The UIL has released its official realignment cutoff numbers for 2024-26 and the Brownwood Lions will remain in Class 4A Division I for football. Brownwood High turned in 960 for its official enrollment, and the enrollment numbers for 4A Division I will be 957-1314 students.
“There’s a reason for what they did and you never can guess what the UIL’s going to do,” Lions head football coach Sammy Burnett said Friday morning shortly after the UIL issued the information. “We’re 4A Division I, and probably one the smallest schools, but it is what it is.”
Multiple high school sports outlets speculated the cutoff number would be 990, which would have dropped the Lions to 4A Division I.
“It would have been nice to drop down to 4A Division II and have the same type numbers, but that didn’t happen and we’ll deal with it,” Burnett said. “They bumped the top number up to 1,314 and that will draw in a couple more teams. When you have 1,300 kids in your school your roster is bigger and that’s something we have to defend against with some many kids going both ways. We just have to make sure we’re shape and keep fighting the way we always fight.”
The region and districts for each classification will be revealed on Feb. 1, 2024. There will be 106 schools competing in 4A Division I football, up from 99 the previous two years. With a larger number of schools, it would seem Brownwood would remain in Region I, but nothing is guaranteed as proved Friday.
There will be at least one change to Brownwood’s current district – if not wholesale – as Lubbock Estacado is dropping to 4A Division II with 873 students, while Andrews, Big Spring and San Angelo Lake View will remain in 4A Division I. Opting up 4A Division II with 818 students is Pecos, who could be a possible replacement for Lubbock Estacado if the district remains intact.
Other potential Region I schools in Class 4A include El Paso Ysleta, Riverside, Irvin, Austin and Bowie; San Elizario, opt-ups Clint, Clint Mountain View and Fabens; Dumas, Hereford, Pampa, Canyon, Canyon Randall and move up Canyon West Plains. Decatur and Springtown will be looking for a new district home as they only teams in their league that will remain in 4A Division, so a move east could be possible. Stephenville could also be on the border of Region I and II, as well.
Possible district scenarios could include a five-team of El Paso ISD schools; a five-team of near El Paso schools like San Elizario, Clint, Clint Mountain View, Fabens, and Pecos; a six-team of panhandle area schools Dumas, Pampa, Hereford, Canyon, Canyon Randall, and Canyon West Plains; and the four holdovers from the current 2-4A Division I in Brownwood, Andrews, Big Spring and Lake View, with possible additions from the east.
Notable teams that are dropping to 4A Division II include China Spring, Waco La Vega, Burkburnett, Mineral Wells, and Benbrook.
The only division changes to teams in the BrownwoodNews.com coverage is Comanche, which is moving up to Class 3A Division I, and Goldthwaite, which is sliding down to Class 2A Division II.