This went completely over my head, probably because I do not follow 6A as closely as 5A and because they no longer call it “big school” and “small school” but instead call it D1 and D2 like the other classifications once the playoffs start. Thus, 6A is still operating like the other classifications did before they started splitting the schools into different divisions prior to the start of the season instead of separating them into “big” and “small” schools at the end of the season. Upon further reflection I knew this at one time but forgot about it since it has been so long ago and they now refer to 6A as having a “D1” and a “D2” come playoff time. My objections to this set-up still stand because it does mean teams with substantially different sizes are playing each other during district play. It is also the reason a 6A school can end up playing for a state championships in a different “division” in a consecutive year (it is unrelated to realignment, so changes in even a few students in a given year can put you in a different “division” than the previous year come playoff time). However, the set up is apparently viewed as being unavoidable in 6A due to travel issues, the need to have adequate numbers of teams in each district, etc (as I suspected and/or unconsciously recalled). The way the other classifications do it is apparently still viewed as being preferable, if possible, or they would not do things that way in the other classifications as opposed to the post season “big school”/“small school” split.