2024 Regions

[ChickenNuggets]

Here are the regions for next year that are posted on NDHSAA. They will have 8 regions. Top 3 teams from each region qualify for play-offs. Region champs will get a 1st round bye. Region Champs are seeded 1-8 in the playoffs.

Region 1-
Sargent County
Tri-County
Wyndmere Lidgerwood
Lamoure LM
Hankinson

Sargent County graduated a big senior class and I would think they take a step back next year. LLM will be solid with Thielges at the helm. He'll be one of the top players in the region/state. W/L is a solid program and should compete for the playoffs as well. I would predict these are the top 3 teams in the region, maybe not in that order.

Region 2-
MPCG
Griggs County
Maple River
Enderlin
Richland

This region could really be up for grabs. None of these teams were playoff teams a year ago. MPCG is coming back down from 11-man where they finished 2-6. Maple River and MPCG would be my two picks to contend for a region title out of this region.Richland might be the most likely to get the 3rd spot.

Region 3-
Larimore
Hatton/Northwood
Four Winds
New Rockford/Sheyenne
Nelson County

NRS was a semi-final team and should contend very well again next season. I think that they are the cream of the crop in this region. Nelson County and Hatton/Northwood would be my predictions to join them in the playoffs.

Region 4-
North Star
Midway-Minto
Cavalier
North Prairie
St. John
North Border

This could be a fun region. North Prairie is the defending 9-man champions. Cavalier is back in 9-man. North Border was 4-5 this year with a very young team and brings nearly everyone back. Northstar was a playoff team, but did lose some firepower from this year's team. St. John is a strong program and despite a down year they should never be counted out. I predict Cavalier and North Prairie fight this one out with North Border being the other playoff team in the group.

Region 5-
Kenmare/Bowbells
WNG
Dunseith
MLS
Divide County

WNG has to be one of the top 3-4 teams in the state with the return of Walker Braaten next year. He's the front runner on all accounts to be the 9-man player of the year. Divide County and Dunseith were really down this past year so it will be interesting to see if MLS can rise to be a top team in the region or if Kenmare can find some magic as they are back down in 9-man after playing 11-man last season. I predict WNG wins the region and Kenmare and MLS join them in the post-season.

Region 6-
South Prairie
Tioga
TGU
Alexander
Lewis & Clark

South Prairie is opting down and could be a contender in a less than stellar region. It will be interesting to see how Alexander plays after tasting some success this past year. Tioga and Lewis & Clark finished just below .500 and could be teams that step up and make a push for the post-season.


Region 7-
Standing Rock
Richardson-Taylor-Hebron
Hettinger County
Grant County-Flasher
Hettinger/Scranton
Beach

Grant County-Flasher and Hettinger County are both returning playoff teams. I would think they'll be the front-runners in this region and will battle it out to be the region champs next season. Hettinger/Scranton might be a team to join them in the playoff hunt. It will be interesting to see how Standing Rock fares after playing a couple seasons in South Dakota.

Region 8-
Linton HMB
Southern McLean
New Salem-Almont
Kidder County
Napoleon
South Border

Coach Mellmer is doing good things in South Border and has some nice pieces coming back next year. He should have the Mustangs fighting for another region crown. New Salem-Almont could bounce back after a rare season of not making the playoffs to give them a push. Linton HMB is always a team to keep an eye on as well. This might be a balanced region that is fun to watch each and every week. I am not sure you can sleep on Southern McLean either. They're coming down form 11-man where they won 3 games this past season.

[WalkingStick]

Tri-State not Tri-County in R1

Central McLean not Southern McLean in R8; SM is still in R4 11-man

[bk1990]

Out of 43 teams, 24 teams get to go to playoffs, sounds like AAA, just try to send everyone. Also, 5 rounds of playoffs? I don't know how may games you can play in a year, but if it is 12, you could have 5 playoff games, 4 conference games (if you have a region with 5 teams), so you schedule 3 non conference games? What if you are in the minority and don't make playoffs, you could only end up playing 7 games? Not much of a season. the A division has 4 regions, send 4 from each region now, if he insist on 8 regions, just send 2, you can still seed the top 4 and teams can still plan on an 8 game season.

[ChickenNuggets]

The 9-man regular season is 8 games. Each region has a partner region to schedule non-conference games against. Region 3 & 4 don't have the same number of teams so up to 3 teams in Region 4 could get a bye week, but the other 40 teams will get a full 8 game season. I've heard some of the Region 4 teams are playing Oak Grove to avoid a bye week so pretty much everyone will get a full 8-game season.