New Alaska football alignment sends Anchorage’s Bartlett High to another conference

The Bartlett Golden Bears football team has been moved from the Cook Inlet Conference.

The Alaska School Activities Association on Monday realigned the state's high school football teams, a process that separates Anchorage's seven Division I teams into two conferences.

Bartlett, the defending state champion, will play in the five-team Railbelt Conference along with Chugiak, Colony, Wasilla and Juneau. Chugiak, which belongs to the CIC for other sports, was moved to the Railbelt a couple of years ago.

Remaining in the Cook Inlet Conference are West, East, Dimond, Service and South.

Nearly everyone will make the Division I playoffs. Eight of the 10 teams — the top four per conference, or 80 percent — will advance to the state quarterfinals.

The state's Division II teams will be separated into two conferences. Eagle River will play with Soldotna, Kenai and Kodiak in the Northern Lights Conference, and Palmer will play with West Valley, Lathrop and North Pole in a conference that's also being called the Railbelt.

Alaska's remaining 11 teams will play in two Division III conferences — the Greatland Conference (Barrow, Eielson, Houston, Monroe, Redington and Valdez), and the Peninsula Conference (Homer, Seward, Nikiski, Voznesenka, Ketchikan).

In both Division II and Division III, four teams — the top two in each conference — will advance to the state playoffs.

The realignment was in part a result of the off-season merger between the Juneau and Thunder Mountain football teams.

Division I (large schools)

Cook Inlet Conference

West
East
Dimond
Service
South

Railbelt Conference

Bartlett
Chugiak
Colony
Wasilla
Juneau

(top four in each conference advance to state playoffs)

Division II (medium-sized schools)

Northern Lights Conference

Eagle River
Soldotna
Kenai
Kodiak

Railbelt Conference

Palmer
West Valley
Lathrop
North Pole

(top two from each conference advance to state playoffs)

Division III (small schools)

Greatland Conference

Barrow
Eielson
Houston
Monroe
Remington
Valdez

Peninsula Conference

Homer
Nikiski
Seward
Ketchikan
Vozneskenka

(top two from each conference advance to state playoffs)