Class A Preview


A Player Preview

Here are some thoughts on the upcoming season, based on the final 2011 computer rankings and the 2012 district memberships.

District rankings:

(All): average strength of all teams in the district

Parity:
0 = perfect randomness: all district games are coin-flips
1 = perfect prediction: all district games will be blowouts

(top4): average of the top 4 teams in the district, a measure of how well the district will fare in the playoffs.

R Dist    (All)  Parity  (top4)
1 A-1     84.29   0.445  96.23
2 A-3     77.64   0.344  93.95
3 A-2     73.44   0.286  93.50
4 A-4     73.11   0.418  83.88
5 A-7     72.93   0.339  89.38
6 A-8     71.19   0.240  98.30
7 A-6     61.98   0.328  81.42
8 A-5     59.32   0.190  88.68

District previews:

A-1: #6 Inwood West Lyon (1A 9-3), #9 Lawton-Bronson (1A 9-1), #17 Akron-Westfield (8-3), #19 Woodbury Central (7-4)

West Lyon and Lawton-Bronson drop down from 1A to lead district 1, believed to be the best in the state. District also leads in parity: a lot of high-profile, competitive games will be played every Friday.

A-2: #5 Britt West Hancock (12-2), #11 Mason City Newman (11-2), #21 Algona Garrigan (6-4), #23 Prairie Valley (1A 5-5)

West Hancock leads district 2. Newman is expected to challenge. Prairie Valley drops down from 1A.

A-3: #8 Wapsie Valley (1A 9-2), #10 Turkey Valley (1A 8-3), #16 Arlington Starmont (1A 7-3), #26 Green North Butler (5-5)

A trio of 1A teams drop down to A to headline district 3.

A-4: #12 Gladbrook-Reinbeck (1A 8-2), #18 Traer North Tama (9-2), #30 Marengo Iowa Valley (6-4), #31 Grundy Center (6-4)

Gladbrook-Reinbeck drops down from 1A to lead district 4. Based on a strong district parity score, a lot of competitive games will be played this fall.

A-5: #4 Lisbon (14-0), #7 Lone Tree (10-2), #33 Wayland WACO (7-3), #38 Riverside Highland (1A 3-6)

Lisbon, last year’s undefeated champion, and Lone Tree headline district 5. Riverside Highland drops down from 1A to challenge.

A-6: #14 Lynnville-Sully (8-3), #15 Brooklyn BGM (8-3), #22 Packwood Pekin (1A 5-5), #47 Pleasantville (1A 2-7)

Lynnville-Sully and Brooklyn BGM are expected to battle for the district 6 crown. Pekin and Pleasantville drop down from 1A to challenge.

A-7: #2 Woodward-Granger (1A 10-1), #13 Madrid (10-3), #24 Bedford (9-3), #34 Earlham (7-5)

Woodward-Granger drops down from 1A to headline district 2. 2011 finalist Madrid looks to challenge.

A-8: #1 East Mills (8 10-2), #3 Logan-Magnolia (1A 10-2), #25 Griswold (1A 5-4), #28 Underwood (1A 4-5)

East Mills moves up from the 8-player league to challenge the 1A trio of Logan-Magnolia, Griswold, and Underwood. Computer may be structurally overestimating East Mills a bit; time will tell.