The majority of the member schools of the Arkansas Activities Association have voted to radically realign the classifications beginning in the 2018-2019 school term.

The vote which requires a two-thirds majority to become effective was at first ruled voted down when figures showed a bit less support than needed. The first ruling was that less than 67 percent of member schools voted for the change, but when the rules were checked, it was determined that more than 67 percent of the votes that were actually cast were for the change as some member schools failed to vote at all.

The vote didn't affect football at all but most everything else. In baseball, softball, volleyball, basketball, track and cross country, for example, the 7A classification was abolished with those 16 schools moving downward into 6A. The the 6A schools are then bumped down into the 5A class, with the bottom 16 schools in enrollment in 5A pushed down into 4A status. The bottom 16 4A schools will in turn, move into 3A. They will then divide the 3A, 2A and 1A schools into thirds to determine those classes.

This doesn't affect football at all. Those classifications will remain as they are now. Some folks might ask "Why?"

The short and really only answer is money. The biggest money raiser the AAA has is the football playoffs. Eliminating one of the classes would take a big chunk out of the AAA's revenue, so it will remain the same. The increased number of classes that was passed into existence a few years ago, I believe, was done so to increase revenue flow into the governing body of high school sports. More schools make the football playoffs every year than don't, but whether that is good or bad, I can't really say.

At the rate of growth in the Pea Ridge School District, I believe that in the fall of 2020, the Blackhawks will play their first season of 5A football. With the new class changes, it likely means that Pea Ridge will remain a 4A school for the other sports. Were it not for the rule change, the 'Hawks would probably be playing 5A in all sports in 2020.

The way the 4A-1 conference alignment will look like in 2020-21 in non-football sports may appear to be something like this: Pea Ridge, Harrison, Huntsville, Prairie Grove, Farmington, Gravette, Berryville, and maybe Gentry or Shiloh. It is hard to tell where the private schools may wind up. Lincoln could also end up in the mix.

MaxPreps/CBS football computers like the 'Hawks

The nationwide MaxPreps/CBS high school football ranking organization released their initial 4A State Poll last week, and they match the Hooten's.com prediction, picking Pea Ridge as the No. 2 team in the state.

MaxPreps feed multiple statistics into their computer programming to come up with their rankings. Past won/loss records, strength of schedule, roster strength, and performances in big games work together to come up with a numerical value which then ranks the teams.

The computers see a repeat of last year's Warren/Pea Ridge final. Right back of those two teams is Prairie Grove in the third spot, with Shiloh starting out in the 10th position.

They also put out an overall ranking of all classes and the Blackhawks have an all-time best ranking of 13th, among the 200 plus schools that field football teams. Warren is seventh and no other 4A school is in the top 20. Interestingly, Pea Ridge is ranked ahead of Springdale, Conway, Pine Bluff, Bentonville West and both Rogers schools.

In the conference polling, MaxPreps is picking Pea Ridge by a solid margin over second-place Prairie Grove. The 'Hawks' polling over Shiloh is fairly wide.

Like I have said, polling and lists are for sports writers and the fans. High rankings never scored a single touchdown, and due to the nature of high school sports, you never know who may really improve from the year before. For example, in 2013, the Blackhawks won but a single conference game. Their record that year gave them a low pre-season ranking in 2014. But what do you know, the 'Hawks in '14 ran the table on the 4A-1 and finished the regular season 10-0. So you just never know.

Having said all that, I am still a firm believer in Blackhawk Power for the 2017 season.

MaxPreps 4A-1 district poll

Pea Ridge^33.3

Prairie Grove^25.1

Shiloh^12.2

Gravette^4.6

Huntsville^-3.8

Gentry^-10.7

Berryville^-13.7

Lincoln^-14.4

MaxPreps state 4A poll

Warren^35.5

Pea Ridge^33.3

Prairie Grove^25.1

Ashdown^19.0

Nashville^18.6

Robinson^15.8

Gosnell^15.6

Ozark^12.8

Arkadelphia^12.4

Shiloh^12.2

Stuttgart^11.8

Dardanelle^11.2

Heber Springs^9.3

Mena^7.3

Malvern^6.9

Hamburg^6.7

Booneville^4.9

Gravette^4.6

Trumann^1.8

Batesville SS^1.5

MaxPreps overall state poll

North Little Rock^(7A)

Pulaski Academy^(5A)

Fayetteville^(7A)

Greenwood^(6A)

Jonesboro^(6A)

Springdale HarBer^(7A)

Wynne^(5A)

Bryant^(7A)

Bentonville^(7A)

Russellville ^(6A)

Warren^(4A)

Ft. Smith Northside^(7A)

Pea Ridge^(4A)

Springdale^(7A)

Conway^(7A)

McClellan^(6A)

El Dorado^(6A)

Pine Bluff^(6A)

Benton^(6A)

Marion^(7A)

•••

Editor's note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist and sports writer. He is the art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools and writes a regular sports column for The Times. The opinions expressed are those of the author. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].