Let's begin in Class 4A. There are 42 teams total, with seven districts of 6 teams each.
4A D-1
- Ankeny
- Des Moines Hoover
- Des Moines Lincoln
- WDM Dowling
- Sioux City East
- Sioux City North
4A D-2
- Ankeny Centennial
- Des Moines Roosevelt
- Fort Dodge
- Marshalltown
- Sioux City West
- Southeast Polk
4A D-3
- Cedar Falls
- Cedar Rapids Jefferson
- Dubuque Hempstead
- Dubuque Senior
- Cedar Rapids Prairie
- Waterloo West
4A D-4
- Davenport North
- Iowa City High
- Iowa City West
- Linn-Mar
- Muscatine
- Pleasant Valley
4A D-5
- Bettendorf
- Burlington
- Cedar Rapids Kennedy
- Cedar Rapids Washington
- Davenport Central
- Davenport West
4A D-6
- Des Moines East
- Indianola
- Johnston
- Mason City
- Ottumwa
- Waukee
4A D-7
- Ames
- Council Bluffs Jefferson
- Council Bluffs Lincoln
- Des Moines North
- Urbandale
- WDM Valley
It's pretty much impossible to draw borders for the 4A districts, because they cross each other all over the place. But here's a visual representation of the districts:
It's got to be tough to get the three Sioux City schools and the two Council Bluffs schools pulled into your mix ... but why the heck do you put Ottumwa and Mason City in the same district?
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As for 3A, they will get the six teams forced out of 4A due to that class being cut down to 42. In addition, Iowa City Liberty begins varsity play in 2018 as a 3A program. Since the state is also reducing Classes 3A/2A/1A from 56 to 54, that means nine teams that played 3A football in 2016-17 will be moving down to 2A. We're looking at nine districts of 6 teams each:
3A D-1
- Sioux City Heelan
- Denison-Schleswig
- LeMars
- Sergeant Bluff-Luton
- Spencer
- Storm Lake
3A D-2
- Boone
- Carroll
- Dallas Center-Grimes
- Humboldt
- Perry
- Webster City
3A D-3
- Charles City
- Decorah
- Independence
- WATERLOO EAST (from 4A)
- Waverly-Shell Rock
- West Delaware
3A D-4
- Center Point-Urbana
- WESTERN DUBUQUE (from 4A)
- Maquoketa
- Marion
- Dubuque Wahlert
- Cedar Rapids Xavier
3A D-5
- Davenport Assumption
- Central DeWitt
- Clear Creek-Amana
- CLINTON (from 4A)
- IOWA CITY LIBERTY (new program)
- NORTH SCOTT (from 4A)
3A D-6
- Fairfield
- Fort Madison
- Keokuk
- Mount Pleasant
- Solon
- Washington
3A D-7
- Grinnell
- Knoxville
- NEWTON (from 4A)
- Oskaloosa
- Pella
- South Tama
3A D-8
- Ballard
- Bondurant-Farrar
- Carlisle
- Gilbert
- North Polk
- Norwalk
3A D-9
- ADM
- Creston
- Glenwood
- Harlan
- LEWIS CENTRAL (from 4A)
- Winterset
Once again, the state contorts itself to get Solon into the southeast Iowa district, skipping by the Spartans so Clear Creek-Amana and Iowa City Liberty go with the Quad Cities schools instead. They did the exact same thing with the 2016-17 districts; it's really obvious when you put things on a map to see how strange that decision is. I don't know why they chose to do that. I mean, Clear Creek-Amana has had a pretty good program the past few years. Not as good as Solon, but good enough for balance's sake, and it would make a nicer map to have CCA in D-6 and Solon in D-5. The only thing I can think of is, Tiffin and North Liberty are pretty much right on Interstates that connect to the Quad Cities, while Solon is a bit further from the four-lanes. Seems like a lame reason, but again, I dunno.
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Moving on to 2A, they pick up the nine former 3A schools that fell into their class. They also pick up five former 1A schools that have grown enough to make it to 2A, which means 15 programs that were 2A last season are dropping to 1A.
2A D-1
- Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley
- Central Lyon/George-Little Rock
- MOC Floyd Valley
- OKOBOJI MILFORD (up from 1A)
- Sheldon
- Sioux Center
2A D-2
- ALGONA (from 3A)
- Clarion-Goldfield-Dows
- Estherville Lincoln Central
- Garner-Hayfield-Ventura
- Southeast Valley, Gowrie
- SPIRIT LAKE (from 3A)
2A D-3
- Clear Lake
- Crestwood
- Forest City
- Hampton-Dumont-CAL
- IOWA FALLS-ALDEN (from 3A)
- New Hampton
2A D-4
- Anamosa
- Waterloo Columbus
- Monticello
- North Fayette Valley
- Oelwein
- Waukon
2A D-5
- Camanche
- LOUISA-MUSCATINE (up from 1A)
- Mount Vernon
- TIPTON (up from 1A)
- WEST BURLINGTON/NOTRE DAME (from 3A)
- West Liberty
2A D-6
- Albia
- Central Lee
- Davis County
- Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont
- Mid-Prairie
- Williamsburg
2A D-7
- BENTON (from 3A)
- NEVADA (from 3A)
- Roland-Story
- Union, La Porte City
- VINTON-SHELLSBURG (from 3A)
- West Marshall
2A D-8
- Centerville
- Chariton
- Clarke, Osceola
- DES MOINES CHRISTIAN (up from 1A)
- PCM, Monroe
- Saydel
2A D-9
- ATLANTIC (from 3A)
- GREENE COUNTY (from 3A)
- Carroll Kuemper
- OA-BCIG (up from 1A)
- Red Oak
- Shenandoah
This map pretty much makes sense. It's a bit of a haul from Central Lee to Williamsburg, but then, it's a bit of a haul from Central Lee to anywhere.
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Class 1A takes the 15 programs dropping down from 2A, but remember five former 1As got big and moved up to 2A. They also take on five Class A schools that are moving up to 1A for this cycle, which means I count 17 programs that will be dropping into Class A this fall.
1A D-1
- Emmetsburg
- Sibley-Ocheydan
- Unity Christian
- West Lyon
- WEST SIOUX (up from A)
- Western Christian
1A D-2
- Eagle Grove
- Madrid
- Ogden
- POCAHONTAS AREA (from 2A)
- SOUTH CENTRAL CALHOUN (from 2A)
- South Hamilton
1A D-3
- APLINGTON-PARKERSBURG (from 2A)
- Denver
- Lake Mills
- NORTH BUTLER (up from A)
- OSAGE (from 2A)
- Sumner-Fredericksburg
1A D-4
- DYERSVILLE BECKMAN (from 2A)
- Bellevue
- CASCADE (from 2A)
- North Cedar
- NORTHEAST, GOOSE LAKE (from 2A)
- West Branch
1A D-5
- Columbus, Columbus Junction
- MEDIAPOLIS (from 2A)
- Sigourney-Keota
- Van Buren
- Wapello
- Wilton
1A D-6
- DIKE-NEW HARTFORD (from 2A)
- EAST MARSHALL (from 2A)
- Jesup
- NORTH LINN (up from A)
- Iowa City Regina
- SOUTH HARDIN (from 2A)
1A D-7
- COLFAX-MINGO (up from A)
- Interstate 35, Truro
- Pella Christian
- Pleasantville
- Woodward Academy
- Woodward-Granger
1A D-8
- ACGC
- CLARINDA (from 2A)
- Mount Ayr
- Panorama
- Van Meter
- West Central Valley
1A D-9
- CHEROKEE, WASHINGTON (from 2A)
- EAST SAC COUNTY (from 2A)
- Missouri Valley
- MVAOCOU (up from A)
- Treynor
- UNDERWOOD (from 2A)
District 7 has that weird jog to take in Woodward Academy and Woodward-Granger. It seems like there must have been a smoother way to work out those centrally located schools, but I'm not going to try to come up with an option.
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And now, Class A. Since this class takes in all the remaining 11-player schools, there will actually be 62 members in this class. There will be 10 districts total, eight with 6 members and two with 7 members. Seventeen former 1A schools become A this fall, while five former As move up to 1A. Seven other programs will change to 8-player for the upcoming season.
A D-1
- Akron-Westfield
- LeMars Gehlen
- Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn
- HINTON (from 1A)
- MMCRU
- South O'Brien
A D-2
- ALTA-AURELIA (from 1A)
- IKM MANNING (from 1A)
- MANSON NORTHWEST WEBSTER (from 1A)
- Ridge View
- Sioux Central
- Fort Dodge St. Edmond
A D-3
- BELMOND-KLEMME (from 1A)
- Algona Garrigan
- Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire
- North Union
- West Fork
- West Hancock
A D-4
- CENTRAL SPRINGS (from 1A)
- Nashua-Plainfield
- Mason City Newman
- Postville
- Saint Ansgar
- SOUTH WINNESHIEK (from 1A)
- Starmont
A D-5
- Alburnett
- CLAYTON RIDGE (from 1A)
- Edgewood-Colesburg
- Lisbon
- MAQUOKETA VALLEY (from 1A)
- MFL MAR MAC (from 1A)
A D-6
- Belle Plaine
- BGM
- Cardinal, Eldon
- DURANT (from 1A)
- HIGHLAND, RIVERSIDE (from 1A)
- Pekin
A D-7
- BCLUW (from 1A)
- East Buchanan
- GMG
- Grundy Center
- Hudson
- North Tama
- Wapsie Valley
A D-8
- CENTRAL DECATUR (from 1A)
- Grand View Christian
- Lynnville-Sully
- Martensdale-St. Marys
- North Mahaska
- Wayne
A D-9
- AHSTW (from 1A)
- Earlham
- Nodaway Valley
- Riverside, Oakland
- Southwest Valley
- Council Bluffs St. Albert
A D-10
- Lawton-Bronson
- LOGAN-MAGNOLIA (from 1A)
- TRI-CENTER (from 1A)
- West Monona
- Westwood
- Woodbury Central
This seems like a fairly well thought-out map. You can disregard the weird shape of D-3; there aren't any members in that south extension, it's just taking up space.
So there we go. The remaining schools, 65 of them, will be playing 8-man football (eight districts of 8 and one district of 9), but it's getting really late tonight for me to be drawing any more maps.
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