NCHSAA conference realignment unveiled: Here’s where teams will play beginning this fall
On Thursday, the N.C. High School Athletic Association unveiled the final version of the new conferences teams will play in beginning this fall.
The NCHSAA had a committee that created three proposed versions of new leagues and then allowed schools to comment.
On Tuesday, the NCHSAA Board of Directors, in a special meeting, approved the major overhaul — which also increases the association’s number of classifications from four to eight — in a 16-1 vote.
That Tuesday meeting lasted 10 hours, and the board heard nearly 30 appeals from schools across the state, including South Mecklenburg in Charlotte, hoping to be moved to different conferences.
Most appeals, including South Mecklenburg’s, were denied.
“This was the most challenging (realignment) because of the expanded number of classifications,” NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker said. “We know the state of North Carolina is long … and when you expand the number of classifications, you start creating more miles between schools (in a conference).”
Tucker praised the realignment committee’s work in this regard, noting that the Board of Directors only heard 26 appeals after the final conference proposals were posted.
Next up, of course, will be determining how the NCHSAA will handle playoffs with eight classifications.
In December, for example, state football championships were held at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and N.C. State in Raleigh. Additional venues will likely now be needed. Tucker mentioned potentially reaching out to the Carolina Panthers about Bank of America Stadium in Uptown Charlotte.
Next week, the NCHSAA will hold its basketball regional and state championships, all at Winston-Salem’s Lawrence Joel Coliseum. The format is much different than in the past when eastern and western regionals were held on opposite ends of the state, with a state final a week later.
Moving to eight classifications, however, would require at least one additional venue to host the week of basketball games.
“I’m not a fortune teller,” Tucker said. “I think the playoffs will be another one of those tremendous challenges that we have had.”
Tucker said the NCHSAA has had a committee working on playoff possibilities. She said its recommendations would be made public in the coming weeks.
Tucker said, “They’ve looked at everything from, ‘Should we have 32 teams in the playoffs, should everyone make the playoffs, or do we find a happy medium with 48 teams, understanding if you go with 48, you might as well say it’s a 64-team bracket because you will have (first-round) byes. And we know, particularly, football coaches hate byes.
“So those are the things that the committee is looking at and we believe in the next few weeks that the committee will be ready to give its recommendations to the board as to how we move forward.”
Charlotte Observer-area conferences
7A/8A Conference C
Butler (7A)
Independence (7A)
North Mecklenburg (7A)
Chambers (8A)
Mallard Creek (8A)
West Charlotte (8A)
7A/8A Conference D
Hopewell (7A)
West Mecklenburg (7A)
Garinger (8A)
Hough (8A)
Myers Park (8A)
South Mecklenburg (8A)
7A/8A Conference E
Ballantyne Ridge (7A)
Rocky River (7A)
Ardrey Kell (8A)
East Mecklenburg (8A)
Palisades (8A)
Providence (8A)
6A/7A Conference G
Charlotte Catholic (6A)
Piedmont (6A)
Sun Valley (6A)
Cuthbertson (7A)
Marvin Ridge (7A)
Porter Ridge (7A)
Weddington (7A)
6A/7A Conference H
Berry (6A)
Central Cabarrus (6A)
Harding (6A)
Olympic (6A)
AL Brown (7A)
Cox Mill (7A)
Hickory Ridge (7A)
West Cabarrus (7A)
6A/7A Conference I
North Iredell (6A)
Statesville (6A)
Davie County (7A)*
Lake Norman (7A)
Mooresville (7A)
South Iredell (7A)
5A/6A Conference F
Crest (5A)*
Forestview (5A)
Hunter Huss (5A)
North Gaston (5A)
South Point (5A)
Ashbrook (6A)
Kings Mountan (6A)
4A/5A Conference C
Anson (4A)*
Central Academy (4A)
Mount Pleasant (4A)
West Stanly (4A)*
Forest Hills (5A)
Monroe (5A)
Parkwood (5A)
4A/5A Conference D
Salisbury (4A)*
South Rowan (4A)*
Concord (5A)
East Rowan (5A)*
Jay M. Robinson (5A)
Jesse C. Carson (5A)*
Northwest Cabarrus (5A)
West Rowan (5A)*
4A/5A Conference E
Bandys (4A)*
Bunker Hill (4A)*
Fred T. Foard (4A)*
Maiden (4A)*
Newton-Conover (4A)*
West Iredell (4A)
East Lincoln (5A)
Hickory (5A)*
North Lincoln (5A)
2A/3A/4A Conference B
Bradford Prep (2A)
Christ The King (2A)
Community School of Davidson (2A)
Corvian Community (2A)
Langtree Charter (2A)
Pine Lake Prep (3A)
Lake Norman Charter (4A)
Lincoln Charter (4A)
2A/3A/4A Conference C
Cherryville (2A)
Highland Tech (2A)
Bessemer City (3A)
Lincolnton (3A)
Shelby (3A)*
West Lincoln (3A)
Burns (4A)*
East Gaston (4A)
Stuart Cramer (4A)
2A/3A Conference C
Albemarle (2A)*
Gray Stone Day (2A)*
North Rowan (2A)*
South Stanly (2A)*
North Stanly (3A)*
Union Academy (3A)
1A/2A/3A Conference B
Bonnie Cone (1A)
Carolina International (1A)
Jackson Day (1A)
NCSSM (1A)*
Mountain Island Charter (2A)
Queen’s Grant (2A)
Sugar Creek Charter (2A)
Piedmont Community (3A)
Football only 1A/2A/3A
Bonnie Cone (1A)
Thomas Jefferson (1A)*
Albemarle (2A)*
Mountain Island Charter (2A)
North Rowan (2A)*
South Stanly (2A)*
North Stanly (3A)*
Union Academy (3A)*
*-denotes outside The Observer’s coverage zone
Complete statewide conference listing
This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 9:34 AM.
