AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Big changes are ahead for high school sports for the next two years, following Monday's unveiling of the University Interscholastic League's biennial realignment.
The Austin metro will have 21 schools competing in the state's largest classification, 6A, beginning next year.
District 24-6A will feature the five Leander ISD schools - Vandegrift, Cedar Park, Vista Ridge, Leander, and Rouse - along with Hutto and Georgetown ISD's East View. Those seven schools will compete in Region 3, meaning a potential playoff path through Houston-area schools before a potential semifinal matchup against a possible Austin-area school.
District 25-6A will feature five schools from Round Rock ISD - Round Rock, McNeil, Stony Point, Westwood, and Cedar Ridge - along with perennial powerhouses Lake Travis and Westlake. And District 26-6A will feature three Austin ISD schools - Austin High, Akins, and Bowie - along with Hays and Johnson High, Del Valle, and Dripping Springs.
The playoff path for Districts 25 and 26 will slot into Region 4, which traditionally features San Antonio schools along with the Rio Grande Valley.
The 6A classification includes schools with a population of 2,215 or higher.
The area's 5A schools will see a similar split between Region 3 and Region 4. District 12-5A Division II will feature AISD's Crockett, LASA, and Navarro teams competing with Bastrop, Elgin, and Pflugerville. Liberty Hill and the district's new Legacy Ranch campus will end up in 13-5A Division II, competing against Boerne, New Braunfels, and Alamo Heights among others.
In the smaller 5A Division I, District 12 will feature Georgetown, Glenn, Connally, Hendrickson, and Weiss, along with schools from Killeen and College Station. District 13 will see the rest of the Austin area, including Anderson and McCallum, Cedar Creek, Lehman, Lockhart, and Manor along with Boerne Champion, and Seguin, and two-time defending champ Smithson Valley.