The Case for Realignment: Why the Columbus City League desperately needs a face lift

For the last 21 years, only two teams in the Columbus City League’s North division have won league titles.

Starting in 1995, Northland and now defunct Brookhaven have won every North division title leading up to the present day.

During this span, the North division teams have won 14-consecutive City League championships, with the last South division team winning a City title in 2000 (West).

As the area’s oldest and proudest basketball league, the City League desperately needs a change, and that change needs to happen now.

The answer is realignment.

What would realignment mean for City League basketball?

In the traditional model of division scheduling, City League teams play each team in its division twice in a season, with one game at home and one on the road.

Realignment would put an end to divisions, throwing all 16 teams into one mega-league. In the model I am proposing, every team would play each other once, giving City League teams 15 regular season games.

For the last several years, divisions have been fairly top heavy, with Northland (69–1 in North division play) and Walnut Ridge (61–9 in South division play) dominating their respective leagues.

Realignment would create match ups rarely ever seen and would also generate a new-found buzz across Columbus.

Take a look at an example of this proposed league schedule.

How would a champion be determined?

Columbus City League Final Four Tournament

At the end of the regular season, the top four teams in the City League would participate in a Final Four tournament to determine an undisputed champion.

Such a tournament would greatly intensify the importance of each league game, and would also revitalize old rivalries and create new ones.

Imagine how intense the final regular season game between Northland and Mifflin would be if each team was vying for the final spot to compete for a league title.

This idea needs to happen, and it needs to happen quickly.

In order to prevent City League teams from playing too many games, teams would eliminate one or two non-league games from their schedules, and since some City League teams have cross-division games included in their non-league schedule anyway, this type of change would not be hard to implement.

The benefits of a postseason tournament

• Money: Each season, the City League holds a preseason preview showcase at East High, while also holding its championship game at East in February. Imagine having three important City League tournament games at East, and the revenue that such an event would generate.
• Revenue sharing: Assuming that the City League postseason tournament would generate big money for Columbus City Schools, all revenue accumulated from the Final Four could then be divided evenly among all 16 schools. Since some schools have stronger booster programs than others, revenue sharing from a highly anticipated and highly attended postseason tournament would help level the playing field from a financial standpoint.
• Shortened layover: Realignment and a postseason tournament would shorten long layovers that many City League teams experience between the end of the regular season and beginning of tournament play. Realignment would push regular season division play back a half-week, while the teams competing for a league title would have even less of a layover. Realignment would prevent Africentric, who played its last regular season game in 2014–15 on Feb.7, from going nearly a month before playing in its first round sectional tournament game.
• Parity and real competitive balance (I’m looking at you, OHSAA): Speaking with several coaches in the City League regarding this idea, the consensus is that realignment and a postseason tournament would create greater parity and give a heightened sense of who the best teams are. Facing a different team each game in league play would prevent the top teams from having too many “cupcake” games in the regular season, as a new team would await each night.
• Community togetherness: Bringing different sides of town together each and every night for City League basketball would create a buzz in the city that hasn't been felt in years. Having teams like Beechcroft or Northland head down south for road games at South and Marion-Franklin would bring the City League together as one, rather than having divisions separating many of the teams from ever playing one another.