CIAC Alters Boys Basketball Tournament Divisions

A proposal from the CIAC boys basketball committee to expand the boys basketball championships from four divisions to five and alter the way those divisions are determined has been approved by the Board of Control for a one-year trial beginning with the 2017-18 championship.

Prior to the vote from the Board of Control, the proposal was shared with and vetted by all leagues and conferences, as well as the Connecticut Association of Athletic Directors (CAAD) and the Connecticut High School Coaches Association (CHSCA).

Under the new format, schools have been placed in divisions using a group of factors, including recent success in CIAC tournament and league championship play, the overall strength of the league in which they compete and their power point ranking over the past three seasons (determined by sum of wins of opponents they defeated).

“This new format is the result of a lot of hard work from members of our boys basketball committee and aims to address the concerns we’ve heard from our membership about inequity challenges specific to the boys basketball tournament,” CAS-CIAC Executive Director Karissa Niehoff said. “CIAC is grateful for the feedback and participation of the CHSCA and CAAD along with all our member schools in vetting this proposal and we look forward to its implementation and an exciting boys basketball tournament.”

Schools will have the option to appeal their placement, and will be moved down one division if their appeal is successful. Schools also have the option to move up to Division 1.

All schools in Division I will qualify for the CIAC tournament, while a winning percentage of .400 will be required for tournament qualification in the other four divisions.

Appeal and opt-up requests will be accepted until Sept. 29, with the all division placements finalized by the end of October. Appeals will be heard by a committee consisting of representatives from CAAD, CHSCA and member school principals, along with CIAC Tournament Directors and staff.

Here is a list of the initial division placements for the 2017-18 season:

Division I

• Bassick
• Crosby
• Danbury
• East Catholic
• East Hartford
• Fairfield Prep
• Hamden
• Hillhouse
• Holy Cross
• Kennedy
• Northwest Catholic
• Norwich Free Academy
• Notre Dame-Fairfield
• Notre Dame-West Haven
• Ridgefield
• Sacred Heart
• Trinity Catholic
• Trumbull
• Weaver
• Wilbur Cross
• Windsor

Division II

• Amity Regional
• Bloomfield
• Bridgeport Central
• Brien McMahon
• Bristol Central
• Career-New Haven
• Career-Waterbury
• Cheshire
• Darien
• Fairfield Ludlowe
• Fairfield Warde
• Glastonbury
• Greenwich
• Hartford Public
• Immaculate
• Ledyard
• Maloney
• Manchester
• Middletown
• Naugatuck
• New Britain
• New London
• New Milford
• Newington
• Newtown
• Norwalk
• Pomperaug
• Shelton
• Simsbury
• South Windsor
• St. Joseph
• Stamford
• Staples
• West Haven
• Westhill
• Wethersfield
• Wilby
• Wilton
• Xavier

Division III

• Avon
• Berlin
• Bethel
• Branford
• Bristol Eastern
• Brookfield
• Bulkeley
• Bunnell
• Cheney Tech
• Conard
• Daniel Hand
• E.O. Smith
• East Haven
• East Lyme
• Enfield
• Farmington
• Fitch
• Guilford
• Hall
• Harding
• Joel Barlow
• Killingly
• Kolbe Cathedral
• Lyman Hall
• Masuk
• New Canaan
• New Fairfield
• North Haven
• Platt
• Prince Tech
• RHAM
• Sheehan
• Southington
• St. Paul
• Stratford
• Tolland
• Torrington
• Waterford
• Watertown
• Weston
• Wolcott
• Woodstock Academy

Division IV

• Abbott Tech
• Aerospace
• Amistad
• Ansonia
• Bacon Academy
• Bullard Havens Tech
• Classical Magnet
• Coginchaug
• Creed
• Ellington
• Ellis Tech
• Foran
• Goodwin Tech
• Granby Memorial
• Grasso Tech
• Griswold
• Haddam-Killingworth
• Jonathan Law
• Kaynor Tech
• Lewis Mills
• Nonnewaug
• Northwestern Regional
• Norwich Tech
• O’Brien Tech
• Plainfield
• Plainville
• Platt Tech
• Rockville
• Rocky Hill
• Seymour
• SMSA
• St. Bernard
• Stonington
• Suffield
• University
• Valley Regional
• Vinal Tech
• Wilcox Tech
• Windham
• Windham Tech

Division V

• Achievement First
• Bolton
• Canton
• Capital Prep
• Coventry
• Cromwell
• Derby
• East Granby
• East Hampton
• East Windsor
• Eli Whitney
• Gilbert
• Hale Ray
• HMTCA
• Housatonic Regional
• Innovation
• Litchfield
• Lyman Memorial
• MLC
• Montville
• Morgan
• North Branford
• Old Lyme
• Old Saybrook
• Oxford
• Parish Hill
• Portland
• Public Safety Academy
• Putnam
• Shepaug Valley
• Somers
• Stafford
• Terryville
• Thomaston
• Tourtellotte
• Wamogo
• Westbrook
• Wheeler
• Windsor Locks
• Wolcott Tech
• Woodland

Story courtesy of CIAC
Photo credit: Tim Jensen