WPIAL 2016-17 Conference Alignments

Tonight, the WPIAL Steering Committee voted to approve the conference alignments for all sports for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. Back in December I threw out my projections of the WPIAL Football conferences. I was pretty close in 5 of the 6 classifications, the only exception being 6A where the WPIAL chose to split the classification along North/South lines rather than East/West lines as I predicted. This will make for some awful travel, including a 125-mile 2 1/2 hour trip from Altoona to Canon-McMillan.

Classes 6A, 5A and 4A all have two classifications from which the top 4 teams will make the playoffs to make an 8-team playoff bracket. The WPIAL Champions in each of these classifications will be slotted into the PIAA playoffs at the quarterfinal stage. Class 3A has 3 sections but in order to get the 3A Championship Game at Heinz Field, the WPIAL opted to only allow 8 of the 23 teams into the playoffs. The 3A WPIAL Champion will then have a bye week before playing in the PIAA semifinals. In order to preserve the Heinz Field “tradition” the WPIAL sliced the 3A playoff field in half and gave the 3A Champion a bye week. Logistically, it would have made more sense for 12 or 16 teams to make the 3A playoffs and for the championship to be played a week later, albeit not at Heinz Field. Class A & AA both have 3 sections from which 16 teams will make the playoffs. These championship games will no longer be played at Heinz Field and will be played a week later than the 3A-6A Championships because the AA & A Champions will slot into the PIAA playoffs at the semifinal stage. Of note, both Cornell and Imani Christian have returned, making for an even 122 teams playing WPIAL football over the next two seasons.

Here are the new conference alignments:

6A

Section 1: Butler, Central Catholic, North Allegheny, Penn Hills, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley, Shaler
Section 2: Altoona, Bethel Park, Canon-McMillan, Hempfield, Mt Lebanon, Norwin, Peters Twp

5A

Section 1: Baldwin, Chartiers Valley, Fox Chapel, Hampton, Moon, North Hills, Upper St Clair, West Allegheny, Woodland Hills
Section 2: Armstrong, Connellsville, Franklin Regional, Gateway, Kiski, Latrobe, McKeesport, Penn-Trafford, Plum

4A

Section 1: Ambridge, Blackhawk, Highlands, Indiana, Knoch, Mars, Montour, New Castle, South Fayette
Section 2: Albert Gallatin, Belle Vernon, Greensburg Salem, Laurel Highlands, Ringgold, Thomas Jefferson, Trinity, Uniontown, West Mifflin

3A

Section 1: Aliquippa, Beaver, Beaver Falls, Central Valley, Ellwood City, Hopewell, Quaker Valley
Section 2: Apollo-Ridge, Burrell, Deer Lakes, Freeport, Keystone Oaks, Seton-La Salle, Shade Side Academy, Valley
Section 3: Derry, Elizabeth Forward, McGuffey, Mt Pleasant, South Park, Southmoreland, Waynesburg, Yough

2A

Section 1: Avonworth, Brentwood, Carlynton, East Allegheny, Serra Catholic, Steel Valley, South Allegheny, Vincentian
Section 2: CWNC, Freedom, Laurel, Mohawk, Neshannock, New Brighton, Riverside, South Side Beaver
Section 3: Bentworth, Beth-Center, Brownsville, Burgettstown, Charleroi, Chartiers-Houston, Frazier, Washington

1A

Section 1: Bishop Canevin, Clairton, GCC, Imani Christian, Jeannette, Leechburg, Riverview, Springdale
Section 2: Avella, California, Carmichaels, Fort Cherry, Jefferson-Morgan, Mapletown, Monessen, West Greene
Section 3: Cornell, Northgate, OLSH, Rochester, Shenango, Sto-Rox, Summit Academy, Union, Western Beaver

Here’s an update to my WPIAL Interactive Map that shows the new conference alignments: (use the button at the upper left to toggle between Classes and the button at the upper right to open the map alone in a new tab)

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=zY1Ao-3LGm9U.kL1KXK9g7xLU&w=640&h=600]