Now that the NSAA’s decision to have a substate round in Class B has been proven to be successful in the last couple years, there is movement toward wanting the same system in Classes C-1, C-2, D-1 and D-2 because – well – it’s the right thing to do.
For years in non-Class A divisions, district tournaments were based solely on geographical location of schools. It became a major issue in Class B because several top teams were left out of the state tournament because they were all clumped into the same districts. As a result, a substate round was put into place to combine eight district champions with eight wild card teams in a re-seeded round of 16 to determine what eight teams qualified for state.
Unfortunately, the same geographical issue exists in the four lower classes as well, but for years the same complaints have fallen of deaf ears. A proposal was brought forward again this year by Hampton Athletic Director Tim Huls to add a substate round to the four lower classes. In his proposal, the 12 subdistrict champions as it is structured now would automatically qualify for the substate round along with four wild card teams, which would be determined by the teams with the highest NSAA wildcard point total to not win a subdistrict.
The proposal by Huls would be an excellent step toward implementing consistency throughout all classes in how the NSAA determines state tournament qualifiers. The state tournament should be a reward for the best eight teams as proven on the court, not as proven by geographical data or a defunct computer formula.
A handful of teams that deserve to be at the state tournament based on performance have already been eliminated because of the competitive imbalance created by geographical districts. This is not right. The proposal by Huls preserves the geographical representation of all 12 subdistrict regions while providing a safety net for teams negatively impacted by the same geographical representation. Most importantly, the proposal let’s the teams and players determine who the best eight teams are to advance to state. And that’s the way it should be – as evident by the fact NSAA has taken steps to do this in Classes A and B.
So, here is a look at each of the four lower classes and what the current district championship format for this year looks like compared to what a substate round would look like this year if that format were currently in place.
Class C-1
Current district finals format
Auburn vs. Ashland-Greenwood
Lincoln Christian vs. Columbus Scotus
Bishop Neumann vs. Arlington
Pierce vs. Ord
St. Paul vs. Kearney Catholic
Gothenburg vs. Chadron
* – Plus two wild card teams qualify for state
Proposed Substate format
#1 Kearney Catholic vs. #16 Auburn
#2 Chadron vs. #15 Ashland-Greenwood
#3 Ord vs. #14 Lincoln Christian
#4 Ogallala vs. #13 Pierce
#5 St. Paul vs. #12 Arlington
#6 Grand Island CC vs. #11 Bishop Neumann
#7 Columbus Scotus vs. #10 Gothenburg
#8 Chase County vs. #9 Wahoo
Class C-2
Current district finals format
Freeman vs. East Butler
Guardian Angels CC vs. Hartington CC
Stanton vs. Shelby-Rising City
Sutton vs. Hastings St. Cecilila
Crofton vs. Elgin-Pope John
Arcardia-Loup City vs. Hemingford
* – Plus two wild card teams qualify for state
Proposed Substate format
#1 Guardian Angels CC vs. #16 East Butler
#2 Freeman vs. #15 Arcadia-Loup City
#3 Stanton vs. #14 Shelby-Rising City
#4 Sutton vs. #13 Hemingford
#5 Hartington CC vs. #12 Elgin-Pope John
#6 Wisner-Pilger vs. #11 Crofton
#7 Ponca vs. #10 Hastings St. Cecilia
#8 Nebraska Christian vs. #9 North Platte St. Patrick’s
Class D-1
Current district finals format
Diller-Odell vs. BDS
Cedar Bluffs vs. Howells-Dodge
Emerson-Hubbard vs. North Central
Heartland Lutheran vs. Ansley-Litchfield
Lawrence-Nelson vs. Bertrand
South Loup vs. Dundy County-Stratton
* – Plus two wild card teams qualify for state
Proposed Substate format
#1 Emerson-Hubbard vs. #16 Ansley-Litchfield
#2 Bertrand vs. #15 Dundy County-Stratton
#3 Diller-Odell vs. #14 South Loup
#4 Howells-Dodge vs. #13 Friend
#5 Johnson-Brock vs. #12 Heartland Lutheran
#6 Lawrence-Nelson vs. #11 Alma
#7 BDS vs. #10 North Central
#8 Heartland vs. #9 Cedar Bluffs
Class D-2
Current district finals format
Falls City Sacred Heart vs. Hampton
Humphrey St. Francis vs. Spalding Academy
Wynot vs. O’Neill St. Mary’s
Giltner vs. Elwood
Sandhills-Thedford vs. Paxton
Potter-Dix vs. Crawford
* – Plus two wild card teams qualify for state
Proposed Substate format
#1 O’Neill St. Mary’s vs. #16 Elwood
#2 Exeter-Milligan vs. #15 Crawford
#3 Sandhills-Thedford vs. #14 Spalding Academy
#4 Stuart vs. #13 Humphrey St. Francis
#5 Hampton vs. #12 Giltner
#6 Falls City Sacred Heart vs. #11 CWC
#7 Potter-Dix vs. #10 Wynot
#8 Meridian vs. #9 Paxton
