First, I’m going to recommend combining classes 6A and 5A, combining Class 4A-I and 4A-II, splitting Class 1A into 1A and 2A and keeping the current 3A and 2A as is. That means there will be six classes instead of eight.

Class 1A-II will be known as 1A, Class 1A-I will be known as 2A and so on until Class 5/6A, which will be known as 6A.

This gives each class 64 schools except the newly formed 1A and 2A, which will have roughly 48 schools.

The brings up the second topic and that is to abolish all substates and regionals except for track and cross country.

All other sports will be one bracket with all teams included for that respective class. Teams will be ranked based on their regular season record. In the event of a tie, strength of schedule will be used to determine priority, which is based on the total number of wins combined for a school’s opponents.

The final eight teams will play at state.

Looking at the current model for basketball, a team must win two games to reach state. It doesn’t seem difficult considering there are only 32 teams in each class of the current make up.

Third, KSHSAA should allow teams, specifically basketball, to play in holiday tournaments during winter break. It is an excellent way for teams to build camaraderie, it allows them to play out-of-state competition, and it gives players an opportunity to be seen by college coaches.

Neighboring states allow it, and KSHSAA is putting its athletes at a disadvantages.

Second, KSHSAA should start its season two weeks earlier to be on par with Missouri.

The football season starts two weeks later than Missouri, the winter season starts two weeks later than Missouri. This is valuable practice time, and its important because of the football timeline.

It makes no sense to practice for two weeks, begin games for two weeks, and then it’s three weeks off because of finals and winter break.

Lastly, in football we will get rid of districts. Why should a team make the playoffs when it has gone 0-6 and then wins two of it’s next three? This means that league play means absolutely nothing.

First, the winner of each league will receive an automatic berth to the playoffs. The remaining slots (up to 16) will be determined based on strength of schedule as mentioned above. A team must win at least six of its nine games to be eligible for the postseason.

All state championships will be held at the same site. Classes 1-3A will play on the Friday following Thanksgiving, while 4-6A will play the following day.

This is just a tip of the iceberg of changes, but I think they will make the overall landscape of high school athletics in Kansas better.