High school football in Indiana started the class system in 1973. Before that, there were just mythical state champions.
In 1983, the IHSAA added a fourth class, and then in '85 they expanded to five. The new change will begin Fall of 2013.
The sixth class will mainly affect just 2 local teams, Penn and Warsaw. While they will move up to Class 6A next year, other area teams won't have to face them in the Sectional.
The bottom four classes will remain the same based on enrollment of boys in each school.
Meanwhile the current 5A Class of 64 teams will be split in half. The 32 highest enrollment schools will be in 6A while the next 32 will be in 5A.
What that means is, while the first four classes will have three games to win a sectional, the top two classes will have a bye in the first round and will start tournament play in the Sectional Semi-Finals.
I spoke with Penn Coach Cory Yeoman tonight and he said the concern his school is looking at is missing that game in week 10. It's uncertain how that revenue will be compensated and if their school will be allowed to schedule an extra regular season game that week.
The other issue is travel. Since only Penn and Warsaw are from this area, you'll see the Kingsmen and Tigers going a long way away for tournament games. Even worse than it is now.
