The 2013 schedule was little more than a one-year stopgap in the three-year hiatus on reclassification — a hiatus that didn’t apply to football. That means the 2014 schedule is likely to be quite a bit different from the 2013 schedule, which was quite a bit different from the 2012 schedule.

And, with all due respect to the WHSAA, I want to take a crack at designing it.

First of all, a couple assumptions: I build this schedule with the assumptions that current enrollment ADMs will hold (meaning Tongue River and Big Horn drop down to 1A, prompting one school (I’m saying Thermopolis) to move to the 2A East Conference), that Cokeville and Burlington will opt up to 11-man in Class 1A (because the new enrollment cutoffs will have both schools in six-man), that Saratoga and Wyoming Indian will opt to move into 11-man after a year in six-man (because that’s where the enrollment numbers will put them), and that Upton and Sundance will break up their co-op.

I also didn’t design 4A or 1A six-man schedules; those classifications have no out-of-class action, save a random JV game that occasionally pops up in six-man play.

With these assumptions, in 2014, 3A schools, with six teams per conference, will get three nonconference games; 2A schools, with seven teams per conference, get two nonconference games; and 1A 11-man schools, with eight teams per conference, get one nonconference game.

Keep in mind that the WHSAA has proven in building schedules that geography and distance are not the lone considerations. Competitive balance is also a big factor in schedule design.

Nevertheless, I tried to have some fun in developing this schedule. I paired together some teams that haven’t played each other in a while (or have never played before) and I increased out-of-state play (easier said than done). I also tried to bring back natural regional rivalries, so games like Douglas-Glenrock, Sundance-Moorcroft, Greybull-Riverside, Wheatland-Torrington and Burns-Pine Bluffs were keys — and starting points — on my schedule.

Of course, several changes could have been made here. The last game I finalized (and, therefore, the game I like the least) is the Week 2 game between Newcastle and Big Piney. The second-to-last game I finalized was the Week 2 game between Glenrock and Lyman. Aside from those two games, I think the rest of the schedule is pretty reasonable, given the WHSAA’s past schedules and the desire for both geographically close and competitively equal games:

(Note: Game weeks are in parentheses.)

3A East
Buffalo: (W1) Worland, (W2) Powell and (W3) Cody
Douglas: (W1) Glenrock, (W2) Green River and (W3) Powell
Lander: (W1) Cody, (W2) Star Valley and (W3) Worland
Rawlins: (W1) Wheatland, (W2) Wright and (W3) Jackson
Riverton: (W1) Green River, (W2) Cody and (W3) Star Valley
Torrington: (W1) Somebody in Nebraska, (W2) Wheatland and (W3) Green River

3A West
Cody: (W1) Lander, (W2) Riverton and (W3) Buffalo
Green River: (W1) Riverton, (W2) Douglas and (W3) Torrington
Jackson: (W1) Teton, Idaho, (W2) Pinedale and (W3) Rawlins
Powell: (W1) Somebody in Montana, (W2) Buffalo and (W3) Douglas
Star Valley: (W1) Snake River, Idaho, (W2) Lander and (W3) Riverton
Worland: (W1) Buffalo, (W2) Lovell and (W3) Lander

2A East
Burns: (W1) Pine Bluffs and (W2) Somebody in Nebraska
Glenrock: (W1) Douglas and (W2) Lyman
Moorcroft: (W1) Sundance and (W2) Greybull
Newcastle: (W1) Southeast and (W2) Big Piney
Thermopolis: (W1) Lovell and (W2) Kemmerer
Wheatland: (W1) Rawlins and (W2) Torrington
Wright: (W1) Big Horn and (W2) Rawlins

2A West
Big Piney: (W1) Rocky Mountain and (W2) Newcastle
Greybull: (W1) Riverside and (W2) Moorcroft
Kemmerer: (W1) Wind River and (W2) Thermopolis
Lovell: (W1) Thermopolis and (W2) Worland
Lyman: (W1) Somebody in Utah and (W2) Glenrock
Mountain View: (W1) Cokeville and (W2) Somebody in Utah
Pinedale: (W1) Saratoga and (W2) Jackson

1A 11-man East
Big Horn: Wright
Lingle: Somebody in Nebraska
Lusk: Shoshoni
Pine Bluffs: Burns
Southeast: Newcastle
Sundance: Moorcroft
Tongue River: Burlington
Upton: Wyoming Indian

1A 11-man West
Burlington: Tongue River
Cokeville: Mountain View
Riverside: Greybull
Rocky Mountain: Big Piney
Saratoga: Pinedale
Shoshoni: Lusk
Wind River: Kemmerer
Wyoming Indian: Upton

In an alternate Week 1 schedule where out-of-state games were tough to get, I had Lingle-Shoshoni, Lusk-Newcastle, Southeast-Wheatland and Rawlins-Lyman. Ultimately, though, I figured if Lyman could find a Utah game and Lingle a Nebraska game, that would work better for all eight schools; if that alternative didn’t work, this all-in-state option would suffice.

No matter how the 2014 schedule comes together, I’d consider trying to go through this same exercise yourself. Post your designs below. Going through this process helps you feel a lot of empathy for the process the WHSAA has to go through every year to make a schedule that works for as many programs as possible. It’s tough.

–patrick

Standings have now been posted for 1986, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995 and 1996.

To see all available year-by-year standings, click here.

In the process of adding standings, I realized a couple mistakes. First and foremost, I fixed a score from the 1992 season. On Oct. 2, Riverside beat Hanna 48-14; I had the score reversed, with Hanna winning. Thanks to Karla Pomeroy at the Basin Republican-Rustler for her help in verifying this fix!

Second, I realized I had miscalculated a couple season records. I miscounted Mountain View’s 1996 record — that year, the Buffalos went 6-3, not 7-2. I also fixed Saratoga’s 1990 record — the Panthers were 4-4, not 5-2. In an unrelated fix, I also corrected Sheridan’s record in 1974 — the Broncs were 3-6, not 2-7. The fixes are reflected on all the relevant pages.

–patrick

The 40th annual all-star football game is scheduled for June 8 in Casper.

–patrick

The biggest changes come in the small-school ranks, where Class 2A will go from 16 to 14 teams and where a 14-school cutoff line was established in Class 1A to separate 11-man and six-man squads.

The WHSAA’s decision has some ramifications worth deeper consideration:

Scheduling: With an anticipated 14 schools in 2A and Class 1A 11-man (although 1A might be different, and we’ll get to that in a second), the schools in those classifications will have the chance to have one more nonconference game before diving into a six-game conference schedule. This change highlights two important points: the chance for more flexibility in nonconference scheduling (which may reduce total travel for schools) and the ability to have a balanced conference schedule with three home games and three road games.

The WHSAA, which makes all the varsity football schedules statewide, has not had a lot of flexibility in scheduling because of the large, eight-team conferences in 2A and 1A 11-man the past few years. The flexibility afforded by smaller conferences — even if that flexibility is only one additional nonconference game — should help the WHSAA keep some schools closer to home during the first two weeks of the season.

But one of the problems with this option is that it doesn’t account for schools opting up, and two 11-man programs that, if the cutlines existed now, would be classified as six-man would likely do just that, thereby eliminating a week of nonconference flexibility for the 1A 11-man classification.

Opting up/down: With the 1A cutline established where it is — the 14 largest 1A schools as 11-man, the remainder as six-man — at least four schools will probably have tough decisions to make.

Although the final classifications won’t be set until enrollment numbers are collected after this school year, if the enrollments remain consistent from the last reclassification cycle in 2011, two current 11-man schools — Burlington and Cokeville — would be classified as six-man. Cokeville has a long history of opting up in situations like this and would likely be the first in line to move to 11-man; Burlington could follow. And even if Burlington’s enrollment number classifies it as an 11-man school, the program that was right above the Huskies in enrollment in 2011 — Upton — has been adamant about salvaging its 11-man program and avoiding six-man at all costs.

Conversely, two schools that opted down to six-man for the 2013 season — Wyoming Indian and Saratoga — will likely fall into the 11-man classification for 2014. Those schools will have a tough choice to make: stay in six-man and be ineligible for the playoffs, or go back to 11-man after one year in six-man. Either way, the coaches, administrators and players face a difficult conundrum if the enrollment numbers stand up, as they most certainly will for the Chiefs and probably will for Saratoga, especially with the Panthers’ co-op with Encampment in effect.

Normative Services, which will move from 11-man to six-man in 2013, has a stable and low enrollment that should place the Wolves safely in the six-man ranks for years to come.

The Upton-Sundance co-op: Upton and Sundance are entering the second season of their temporary co-op in 2013. If the Patriots want to continue in 2014, though, they face an interesting situation, one that may make it easier for them to stay connected.

One of the big questions the U-S team faced in 2012 was playoff eligibility. To remain eligible, the combined enrollments of the two programs (the total Upton enrollment plus the Sundance male enrollment) had to be smaller than the smallest Class 2A school. It was, just barely, and the Patriots finished 2012 in third place in the 1A 11-man East, qualifying for the playoffs.

With the two largest 2A schools coming down to Class 1A in 2014, though, the enrollment cutoff for the two schools to reach will likely be quite a bit higher, making it easier for the two schools to stay together and remain playoff eligible if they so choose. If participation numbers for the two programs remain in the low teens apiece, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Patriots survive to 2014 and 2015.

Rock River: The Longhorns finished their first season of junior-varsity six-man football last year and are set to play another JV season in 2013. With the school still tentatively scheduled to make the jump to varsity play in 2014, the state will have an uneven number of football programs (65), making scheduling for either the 11-man or the six-man division that much more difficult depending on opt-ups or opt-downs as listed above.

Of course, if the Upton-Sundance co-op remains in tact, the state will have 64 football programs. But even with an even number, opt-ups and opt-downs could create an odd number of schools in BOTH 11-man and six-man at the 1A level, which could be a scheduling nightmare for the WHSAA.

Class 4A and Class 3A: Barring some large shifts in enrollment, Class 4A and Class 3A will remain untouched by these changes in 2014. The only potential shifts in 3A could be in nonconference scheduling, as we may see more 2A-3A interclass games now that 2A schools have an extra week of nonconference scheduling available. We will only see two such games in 2013, and they both, obviously, come in Week 1: Glenrock at Torrington and Rawlins at Kemmerer.

Who moves: This is always the biggest question in any reclassification proposal. For now, only two schools will actually switch classifications, as the smallest two schools in 2A will move to 1A. Using 2011′s ADMs, those schools would be Tongue River and Big Horn. Don’t be surprised if that’s the case: When ADMs were calculated for the last reclassification cycle in 2010, Big Horn was the smallest 2A school at about 140; Tongue River was second-smallest at 145; Moorcroft was third-smallest at 163. Either Big Horn or Tongue River would have had to have done some significant growing, or Moorcroft (or Greybull or Wright) would have had to have done some significant shrinking, to have anyone but the Rams or Eagles move. (But don’t pen the moves in just yet. ADMs are always a little quirky. No one knows where, exactly, they’ll fall until the numbers are finalized.)

The remaining moves will be based on two things: (1) enrollment, although the existing gaps between the smallest 4A/3A schools and the largest 3A/2A schools make such changes seem unlikely, and (2) any six-man to 11-man or 11-man to six-man changes, as outlined above.

Big picture: The WHSAA made some good changes with this proposal. Six-man is now stable enough to support itself — it doesn’t need the “help” of bigger programs dropping down to supplement numbers. The eight-team conferences in 2A and 1A 11-man proved unmanageable, and although seven-team conferences aren’t much better, they are an improvement and should provide some travel relief. New programs at St. Stephens and Rock River should help bolster and stabilize six-man. The proposal has enough flexibility to accommodate an Upton-Sundance co-op (or, for that matter, other co-ops that may develop).

Of course, as with any changes, questions will linger until we have a chance to see the proposal in action. Nevertheless, these changes are good, necessary steps to stability in the small-school classes.

–patrick

Syverson led Thermopolis to Class 2A championships in 2009 and 2010. He was 30-14 in four seasons leading the Bobcats; Thermopolis went 2-7 in 2012.

Prior to coming to Thermopolis, Syverson was the head coach at Spearfish (S.D.) High School.

The hiring is dependent on the approval of the Albany County school board; the board meets Wednesday, KOWB reported.

Syverson replaces Ted Holmstrom, who stepped down after one year as head coach of the Plainsmen.

Laramie went 1-8 in 2012. The Plainsmen have not won a playoff game since 2000.

For a full list of coaching changes in the state this year, click here.

–patrick

The annual all-star football game is scheduled for June 8 in Casper.

–patrick

The Ranger of Riverton and the Casper Star-Tribune both reported on the resignation.

Reports from both papers said McCormick had come under fire for letting go three assistant coaches. After that decision, four other assistant coaches resigned.

McCormick went 23-27 in five seasons as Riverton’s head coach. The Wolverines won the 3A East Conference title last year but lost to Cody in the first round of the playoffs.

A replacement has not yet been named.

McCormick is the fifth Wyoming high school head football coach to resign this offseason. For a full list of coaching changes in the state this year, click here.

–patrick

The annual all-star football game is scheduled for June 8 in Casper.

–patrick

The Basin Republican Rustler reported the resignation first.

Tri compiled a 14-15 record with the Rebels. He led Riverside to the Class 1A 11-man semifinals in 2011, but the Rebels started 0-7 last year before winning their final two games.

A replacement has not yet been named.

For a full list of coaching changes in the state this year, click here.

–patrick

The preliminary results of the individual record compilation is available here.

Currently available statistical records have been used to create the lists.

Individual records for Wyoming high school football vary greatly from school to school and from year to year. All records contained should be considered unofficial and incomplete. To submit an individual for placement among a top 10, please email site manager Patrick Schmiedt at pschmiedt@yahoo.com and include in your email any and all possible documentation to verify the record claim.

For now, individual records are limited to one season records only. Individual game records for rushing, passing and receiving yards can be submitted, but will not be posted until a representative sample can be obtained. Career records are not being tracked at this point due to their difficulty to authenticate.

Records are for 11-man football only.

–patrick