First look at SC high school sports’ revamped Class 5A and its two divisions
Big changes are coming to South Carolina high schools’ largest athletic classification.
The S.C. High School League’s realignment committee voted in favor to split Class 5A into two divisions as it relates to the playoffs and state championships. There will be more discussions on the split next week at the S.C. athletic directors’ spring meetings Sunday to Wednesday in Charleston.
The discussions will continue after that, and a full proposal and playoff format will be brought before the SCHSL executive committee meeting on April 17. If approved, the changes will go into effect for 2024-26.
The State has learned what teams will make up each of the two divisions in Class 5A and what the playoff structure might look like.
How will 5A be split in SC
If approved by the executive committee, it will be the first time a classification in South Carolina is split into two divisions for all sports. At various times in the past, Class A, 2A and 4A were split into two divisions only for football.
There will be 54 schools in Class 5A, the most out any classification. The realignment committee voted on the split, with the 26 largest schools in the Class 5A Division I and remaining 28 schools in Class 5A Division II. The divisions were based on 45-day enrollment numbers, with the new out-of-zone multiplier factored in.
Having 54 schools in a single class is more than the SCHSL historically prefers, and splitting the classification into two gives more teams a chance to compete for a state championship.
Of the 54 schools, 48 would qualify for the playoffs.
▪ Class 5A Division I will be made up of JL Mann, Mauldin, Boiling Springs, Dorman, Byrnes, Spartanburg, Wade Hampton, Clover, Rock Hill, Dutch Fork, Lexington, River Bluff, Blythewood, Ridge View, Spring Valley, Sumter, Carolina Forest, Cane Bay, Stratford, Wando, Ashley Ridge, Fort Dorchester, James Island, Stall, Summerville and West Ashley.
▪ Class 5A Division II will be Easley, Greenville, Greenwood, Hillcrest, TL Hanna Woodmont, Eastside, Gaffney, Riverside, Catawba Ridge, Fort Mill, Indian Land, Nation Ford, Northwestern, Chapin, Irmo, White Knoll, Lugoff-Elgin, Westwood, West Florence, Conway, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Socastee, St. James, Berkeley, Goose Creek and Lucy Beckham.
There would be eight regions in 5A. Come playoff time, teams from Region 1-3 would be considered Upper State, and 6-8 would be Lower State. Regions 4-5 would be hybrid regions and have teams in both Upper and Lower states.
Dutch Fork and Blythewood would be in Class 5A Division I Upper State, with Sumter in Lower State. Irmo, Chapin, Sumter, White Knoll, Lugoff-Elgin, West Florence and Westwood would be in Division II Lower State.
The committee voted for Spring Valley, Ridge View, Lexington and River Bluff to rotate between Class 5A Division I Upper State and Lower State. For example, Spring Valley and Ridge View would be Upper State one year and Lower State the next. The same for Lexington and River Bluff. It hasn’t been decided which year the schools would be Upper and which would be Lower.
How playoff brackets will be determined
The 5A plan still has some postseason-related questions to answer for certain sports. For most sports’ playoffs, there will be 12 teams each in Class 5A Division I’s Upper and Lower playoff brackets, and 12 in each of the two 5A Division II brackets.
Automatic qualifiers for the playoffs would be the top three teams from a six-team region, and the top four from a seven- or eight-team region.
Region champions will be seeded first followed by second-, third- and fourth-place finishers. The automatic qualifiers would be seeded using the MaxPreps RPI formula, which North Carolina and other states use. Each team would enter the results of regular-season games into MaxPreps website, and the RPI is calculated based the team’s winning percentage and opponents’ winning percentage. Margin of victory isn’t used in calculating the RPI.
All non-automatic qualifiers would make up the rest of the bracket based on MaxPreps’ RPI standings.
There will be no predetermined home and away teams in the playoff bracket. The highest seed will host throughout. Because of the seeding criteria, region teams could face each other in the first round.
Sports like baseball and softball have to determine if they want to do their playoffs in a district format like in years past or go to best-of-three series. Sports such as boys lacrosse, wrestling and boys volleyball still have to determine their own playoff formula as well.
Class 5A regions for 2024-26
Here are the SCHSL’s regions for the upcoming realignment for 2024-26 school years. Schools in bold will be Class 5A Division I and others in Class 5A Division II:
▪ Region 1: Easley, Greenville, Greenwood, Hillcrest, JL Mann, Mauldin, TL Hanna Woodmont
▪ Region 2: Boiling Springs, Dorman, Eastside, Gaffney, Byrnes, Riverside, Spartanburg, Wade Hampton
▪ Region 3: Catawba Ridge, Clover, Fort Mill, Indian Land, Nation Ford, Northwestern, Rock Hill
▪ Region 4: Chapin, Dutch Fork, Irmo, Lexington, River Bluff, White Knoll
▪ Region 5: Blythewood, Lugoff-Elgin, Ridge View, Spring Valley, Sumter, Westwood, West Florence
▪ Region 6: Carolina Forest, Conway, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Socastee, St. James
▪ Region 7: Berkeley, Cane Bay, Goose Creek, Lucy Beckham, Stratford, Wando
▪ Region 8: Ashley Ridge, Fort Dorchester, James Island, Stall, Summerville, West Ashley
