By Michael Letendre
Scholastic football is coming back with a vengeance this fall.
But instead of the same old postseason, you’re going to see a slight change to the CIAC playoff format.
Over the past half dozen seasons, a four-class tier helped determine the grouping of all the scholastic programs in the state.
But all that’s changed as the CIAC returned to a format that sees both a Class MM and Class SS bracket.
The return of six classes brings back the look in 2009 when the CIAC had Class LL, L, MM, M, SS, and S divisions.
And that means additional teams will enter the postseason mix.
With four classes, 30 teams will qualify for the playoffs.
Even with the eight-class experiment in 2014, the number of state tournament teams stayed the same at 32.
But unlike that older format, this one will house six divisions meaning eight teams qualify from each class — giving 48 teams a shot at postseason glory.
And with all the “fill the bracket” situations with teams below .500 making a run to the playoffs in other sports, the state is finally expanding the number of programs which will make up the postseason tournament in football.
This time around Bristol Central will compete in Class L while Bristol Eastern slips down to Class MM — the position it enjoyed when the Lancers won the state championship in 1988.
St. Paul Catholic is in Class S while several coops and schools of choice were booted up a rung or two in the new divisions.
Here’s the list of schools from Connecticut and the division they will fall into during the football campaign of 2022:
Class LL (756+ boys)
23 Total Teams
Class L (611-755 boys)
24 Total Teams
Amity
Bristol Central
Cheshire
Conard
Darien
Fairfield Ludlowe
Fairfield Warde
Farmington
Hall
Harding
Maloney
Middletown
Naugatuck
New Canaan
New Milford
Vinal and Goodwin Tech
Wilby
Class MM (513-610 boys)
23 Total Teams
Northwest United — Wolcott Tech, Litchfield, Nonewaug, Shepaug and Wamogo
Quinebaug Valley — Ellis Tech, Tourtellotte and Putnam
Sports Medical & Sciences Academy — including Bulkeley, Classical, HMTCA and University
Thames River – Norwich and Grasso Tech and St. Bernard
Wilcox and Kaynor Tech
Wilton
Windsor
Class M (409-512 boys)
23 Total Teams
Abbott Tech and Immaculate
Bullard Havens Tech and Kolbe Cathedral
Coginchaug/Hale Ray/East Hampton
Windsor Locks, Suffield and East Granby
Class SS (344-408 boys enrollment)
23 teams
Coventry, Bolton, Lyman, and Windham Tech
CREC Coop – Civic Leadership, MLC, and Aerospace
Gilbert, Northwestern, and Housatonic
Canton and Granby
Plainville
Stafford, East Windsor and Somers
Valley Regional and Old Lyme
Waterford
Weaver
Class S (1-343 boys enrollment)
23 teams
Capital Prep/Achievement
Derby
Old Saybrook and Westbrook
St. Paul Catholic
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