UIL Snapshot Day: What to watch for in the Wichita Falls area

The UIL’s biennial realignment is a few short months away.

Much of the realignment process is kept top secret. Sure, there will be plenty of speculation with different websites offering predictions. Still, no one truly knows what the UIL is thinking. There are always a few surprises.

The release of realignment information to the public now comes in three phases. The first release comes with “Snapshot Day” on Friday. This is the day schools across the state record their enrollment and send it to the UIL, which then begins the realignment process.

Conference cutoffs will be announced in December with realignment scheduled for early February 2020.

First things first, several area schools have turned in unofficial numbers to TRN Sports. We’re not going to release those numbers yet, waiting for them to become official Friday.

Here are a few things to watch for as schools release their enrollment numbers this week.

Will Rider and Wichita Falls High remain in a district with West Texas schools?

This is the most pressing question with WFISD. The snapshot numbers will provide some answers to where Rider and Old High may end up.

The Raiders and Coyotes may be brought back to a district with Fort Worth area teams. It all depends on how many Lubbock and Amarillo area schools turn in enrollment numbers in the Class 5A Division II range.

There are rumors of Dumas, Hereford and Canyon potentially moving up from Class 4A Division I to Class 5A Division II. A source in Amarillo tells me Hereford and Canyon are headed to 5A, while Dumas will stay put.

A more recent rumor has Lubbock High dropping from 5A Division I to 5A Division II. It’s long been expected Lubbock-Cooper would ascend to at least Class 5A Division, but that’s being refuted by the Pirates’ administration.

However, if six of those Lubbock and Amarillo area schools are in the Class 5A Division II cutoff numbers, then don’t expect Rider and Old High to be in a district with those teams. If it’s only five, then it’s possible.

UIL doesn’t want to create anything less than six-team districts at the 5A level. Either Abilene Wylie or Rider/Old High would be joined with the West Texas schools to form a district. Wylie could be grouped with Fort Worth area schools like Abilene High has been frequently at the Class 6A level.

If Rider and Old High don’t go west, Justin Northwest and Fort Worth ISD seems to be its future district mates. Although some sort of grouping more to the east with Denison and Lake Dallas isn’t out of the question.

Who could Hirschi and Burkburnett be grouped with?

Having Hereford and Canyon move up the Class 5A Division II could potentially push Burkburnett and Hirschi into a Panhandle district.

In that scenario, Dumas and Pampa would be all that’s left of the current District 3-4A Division I. Levelland and Borger are the closest 4A DII schools to the Division I cutoff last realignment. If both don’t move up, then Hirschi and Burkburnett make sense to group with Dumas and Pampa. Gainesville could be lumped in with them to make a five-team district.

It’s like what happened to Vernon and Iowa Park being in a district with Bushland, Dalhart and Perryton in 2014-15. The travel was atrocious, but there aren’t options for Dumas and Pampa to be grouped elsewhere unless those schools petition to opt up into 4A DI.

Hirschi and Burkburnett are wildcards in the 4A Division I process. The Huskies and Bulldogs haven’t had all the same teams in the district since UIL reclassified its divisions in 2014 and split 4A into two divisions.

Which area teams are closest to moving up or down?

The most likely team to move up in the area may be Bowie. The Jackrabbits were only 10 below the Class 4A cutoff last season. The original numbers reported had Bowie over that cutoff.

Assuming the cutoff numbers rise like they typically do each realignment, Bowie may be safely in 3A Division I. But the Rabbits could be joined by Iowa Park.

If the Class 4A Division II number goes up 50, the Hawks are likely dropping to Class 3A Division I.

Holliday is often rumored to be moving up to 3A Division I. However, the Eagles are still slightly below last year’s cutoff (335) for DI.

Archer City and Quanah are near last year’s cutoff (161.5) between Class 2A Division I and Division II.

Jonathan Hull is a six-time Associated Press award-winning sports reporter, focusing primarily on WFISD football, high school basketball and the Dallas Cowboys. Follow him on Twitter: @Hull_TRN.