anyway, this league will consist of the four departing Suburban members and the lone departing Big 10 member. Add to those five, three of the larger Colonial schools (who don't benefit as dramatically from playing in the Colonial as the smaller schools) and you have a new league. As for the name, I typed in directions from one school to the next and got this from Google maps. It looks a bit like Italy, so I called it the Roman Conference. You may call it what you wish (any suggestions are always appreciated). This is an 8 team league and would have the 14 league and 4 non-league games. Your new Roman (insert your own name) Conference:
Boys and Girls
Averill Park
Ballston Spa
Bishop Gibbons
Burnt Hills
Ichabod Crane
Lansingburgh
Mohonasen
Schalmont
The Colonial Conference will be getting a sizable make over with the departure of Ichabod Crane, Lansingburgh and Schalmont, they'll be adding some quality schools as well while downsizing. Mechanicville will also be leaving to entertain new foes (closer to home......you'll see). Mekeel Christian Academy and Tamarac will be joining the party from the WAC South and Wasaren respectively. The first is a boost on the boys' side, the second a boost to the girls'. Mekeel Academy needs a new league as they dominate every year and the WAC just isn't competitive with their presence. They are also the lone B school now that Fonda-Fultonville has switched leagues. This seems like a natural move. Tamarac has always been a bit out of the way for most of the Wasaren teams much like Granville and both are B schools. The difference though is that Granville doesn't have anywhere else to go. Every other school remotely close to them is a D school and while Granville may struggle at times in the Wasaren, they would blow out the Adirondack annually. Also, once you see the new Wasaren, this makes a lot more sense. This is now an 8 team league and would have the 14 league and 4 non-league games. Your new Colonial Council:
Boys and Girls
Cobleskill-Richmondville
Fonda-Fultonville
Mekeel Christian Academy
Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk
Cohoes
Tamarac
Voorheesville
Watervliet
The Patroon Conference, much like the Foothills Council will remain unchanged and the lone 9 team league. While I would like to move Rensselaer or Maple Hill out, there isn't a natural fit for either. The Colonial probably wouldn't accept Rensselaer (they kicked out Waterford a number of years ago) and geographically Maple Hill makes more sense where they are, even if they don't by classification. I also think Rensselaer would dominate in the CHVL, where they might also fit in, as they are usually fairly competitive in the Patroon. On the whole, I think it's better the way it is. At 9 teams, they will continue playing 16 league games and 2 non-league games. No changes to the Patroon Conference.
Boys and Girls
Cairo-Durham
Catskill
Chatham
Coxsackie-Athens
Greenville
Hudson
Maple Hill
Rensselaer
Taconic Hills
Wasaren League purists will hate me after this one but you really can't argue with adding quality teams, especially if they are close to home. With the subtraction of Tamarac, they would stand at 7 teams, but instead of just adding one more, they are going to add three. This accomplishes two things, it creates another 10 team league and helps reduce two other leagues away from 12 teams. The three teams you would be adding are Mechanicville from the Colonial, Saratoga Catholic from the WAC North and Corinth from the Adirondack West. All three are B/C schools and fit in nicely with the current mix of teams in the Wasaren. They are also each geographically close to at least one existing Wasaren team. A ten team league, of course, means two divisions, the North and South. You could also split this as an East, West but I prefer this one. They would follow the same schedule format as the Big 10. Your new Wasaren League:
Boys and Girls
North
Corinth
Granville
Greenwich
Saratoga Catholic
Schuylerville
South
Cambridge
Hoosic Valley
Hoosick Falls
Mechanicville
Stillwater
The Western Athletic Conference took some heavy losses in Mekeel Christian Academy and Saratoga Catholic, but this is more in line with what the division is, a C/D laden group. One of the problems I have with this conference is that it’s the only conference that doesn’t play every team in the conference. They play a couple cross-over games at the end of the year and crown a champion from that. They also have an uneven number of teams before and after the changes. The way I think is best to fix that is to add a team from the Adirondack, Hadley-Luzerne. You could take another team away, but none really make sense in any other conference and Hadley-Luzerne is fairly close to both Galway and Mayfield. With the addition, the WAC becomes the only 12 team conference which poses scheduling challenges because two 6 team divisions would play 16 league games and if you chose to have a championship round, that would be 17 leaving only one non-league game on the schedule. That’s not acceptable to me, neither is not playing everyone in your conference, so I’ve decided a 3 division setup is best, much like the Suburban used to be. This way you would play 6 division games, and 8 league non-division games. You basically need to have a playoff in this format so 2 additional games for that bringing the total to 16. Not ideal, but better than 17. A lot of these schools choose to play non-section opponents anyway so we’re not really losing that many non-league games. The championship would face the three division winners against the best league record that didn’t win the division playing essentially a four team tournament with a consolation game. The next best four teams would do the same and the worst four records the same completing the schedule. It’s a bit messy, but so is what they do now. Your new Western Athletic Conference:
Boys and Girls
East
Canajoharie
Galway
Hadley-Luzerne
Mayfield
North
Fort Plain
Northville
Sharon Springs
St. Johnsville
South
Berne-Knox
Duanesburg
Middleburgh
Schoharie
Prior to all that’s happened above, the Adirondack League contained 12 teams. After the departures of Corinth and Hadley-Luzerne, they are a 10 team league, and that makes me happy. We also took one team from each division so there’s basically no change to the structure of the league. They would have the same 10 game schedule as detailed above. Your new Adirondack League:
Boys and Girls
East
Argyle
Fort Ann
Hartford
Salem
Whitehall
West
Bolton
Fort Edward
Lake George
North Warren
Warrensburg
The Central Hudson Valley League will remain unchanged. The vast distances between these teams and the other D schools in the area is just too great to try anything and if you move someone out, like Germantown (who is much closer to some of the Patroon teams) you’re left with only 7 teams. While Rensselaer could be a fit, I think they are competitive enough where they are and have the potential to dominate this league which is something to be avoided. They would follow the regular 8 team schedule. No changes to the CHVL.
Boys and Girls
Berlin
Doane Stuart
Germantown
Hawthorne Valley
Heatly
Loudonville Christian
New Lebanon
Waterford
The reasons for doing something like this are two fold. There are still a few teams that are in leagues that are either too easy or too difficult for them to compete in each year. Bishop Gibbons and Mekeel Academy shouldn't be in their respective conferences. How Mechanicville and Stillwater aren't in the same league still baffles me, and I really don't like having independent teams. Also, how do you have a league in which all the teams don't play each other? In addition to some shuffling, the extra league provides 22 additional non league games most of which come from teams that would actually play in-section teams to fill their schedules.
While this whole exercise provides little in the way of actually doing anything, I find it an interesting proposition to look at and maybe even someday my dreams of realignment will happen.
While this whole exercise provides little in the way of actually doing anything, I find it an interesting proposition to look at and maybe even someday my dreams of realignment will happen.
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