Polytech to leave Henlopen Conference after 2020-21 school year

[ReturnOfTheGate]

I have really been trying to wrap my head around this one. On one hand you have a team that does not belong in Henlopen North in football. However, they have won championships in other sports. I guess the question becomes, who controls the conference. Last time I checked, it is indeed the conference. The DIAA has gone on record saying the conference can do what they want. Specifically with how Poly and Milford were counting numbers a few years back.
The way I see it football can play in the South, but here is the rub. Because of their enrollment numbers they would be ineligible to participate in the D-II tournament and classified as a D-1 team. Depending on how well they did during the season, this could cost the South a playoff birth, if Poly did well. But if that is a risk the conference is willing to take, they should be allowed to. Maybe this could be the impetus for the DIAA to take a hard look at how they are classifying the teams in various sports.

It's been past time to classify based on talent instead of enrollment. Delcastle/Wilmington Charter/Poly were never going to be football powers and schools like Woodbridge/Delmar/Caravel/Howard/Friends could certainly compete at a D1 level. Some schools are just good/not good at certain sports, enrollment or not. DIAA needs to look into it once they settle the office.

 

[FCABucks]

It's been past time to classify based on talent instead of enrollment. Delcastle/Wilmington Charter/Poly were never going to be football powers and schools like Woodbridge/Delmar/Caravel/Howard/Friends could certainly compete at a D1 level. Some schools are just good/not good at certain sports, enrollment or not. DIAA needs to look into it once they settle the office.

Not sure that’s the answer either? Talent is cyclical (like coaching), it wasn’t that long ago Poly would regularly beat WB. One thing we do in our conference (mainly because of distance) we don’t require teams to play every team in the conference. While this will affect conference standing and playoff seeding, teams are free to play who they want.

The three things I regularly hear on here is that some conference winners are not deserving of a playoff spot, D2 can compete with D1 and the imbalance of teams in terms of talent. So why not let teams scheduled who they want. If you want to be a conference champ then you will schedule conference games, but conference champs shouldn’t carry an automatic playoff bid. Teams like Seaford and Poly aren’t looking for playoffs right now, so let them schedule who they want….I think you’d see more competitive games across the board! You can still award point as they are…Then allow the top 16 to compete in the playoffs. This last year would have looked something like this…not sure of the order??

1. Hodgson
2. Middletown
3. Smyrna
4. Sussex Central
5. Woodbridge
6. Concord
7. Delmar
8. Salesianum
9. Dover
10. Howard
11. Archmere
12. Caravel
13 Lake
14. Tower Hill
15. St. Georges
16. Friends