The CWOSSA executive has announced the championship formats for the 2012-13 school year (the below are applicable to both girls and boys' basketball):
"A" CWOSSA
We'll start off easy, as this one stays the same as a 4-team championship. We'll have:
1 team - D8
1 team - D1&D7 (BAA)
1 team - D9 (NSSAA)
The additional team will be from last year's winning district (e.g. D1&7 #2) who will play College Heights and/or Emmanuel Christian (should they have a team) for the fourth berth.
"AA" CWOSSA
Our first big change! After years as a 4-team championship, the "AA" division will switch things up and move to a 6-team tournament (no word if it will be seeded and/or if there will be two pools of three, like the "AAAA" championship).
In my view, and given the disparity at times between schools in the "AA" division, I would suggest a seeded tournament, with the top 2 teams earning byes to the semifinal.
At any rate, the teams will be:
2 teams - D1&7 (BAA)
1 team - D4
1 team - D10 (Guelph)
1 team - D9
1 team - D5 (Paris) vs. D4 #2
"AAA" CWOSSA
With a couple "AAA" teams moving up to "AAAA", there's been a switch from an 8-team draw to a 6-team draw. No confirmation at this time if it will be "pool play" or "seeded", but we will have:
2 teams - WCSSAA
1 team - D1&7 (BAA)
1 team - D5 (Brant County)
1 team - D10
1 team - D8 vs. D9
(FYI - next year, the "qualifying game" will be between D9 and D10)
"AAAA" CWOSSA
A surprise here as despite 2 additional teams (and now 18) in the "AAAA" division, the tournament stays as a 6-team championship.
WCSSAA, despite now having 9 of 18 (50%) of "AAAA" schools, is only guaranteed 2 berths, but in a change from previous years, WCSSAA #3 will now take on the D10 #2 for one of the berths.
So you have:
2 teams - WCSSAA
1 team - D8
1 team - D5 (Brantford)
1 team - D10
1 team - D10 #2 vs. WCSSAA #3
Having been a fan of the "8 team" draw, I'm a little disappointed that it's not back this year - especially with 18 "AAAA" teams, which has traditionally been the requirement for an 8-team draw.
A suggestion that I'd have? Have D8 #1 play D5 #2, and D5 #1 play D8 #2 for the two spots attributed to both leagues. For example, D8 should be down next year in girls' basketball, while D5 should again be strong. You could argue the flip side from this past year in boys' basketball. Essentially, it would allow for what I call "cyclical strengths" to be represented at CWOSSA while still maintaining the integrity of the championship.
You could also make the argument that WCSSAA, with 9 of 18 teams (50% of AAAA schools) is therefore deserving of 3 teams automatically, with the other three divisions getting one team each or being involved in some sort of "play-in" scenario:
9 teams - 50% (WCSSAA) = 3 teams
4 teams - 22% (D10) = 1.33 teams
3 teams - 16% (D8) = 1 team
2 teams - 11% (D5) = 0.67 teams
Anyways, the best teams seem to come to the top regardless of the competition format, which is the important thing! I'm sure we'll have more commentary on this later, but good luck to all teams this coming season!
