EUREKA, Ca (KIEM)-State football champion St. Bernard’s will remain in the Big 4 Conference for another two years.
The Board of Managers of the Humboldt Del Norte League that consists of a member from each school recently voted 8-1 to keep the two leagues the same.
The process is all part of the competitive equity divisions for football and will be re-evaluated in two years.
The top four North Coast Section teams will be placed in the Big 4 and the lower four division teams in the Little 4. The NCS requires leagues to have at least four teams to have an automatic qualifier for the playoffs.
Approved HDNL Re-Alignment Process
1. Every 2 years the HDNL will be Re-Aligned in the sport of Football. This shall be done to maintain the integrity of two leagues with a minimum of 4 teams each.
2. For the purposes of this proposal, the two leagues shall be referred to as the Big 4 and the Little 4.
3. At the end of the two-year scheduling cycle the top 4 NCS division teams will be placed in the Big 4 and the lower 4 division teams will be placed in the Little 4.
4. If two or more teams are in an NCS division that will have teams placed in both the Big 4 and Little 4:
A. The team(s) with the most NCS competitive equity points from the last two-year cycle would be placed in the Big 4 and the team(s) with the least will be placed in the Little 4.
B. If the teams were only in the same NCS division for the final year of the two-year cycle, then the NCS competitive equity points from that year only will be used to determine placement into the Big 4 or Little 4.
C. If two teams are tied with the same number of NCS competitive equity points in either A or B, the winner of a head to head game during the last year of the cycle would be placed in the Big 4 and the loser placed in the Little 4.
D. If there is no head to head game the school with the highest enrollment will be placed in the Big 4 and the school with the lowest enrollment will be placed in the Little 4.
5. At the end of the two-year scheduling cycle, if a Big 4 team is identified for supplemental placement into the Little 4 (based on the criteria in #3 and #4 above) they will be given the opportunity to remain in the Big 4. If this is the case, no team will be required to move from the Little 4 to the Big 4.
