CAUCUS PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE IN NSAA RULES AND REGULATIONS
Title:	Class B District Tournament Serpentine
Author:	Dave Hoxworth
School:	Scottsbluff
NSAA District:	6

Proposal for:	Activities Manual

Classes Affected:	Class B
Activities Affected:	Boys Basketball Girls Basketball Boys Soccer Girls Soccer Softball Volleyball
This proposal:	WILL NOT increase costs to the school WILL NOT increase costs to the NSAA WILL NOT increase travel for participating schools WILL NOT decrease a student's or coach's instruction time
Implementation date:	2025-08-01
Sections affected in Activities Manual:	Page 16-22	Article	Section
Summary:	This will be the new language replacing Sub District Tournaments, moving to a State Serpentine method to advance to state. This proposal looks to change the current Class B sub-district assignments to serpentine seeded district tournaments for the following sports; Softball, Volleyball, Boys/Girls Basketball, and Boys/Girls Soccer. This proposal was discussed at last year's Class B Caucus Meeting at the NSIAAA Convention where a Sub-Committee was formed to bring forward proposals for the 2024-2025 Class Caucus Legislative Process. SOFTBALL District Assignment Procedures. All Class B schools in softball are to be placed into seven districts. All districts will be determined by a serpentine method (not modified), based upon the NSAA wildcard point system, seeding will be released on Friday of Week 13. The highest seed in each district will host the tournament. The seven district winners will automatically advance to the state championship. One additional team will also qualify on the basis of the wildcard team selection procedure. District Seeding: District competition shall be seeded based upon wildcard points. No changes to seeding can be made once the district seeding is complete. All Class B schools in softball are to be placed into seven (7) districts. The districts will be determined using a serpentine method (not modified), based upon the NSAA wildcard point system with games through Thursday of Week 13. Due to the unique geography of Class B teams across the state of Nebraska, if a district tournament match-up happens in the first round and or a semi final round, between two schools that is greater than 300 miles apart, a neutral site would be set into place. The neutral site options would include: Lexington High School, Grand Island Northwest, McCook High School, and Hastings High School. District championship games will take place at the highest remaining seed regardless of distance. District Championships: In Class B the district championships will be single elimination in the first round and semi-finals games, and then a best of three series for the district championship game. The winner of the district championship will qualify for the state championship. The highest seed will host through semifinals, with the 300 mile geographic rule in place. Finals will be hosted by the highest remaining seed of the district, in a best two of three game format. If, due to weather, the championship (Class A & B) or sub-district/district final (Class C) format is changed to single elimination, all schools will be notified. The championship director and the Executive Director of the NSAA will make the decision. If a single elimination tournament is played, the wildcard point system will be computed for the number of games played. For example, if District 1 must play single-elimination and other districts play double-elimination, no adjustment will be made in computing wildcard points. District Dates Class B: Thursday - Saturday of Week 14 District & Sub-District Brackets - Teams shall be placed on brackets by the NSAA. All Class B districts will be scheduled over a three dates, (single elimination for first two rounds), then a district championship which is played best out of 3, and per the following game schedule. *30 minute break in between each game (to include warm-ups) Out-of-State win-loss records will be included thru the following dates for seeding purposes: b. Class B district seeding - Thursday of Week 13. d. State Championship seeding - Friday of Week 14. VOLLEYBALL Class B - Class B schools will be divided into seven districts. The teams with the highest wildcard point averages will have the opportunity to host districts. Class B districts will take place on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of Week 17. All seven districts will be determined using a serpentine method (not modified), based upon the NSAA wild card point system after the games Tuesday of Week 16. The winning team in each district will qualify for the State Championship. One additional team will also qualify for the State Championship on the basis of the wild card team selection procedure. The higher-seeded team will have the opportunity to host the first night of district competition. The district championship would be hosted by the highest remaining seed. District dates and times would be established before the district competition starts. The top-seeded team in each district would be responsible for establishing district schedules. One additional team in Class B which fails to qualify by winning the district will qualify as wild card teams. See Wild Card Criteria. Due to the unique geography of Class B teams across the state of Nebraska, if a district tournament match-up happens in the first round and or a semi final round, between two schools that is greater than 300 miles apart, a neutral site would be set into place. The neutral site options would include: Lexington High School, McCook High School, Grand Island Northwest High School, and Hastings High School. District championship games will take place at the highest remaining seed regardless of distance. Class B District Hosts - 5 Team Districts....................................Class B District Hosts - 4 Team Districts #4 seed will host #5 seed...........................................................#1 seed will host #4 seed #1 seed will host the winner of #4 v. #5.....................................#2 seed will host the #3 seed #2 seed will host #3 seed...........................................................Highest Seed Remaining hosts District Championship Highest Seed Remaining hosts District Championship Seeding Dates: Class B District Tournaments: Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday of Week 17 A) District seeding released: October 24, 2024 (games played through October 22) B) State Championship seeding released: November 2, 2024 Out-of-state win-loss records will be included through the following dates for seeding purposes: A) District seeding: Tuesday of Week 16 B) State Championship seeding: Friday of Week 17 BASKETBALL (Girls and Boys) Class B schools will be divided into seven districts. The teams with the highest wild card point averages will have the opportunity to host districts. Class B districts for girls will be played, Monday (4 vs. 5), Wednesday (semi), and Saturday (final) of Week 34 and boys districts will be played Monday (4 vs. 5) and Thursday (semi) of Week 34 with District Championships set for either Monday or Tuesday of Week 35 (final), if teams cannot agree on a date then Monday will be the default date. The higher-seeded team will have the opportunity to host each game the first night of district competition. The district championship would be hosted by the highest remaining seed. District dates and times would be established before the district competition starts. The top-seeded team in each district would be responsible for establishing district schedules. All seven districts will be determined using a serpentine method (not modified), based upon the NSAA wild card point system within one week prior to the first district. a. The winning boys' team and the winning girls' team in each district will qualify for the State Championship. b. One additional boys' team and one additional girls' team will also qualify for the State Championship on the basis of the wild card team selection procedure. Due to the unique geography of Class B teams across the state of Nebraska, if a district tournament match-up happens in the first round and or a semi final round, between two schools that is greater than 300 miles apart, a neutral site would be set into place. The neutral site options would include: Lexington High School, Grand Island Northwest, McCook High School and Hastings High School. District championship games will take place at the highest remaining seed regardless of distance. The district championship would be hosted by the highest remaining seed. District dates and times would be established before the district competition starts. The top-seeded team in each district would be responsible for establishing district schedules. Seeding Dates Class B Girls (Assign & Seed) - Thursday of week 33. February 21, 2025 (games through Feb. 20) Class B Boys (Assign & Seed) - Thursday of week 33. February 21, 2025 (games through Feb. 20) Girls State Championships (all classes) - March 1, 2025 Boys State Championships (all classes) - March 6, 2025 SOCCER (Girls and Boys) Class B schools will be divided into seven districts. The teams with the highest wildcard point averages will have the opportunity to host districts. Class B districts will start Saturday (Week 43) and continue through Saturday of Week 44. All seven districts will be determined using a serpentine method (not modified), based upon the NSAA wild card point system after the games WEDNESDAY of Week 43. The winning boys team and the winning girls team in each district will qualify for the State Championship. One additional boys team and one additional girls team will also qualify for the State Championship on the basis of the wild card team selection procedure. The higher-seeded team will have the opportunity to host the first night of district competition. Due to the unique geography of Class B teams across the state of Nebraska, if a district tournament match-up happens in the first round and or a semi final round, between two schools that is greater than 300 miles apart, a neutral site would be set into place. The neutral site options would include: Lexington High School, Grand Island Northwest, McCook High School, and Hastings High School. District championship games will take place at the highest remaining seed regardless of distance. The district championship would be hosted by the highest remaining seed. District dates and times would be established before the district competition starts. The top-seeded team in each district would be responsible for establishing district schedules. One additional boys' teams and one additional girls' teams in Class B which fail to qualify by winning the district will qualify as wild card teams. See Wild Card Criteria. Class B District Tournaments: Week 43 and 44, May 3 - May 10, 2025 FOR CLASS B: The tournament shall be seeded based on wild card point averages of matches played through Wednesday, April 30th. The district assignments/seeds will be released on the NSAA website: Thursday, May 1st. Out-of-State (OOS) Opponents will have records submitted with matches played through the following dates Class B District Seeding: April 28, 2025 State Championship Seeding: May 10, 2025
Rationale:	Class B currently qualifies eight teams winning their way into the State Tournament. By approving the above district tournament format, Class B would be continuing the tradition of getting the eight best teams to the State Championships. Class B, based on serpentine wildcard points, would be creating a framework that rewards teams who have won a district championship but also leaves an opportunity for a wildcard qualifier, which is awarded based on a season's worth of work.
Pros:	Eliminating sub-district play would create more flexibility in scheduling the week prior to a district tournament and for state competition. Eliminating sub-districts would also give teams additional time to rest and prepare for a district tournament without an added worry of injury during sub-district play. Eliminating an extra tournament that schools would then not have to provide event staff, or host games at their facilities. Increased revenue due to there being a home gate in every match that does not involve the mileage requirement. A district tournament format based on serpentine wildcard points rewards the wins and losses of an entire season and creates a seeding method in which reflects the overall goal to get the best 8 teams to state.
Cons:	Neutrality: Travel Implications would change due to elimination of sub-district play, this could allow teams more or less travel depending on their tournament seeding and placement in a district. However, by eliminating a sub-district tournament, schools are given more time to consider and prepare for travel. Due to the unique geography of Class B teams across the state of Nebraska, if a district tournament match-up happens in the first round and or a semi final round, between two schools that is greater than 300 miles apart, a neutral site would be set into place. The neutral site options would include: Lexington High School, Grand Island Northwest, and Hastings High School. District championship games will take place at the highest remaining seed regardless of distance. Cons: Elimination of an 8th seed team hosting district final.

Class B District Tournament Serpentine