Are more changes in store for the Missota Conference?

At this point it’s only speculation by one person so I didn’t include it in the story in Wednesday’s newspaper, but Red Wing athletic director and football coach Matt Schultz pointed out that the creation of Class AAAAAA football in 2012 could lead to another round of talks about Missota Conference membership.

I’ll do my best to spell out Schultz’s thinking in three steps.

1. In Red Wing’s section, Section 1AAAA, the postseason seeding is determined by a point system. If a member of the section beats another Class AAAA school, that team earns 100 points. A victory over a Class AAA school is worth 80 points. A victory over a Class AAAAA school is worth 120 points.
2. Shakopee was placed in Class AAAAAA, meaning it is one of the 32 largest schools in the state. The Sabers are the only Class AAAAAA school in the Missota Conference. Their league schedule will include five Class AAAAA schools (Chanhassen, Chaska, Farmington, New Prague and Northfield) and two Class AAAA schools (Holy Angels and Red Wing).
3. Assuming Shakopee’s new section uses a similar point system to determine postseason seeds, the Sabers will be at a distinct disadvantage by playing in the Missota Conference.

“They may want to look at something different,” Schultz said. “If I was coaching a Class AAAA team in a Class AA conference, boy I’d like to do something different.”

Shakopee was placed in the state’s toughest section without a doubt. The Sabers are in the same section as Eden Prairie, Edina, Hopkins, Minnetonka, Robbinsdale Armstrong,
Wayzata and Minneapolis South. Eden Prairie, Minnetonka and Wayzata have won eight of the past 11 large-school state titles.

But they aren’t necessarily on a playoff collision course. The MSHSL board will revisit and possibly vote on the playoff format structure in August. The most likely scenario will have each team playing one game in their assigned section, followed by a crossover game against a team from another section. — Star Tribune

The Missota Conference experienced a good deal of turnover less than a year ago. Hutchinson and Prior Lake left the Missota Conference and moved to the Wright Count and South Suburban conferences, respectively, in the fall of 2010. Chanhassen and Chaska, formerly of the Lake Conference, were added to the Missota Conference in the fall of 2010.