Before we get too deep into the possible new conference alignments facing the scrutiny of the Wyoming High School Activities Association this fall, we need to set the ground rules of what's up for vote. The WHSAA's first quarterly meeting, scheduled for Sept. 30-Oct. 1 in Casper, will have great sway in how the conferences and classifications are organized for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years.

It's easiest to examine the proposals if we look at football as separate from everything else. And here's how everything else breaks down:

One proposal before the WHSAA is the so-called "natural breaks" proposal, one that would allow the WHSAA to put as many as 14 teams into Class 4A. Using enrollment numbers provided to them earlier this fall, the WHSAA executive staff has already set those "natural breaks" so schools will know where they would go if this proposal passes.

Here are how the conferences would break down IF this proposal passes (for basketball, track and volleyball, and to a certain extent for wrestling):

4A West: Cody, Evanston, Green River, Jackson, Riverton, Rock Springs, Star Valley.
4A East: Gillette, Kelly Walsh, Natrona County, Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne East, Laramie, Sheridan.
3A West: Lander, Lovell, Powell, Worland, Kemmerer, Lyman, Mountain View, Pinedale.
3A East: Buffalo, Glenrock, Newcastle, Thermopolis, Douglas, Rawlins, Torrington, Wheatland.
2A Northwest: Greybull, Riverside, Rocky Mountain, Shoshoni.
2A Northeast: Big Horn, Moorcroft, Sundance, Tongue River, Wright.
2A Southwest: Big Piney, Saratoga, Wind River, Wyoming Indian.
2A Southeast: Burns, Lingle, Lusk, Pine Bluffs, Southeast.
1A Northwest: Burlington, Dubois, Fort Washakie, Meeteetse, St. Stephens, Ten Sleep.
1A Northeast: Arvada-Clearmont, Hulett, Kaycee, Normative Services, Upton.
1A Southwest: Arapaho Charter, Cokeville, Encampment, Farson, Hanna, Snake River.
1A Southeast: Chugwater, Glendo, Guernsey, Midwest, Rock River.

If the proposal DOES NOT pass, and the WHSAA goes back to using its current classification system (12-16-20-rest), here's how the conferences would break down:

4A West: Natrona County, Evanston, Green River, Riverton, Rock Springs, Star Valley.
4A East: Gillette, Kelly Walsh, Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne East, Laramie, Sheridan.
3A West: Cody, Lander, Powell, Worland, Jackson, Lyman, Mountain View, Pinedale.
3A East: Buffalo, Glenrock, Newcastle, Thermopolis, Douglas, Rawlins, Torrington, Wheatland.
2A Northwest: Greybull, Lovell, Riverside, Rocky Mountain, Shoshoni.
2A Northeast: Big Horn, Moorcroft, Sundance, Tongue River, Wright.
2A Southwest: Big Piney, Kemmerer, Saratoga, Wind River, Wyoming Indian.
2A Southeast: Burns, Lingle, Lusk, Pine Bluffs, Southeast.
1A Northwest: Burlington, Dubois, Fort Washakie, Meeteetse, St. Stephens, Ten Sleep.
1A Northeast: Arvada-Clearmont, Hulett, Kaycee, Normative Services, Upton.
1A Southwest: Arapaho Charter, Cokeville, Encampment, Farson, Hanna, Snake River.
1A Southeast: Chugwater, Glendo, Guernsey, Midwest, Rock River.

It's important to note several things at this point. First, conference alignments are still flexible, and there could still be changes in the make-up of the conferences even if the "natural breaks" proposal passes or fails. This is most likely to happen at the 1A level, specifically with Midwest rejoining the Northeast or Arapaho Charter rejoining the 1A Northwest or swapping spots with Fort Washakie in the Southwest.

But it could also happen in Class 4A, especially if the "natural breaks" proposal does not pass. The current Class 4A ADs got together in Casper last week and hammered out the alignment shown above in the example where the "natural breaks" proposal doesn't pass. You'll note that the Casper schools are split -- Natrona in the West, Kelly Walsh in the East -- and that Riverton has moved into the West. As I understand it, the ADs suggested this alignment by a vote of 11-1.

Schools' classifications will be determined by the vote on the "natural breaks" proposal, and classification can't change once it's set except for by special vote by the WHSAA board. But, as I said before, though, conference alignment is still fluid and will continue to be fluid right up until the final vote in November.

And we haven't even touched soccer. In each case, no matter what, soccer will stay at 12 teams in Class 4A, with Natrona, Evanston, Green River, Riverton, Rock Springs and Star Valley in the West and Gillette, Kelly Walsh, Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne East, Laramie and Sheridan in the East.

Now, take a breath....

Whew.

On to football... and another proposal. This one is for the reorganization of the football classifications, the big crux of which is reducing Class 5A to 10 teams and adding a division of six-man football.

Here is how the football conferences would shake out IF the proposal passes:

Class 4A: Gillette, Kelly Walsh, Natrona County, Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne East, Evanston, Green River, Laramie, Rock Springs, Sheridan.
3A West: Cody, Jackson, Lander, Powell, Star Valley, Worland.
3A East: Buffalo, Douglas, Rawlins, Riverton, Torrington, Wheatland.
2A West: Big Piney, Greybull, Kemmerer, Lovell, Lyman, Mountain View, Pinedale, Wyoming Indian.
2A East: Burns, Big Horn, Glenrock, Moorcroft, Newcastle, Thermopolis, Tongue River, Wright.
1A 11-man West: Burlington, Cokeville, Dubois, Riverside, Rocky Mountain, Saratoga, Shoshoni, Wind River.
1A 11-man East: Hulett, Lingle, Lusk, Normative Services, Pine Bluffs, Southeast, Sundance, Upton.
1A six-man: Fort Washakie, Guernsey, Hanna, Kaycee, Snake River, Meeteetse, Midwest, Rock River, Ten Sleep.

You'll note that there are no conferences for 4A or 1A-six-man. In both cases, there will only be one conference, with a round-robin schedule set up for both divisions. Class 4A teams will play each other each once, including a full-on regular season game scheduled for Zero Week, for a nine-game regular season. Each game will be a "conference" game -- there will be no non-conference games -- and the top eight teams from that "conference" will be seeded 1-8 in the playoff bracket.

For six-man, each team will play every other once -- nine teams, making for an eight-game regular season -- and the top four teams will advance to the playoffs.

As for 2A and 1A-11, you'll note that the conferences themselves are much bigger now. Therefore, the conference season will take up the bulk of the schedule -- seven of the eight games for each team will be conference games.

If the proposal DOES NOT pass, here is how the classes/conferences would be made up:

5A East: Gillette, Kelly Walsh, Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne East, Laramie, Sheridan.
5A West: Natrona County, Evanston, Green River, Rock Springs, Star Valley.
4A West: Cody, Jackson, Lander, Powell, Riverton, Worland.
4A East: Buffalo, Douglas, Rawlins, Torrington, Wheatland.
3A West: Big Piney, Kemmerer, Lovell, Lyman, Mountain View, Pinedale.
3A East: Burns, Glenrock, Moorcroft, Newcastle, Thermopolis, Wright.
2A West: Greybull, Riverside, Rocky Mountain, Shoshoni, Wind River, Wyoming Indian.
2A East: Big Horn, Lingle, Lusk, Pine Bluffs, Sundance, Tongue River.
1A West: Burlington, Cokeville, Dubois, Hanna, Saratoga.
1A East: Guernsey, Hulett, Midwest, Normative Services, Southeast, Upton.

Once again, it's important to note in both cases, conference alignment can be fluid but, usually, classification is not. The only hiccup I see here is with Saratoga football, which usually co-ops with Encampment, which might cause them to move up a classification in the second case.

And it's interesting to see here that if the six-man/10 in 4A proposal doesn't pass, Casper's two teams could again be split up, aided by Star Valley's jump into 5A and Riverton's fall to 4A.

It's a lot to process. I'm still trying to do just that.... And now, you have some time to do so, too.

The first of the four district meetings was today; those will continue through next week. Then, on Sept. 30, the WHSAA board will gather in Casper, make some votes and help clear up a lot of the "what-ifs" facing them this month.

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com

Of the WHSAA's 12 boys and 12 girls sanctioned sports, each one has had its dynasties.

Sooner or later, all dynasties eventually fade. Some last longer than others, and they're all worthy of recognition.

But in which sport is it hardest to build and maintain a multi-year dynasty?

Is it a mainstream team sport like football, basketball or soccer, where seasons are often defined by how teams play in a three-game loser-out tournament?

Or is it tougher in a sport like golf, where one bad day for a team meber -- or one outstanding day -- might mean the difference between first and fifth?

Or is it in a sport like wrestling or tennis, where individual efforts are paramount and team success -- and therefore the construction of a dynasty -- simply a byproduct?

For argument's sake, here are the the longest and second-longest state championship streaks in WHSAA-sponsored sports (excluding indoor track, which is brand new, and alpine skiing, where our archives only go back to 1993):

Boys
Football: Cokeville, 6 (1986-91), and Worland, 5 (1952-56)
Cross country: Gillette, 7 (1988-94) and 6 (1998-2003), and Wright, 5 (1998-02) and Encampment, 5 (1973-77)
Tennis: Cheyenne Central, 8 (1986-93), and Natrona County, 3 (1977-79) and Jackson, 3 (2000-02)
Golf: Cheyenne Central, 4 (2004-07) and Douglas, 4 (1981-84)
Basketball: Gillette, 6 (1992-97), and Cheyenne Central, 4 (1942-45) and La Grange, 4 (1958-61)
Wrestling: Star Valley, 7 (1992-98), and Cody, 6 (1947-52) and Gillette, 6 (2003-08)
Swimming: Lander, 12 (1997-08), and Green River, 4 (1974-77), Laramie, 4 (1976-79 and 1985-88) and Gillette, 4 (1993-96)
Nordic skiing (since 1982): Jackson, 5 (1989-93 and 2004-08), and Natrona County, 4 (1996-99)
Track (since 1974): Torrington, 6 (1974-79) and Gillette, 6 (2001-06)
Soccer: Cheyenne East, 4 (1986-89), and Kelly Walsh, 2 (2002-03) and Cheyenne Central, 2 (1990-91)

Girls
Volleyball: Cokeville, 9 (1985-93) and 7 (1995-01), and Pine Bluffs, 5 (1978-82)
Cross country: Gillette, 12 (1995-06), and Douglas, 5 (2001-05)
Swimming: Gillette, 6 (1994-99), Laramie, 6 (1972-77) and Douglas, 6 (1978-83)
Tennis: Cheyenne Central, 7 (1981-87), and Sheridan, 4 (1990-93)
Golf: Lusk, 6 (2001-06), and Gillette, 4 (2000-03) and Natrona County, 4 (1991-94)
Basketball: Gillette, 5 (1994-98), and Gillette, 4 (2001-04) and Star Valley, 4 (1986-89)
Nordic skiing (since 1982): Lander, 6 (1993-98), and Natrona County, 4 (1989-92)
Gymnastics: Gillette, 7 (1999-05), and Laramie, 6 (1979-84)
Track: Ten Sleep, 6 (1981-86), and Worland, 5 (1993-97)
Soccer: Cheyenne East, 3 (1986-89) and Natrona County, 3 (1989-91)

What do you think? Looks like soccer might have the early edge...

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com

This week's "Five on the Rise," five teams destined to make it past Simon and onto the stage:

1. Wheatland boys basketball: A pair of important victories last week -- by 13 on the road over top-ranked Buffalo and by 12 at home against No. 3 Newcastle -- have the Bulldogs in control of the 3A East.

2. Evanston girls basketball: Last weekend wasn't supposed to be easy for the Red Devils. It wasn't, but two hard-fought victories, including one over top-ranked Sheridan, made the effort worth it. Evanston has now won seven in a row and has this weekend off before starting 4A West play.

3. Lingle wrestling: A 4-1 performance at the Burns Duals bodes well for the Doggers, who have been solid so far this season and could cause a ton of problems for teams at regionals and state if they continue to improve.

4. Jackson alpine skiing: The Bronc girls absolutely dominated the first meet of the season, winning the Britt Farr Memorial in Casper by 70 points (Jackson had 133; runner-up Natrona had 63). The boys made a statement of their own, holding off hard-charging (and two-time defending state champion) Natrona County on Saturday to notch a win in meet No. 1.

5. The 3A West girls basketball teams: Take a look at those standings. Of the eight teams, five of them are 3-1 or better. Whichever team ends up winning that conference will have had to fight awfully hard to do so.

That's it for now. Add other solid weekends to the comments section...

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com

It's kind of a quiet week in high school sports land, isn't it?

But it's not like that eerie quiet you get sometimes right before the sun comes up. Instead, it's quiet like Daft Punk -- it tends to fade into the background, but there are some parts you can't help but listen to.

That said, there are quite a few cool things going on this weekend. First on my mind are a couple cool things here in Casper -- the Casper Invitational Nordic ski race, set for Thursday and Friday on Casper Mountain, and Thursday night's basketball game between the boys from Gillette and Natrona County, the top two ranked teams in Class 4A.

I'm actually headed up to skiing on Thursday, but that basketball game should be a doozy, too. And it doesn't end there for NC -- the Mustangs play Montana's top-ranked big school, Billings West, on Friday in Big Sky Country.

On the mats, the Pat Weede Memorial Invitational is scheduled for Friday and Saturday in Gillette. If you want to see good wrestling, go to Gillette this week -- this is the most elite tournament you'll find in Wyoming all year long.

After this week, it's mostly quiet until January (Fremont County Shootout, Energy Classic and Laramie Invitational swimming aside). So get out there and enjoy this weekend while you still can, and then AFTER that have a happy holiday season.

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com