In Utah, the UHSAA Board of Trustees met on Tuesday and shared the first draft for high school sports realignment for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years. This realignment process happens every two years and is based on the changing enrollment numbers of schools across the state.
The UHSAA distinguishes between two types of alignments: one for football and another for all other sports. Within each classification, schools are categorized into different tiers, with some deemed as bubble schools. These bubble schools can be moved up or down a classification as determined by the UHSAA. Additionally, schools also have the opportunity to request a reassignment in classification.
On December 4, the UHSAA will hear requests from schools looking to change classifications, followed by a public hearing via Zoom on December 11. The final classifications and regions will be set during a Board of Trustees meeting on December 19. It’s important to note that the number of teams in each classification has yet to be finalized.
The UHSAA is introducing a new method to help decide the placement of bubble schools. A formula created by Nate Marshall, the executive director of Providence Hall, will aid in this process. Each school has a Member School Profile that assesses competitiveness based on RPI rankings and performance in state tournaments. After applying success multipliers, schools receive a Z score that guides the Board’s decisions only for bubble schools.
As part of this process, Corner Canyon is expected to appeal to move up to 6A for all sports, similar to their previous realignment efforts. Meanwhile, Ben Lomond and Ogden are likely to land in 3A classification due to meeting specific free-and-reduced lunch rate criteria of 50% or more.
There’s also a new school, Deseret Peak, located in Tooele, set to open in 2025. This school will not have seniors during its first year and is projected to start as a 4A school for its opening two years. Enrollment numbers marked in red on the UHSAA’s draft indicate the respective bubble schools.
Stay tuned for more updates as the UHSAA continues this vital process affecting high school sports in the coming years.
