The CISAA is loaded with top-ranked NCISAA teams, and that makes it the most competitive conference in the state.

 

Important Note: this ranking does not mean that smaller-school conferences that are highly ranked have teams that can beat larger-school conferences that are ranked lower (although that is possible).  Each conference is rated based on how competitive its teams are at their state meet level.  Therefore, this is a ranking of how likely each conference is to produce teams that will rank in the top 10 of their classification by the end of the season.  I adjusted the points we assigned to each school to allow for different classification sizes.

 

Top 5 Conferences in the State, All Classifications

1. CISAA (NCISAA 3A)

2. CAP-8 (NCHSAA 4A)

3. Big 8 (NCHSAA 3A)

4. Southwest Wake (NCHSAA 4A)

5. Western NC Athletic (NCHSAA 2A/3A)

 

 

Top 5 NCHSAA Split Conferences

1. Western NC Athletic (2A/3A): 2 top-10 boys teams and 3 top-12 girls teams

2. Mountain Valley (1A/2A): One top-rated boys' team and solid depth on the girls' side.

3. North Piedmont (3A/4A): Two top-10 teams in teach gender.

4. Mideastern (3A/4A): Strong boys' conference but a little weaker for girls' competition.

5. Western Highlands (1A/2A): Very competitive within the conference, but only one top-10 team at this point.