Boys, girls basketball divisions take competitive balance hit

Franklin finally made its way out of the ultra-competitive Southwest District in Division II of boys basketball. But that might not be much of a break, because the Wildcats are now lumped in D-I.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association on Thursday afternoon announced its realigned divisions for boys and girls basketball for this coming season. For the first time, the new competitive balance factor was included in determining postseason divisional status for basketball. It is the only winter sport that is affected.

Most boys and girls basketball programs retained their divisions from at least the two previous seasons, but not all. That includes Franklin’s boys. The Wildcats have maintained a high level of success, especially in the Southwestern Buckeye League, since the graduation of two-time Ohio Mr. Basketball Luke Kennard in 2015. But making it through the D-II postseason has been a challenge, even with Kennard.

Now, Franklin will take its boys postseason shot in Division I. Franklin athletic director and boys basketball coach Brian Bales said its revised numerical value was 362, exactly the cutoff for being D-I.

“As the young kids say these days, it is what it is,” Bales said. “As an AD, I know Ohio is doing everything it can do to make the fairest, most competitive tournament they can. But competitive balance will affect D-II, D-III and D-IV; it’s not going to affect D-I.”

Every basketball division is divided into 200 teams except D-I (199). What isn’t close is the student breakdown. Among the smaller three divisions, D-II has the greatest student differential of 211-361. In D-I, it’s 362-plus. The largest D-I schools have 1,000-plus boys.

“I want to trust the OHSAA,” Bales said. “I believe in what they’re trying to do. We tell our guys all the time, just control what you can control. In a lot of ways, we can’t control this. We’ve just got to go play.”

The only area girls team to move up to Division I was Wilmington.

The competitive balance numerical factor - featuring a different scale for each affected sport – is based on where the previous school year’s students grades 9-11 resided. Students who reside outside a designated school district or started seventh grade in another district are given more of a competitive balance multiplier.

Each student’s competitive value factor is added to gender-specific enrollment numbers (EMIS) that are provided by the Ohio Department of Education. The sum of those values determines the postseason divisions for football, girls volleyball, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball, softball and baseball in the 2017-18 school year.

Fall sports divisions were announced in April. The divisional status of spring sports that will be affected by competitive balance will be announced by the OHSAA in August.

The competitive balance factor will be revised annually in the spring and applied for the following school year. The EMIS enrollment numbers will be adjusted every two years, the next in spring 2019. All sports that don’t include a competitive balance factor have their divisions determined by EMIS numbers only.

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