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WSN15: Girls Basketball Top Moments #9 -- WIAA adds fifth division to state tournament

08/01/2018, 2:15pm CDT
By Norbert Durst

The WSN15 series will celebrate the 15th Anniversary of WisSports.net by looking back at the top players, teams, and moments of the past 15 years (2003-2017). 

We begin our WSN15 girls' basketball series with the Top 15 Moments of the WSN Era.

Beginning in the 2010-11 season, the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association added a fifth division in its state tournament.

The change was either a positive one or negative, depending on your point of view and if it affected your team. 

The move to five divisions took away four spots from the Division 1 field as the WIAA moved from an 8-4-4-4 format to a 4-4-4-4-4 structure. In the process, it eliminated the need for a Thursday morning session at the state tournament.

While, as mentioned above, it did take away four teams in the Division 1 state field, there is an argument that the smaller D1 teams who dropped down to D2 had a better chance to get to state regardless of D1 having eight spots in the past. 

The addition moved teams around in lower divisions as well, but the focus of the negative feedback was mostly in Division 1.

From the fans standpoint, removing four Division 1 quarterfinal games meant they wouldn't get a chance of seeing some of the top level teams and players in Wisconsin. 

In the first season with five divisions a "Super Tuesday" was implemented to showcase the sectional final games (formerly state quarterfinals), but that last only one season.

Two teams, Nicolet and Pius XI. chose to play up in Division 1 in the first year season knowing their enrollment would place them in D2. Both squads would reach state semifinals and Nicolet ended the year as the state champions in D1. 

For the most part, the coaches and fans have moved on and accepted that five divisions is here to stay.  

Next March will mark the ninth year with five divisions in Wisconsin. 

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