uil realignment 2010

UIL realignment: No changes for Temple, Belton as 12-5A stays eight-team district with same schools

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Just ask Temple, Belton and the rest of District 12-5A.

It's rare for the same schools to remain together in the same classification and district in consecutive University Interscholastic League alignments, but that's what happened when the governing body of Texas public high school sports released its biennial reclassification and realignment Monday morning.

Temple, Belton, Copperas Cove, Harker Heights, Killeen Ellison, Killeen Shoemaker, Bryan and College Station A&M Consolidated again will form 12-5A for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 academic years.

There had been talk of Temple dropping to Class 4A, but the 5A cutoff actually fell by 20 students and the Wildcats stayed in the highest class by more than 60 students.

Head football coaches and athletic directors Bryce Monsen of Temple and Rodney Southern of Belton expressed some surprise about the 12-5A status quo.

"You hear so many rumors every two years. The (5A minimum) number has never come down like it did, so we're a little surprised," Monsen said, referring to the fact that 1990 was the last time the UIL lowered the 5A cutoff. "We're fine. We didn't think it would change much."

On the other side of the Leon River, Southern had believed there was potential for the UIL to make extreme reconfigurations, but that never happened.

"I was kind of shocked," he said. "I thought they would shake it up because that's two realignments in a row where the district hasn't really changed. Normally that doesn't happen. But for us it's fine because we'll be familiar with them."

It's the fifth consecutive two-year period during which Temple and Belton have been together along with Bryan and A&M Consolidated.

Monsen said Temple's tentative football schedule for 2010 has the Wildcats playing non-district games against Pflugerville Connally, Georgetown and San Antonio Churchill before they have a bye in advance of 12-5A play.

With realignment finalized, Belton - which last season finished 10-2 and won its first league title since 2003 and first playoff game since 2000 - announced its tentative non-district schedule for 2010.

The Tigers plan to open Aug. 27 in the Dave Campbell's Texas Football Kickoff Classic against reigning Class 5A Division II champion Abilene at San Antonio's Alamodome. Belton's other non-district games are against Austin and Waco Midway before it has a bye, followed by 12-5A play