Area schools know who they will be playing in their districts for the next two years of high school football.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association released the classes and district groupings this morning. The news comes after they announced yesterday a shift in the classes and how games will be counted for the playoffs.

Here are the new districts for local teams:

3A District 7: Pella, Knoxville, Oskaloosa, Newton, Grinnell, South Tama

1A District 7: Pella Christian, Pleasantville, Woodward Academy, Woodward Granger, I-35, Colfax-Mingo

2A District 8: PCM, Chariton, Clarke, Centerville, Des Moines Christian, Saydel

8-Player District 5: Twin Cedars, Melcher-Dallas, AGWSR, Baxter, Collins-Maxwell, Colo-Nesco, Gladbrook-Reinbeck, Meskwaki Settlement
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At its monthly meeting, the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s Board of Control approved changes to the sport’s playoff qualifying system, and to allow out-of-state contests starting in the 2018 season. Based on classification changes made in October, the Board discussed and voted to approve football districts that will allow all classes to add non-district contests and reduce district travel.

The new format for 2018-19 is as follows…
Class 4A: 42 teams, 7 districts, 6 teams per district; 4 non-district games per team.
Class 3A, 2A, 1A: 54 teams, 9 districts, 6 teams per district; 4 non-district games per team.
Class A: 62 teams, 8 districts with 6 teams, and 2 districts with 7 teams; 4 non-district games per team in 6-team districts and 3 non-district games per team in 7-team districts.
8-Player: 65 teams, 7 districts with 8 teams and 1 district with 9 teams; 2 non-district games per team in 8-team districts and 1 non-district game per team in 9-team district (Week 0 possible).

Postseason Qualifying System
A provisional recommendation approved by the Board changes how the 16 teams in each class will qualify for their playoffs starting in 2018.

The new format for 2018-19 is as follows…

1. Only the district champion or teams tying for a district championship receive automatic qualification.
2. For the first time since the debut of district football, all nine games will count toward postseason qualification.
3. The 17-point district tiebreaker will be eliminated and not factor into qualification.
4. Remaining at-large qualifiers will be determined by a Ratings Percentage Index formula. The RPI will use three criteria to determine postseason qualification.
a. Team’s overall win-loss percentage (accounting for 37.5% of the index)
b. Team’s opponent’s win-loss percentage (37.5%)
c. Team’s opponent’s opponent’s win-loss percentage (25%)
5. Classification differences between non-district opponents do not affect RPI. The NCAA uses RPI in several men’s and women’s sports. The Colorado High School Activities Association debuted a similar RPI system in 2016.