For next two seasons, 1A football tournament in Washington will be 12-team bracket

Rest of five classifications will be normal 16-team brackets after WIAA releases state allocations for each sport Monday

After being in the Class 1A title game in 2023, Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls is still the team to beat in 1A Northeast. / Photo courtesy of Lakeside athletics

Because of the late-changing status of few programs in western Washington, the WIAA Class 1A football championships will field 12 teams starting this fall, not the usual 16 teams.

Two-year state allocations for each sport in each classifications were approved Monday by the WIAA executive board.

For football, 16-team state brackets were approved for Class 4A, 3A, 2A, 2B and 1B.

In Class 1A, 44 participating schools were needed in football to insure a 16-team bracket. But combine the fact the entire 1A Emerald Sound does not play football with the changing status of three 1A Nisqually programs - Charles Wright (opting to play 1B), Vashon (no varsity team) and Bellevue Christian (canceled football for 2024) - that reduced the 1A total to 43.

If any of those three 1A Nisqually programs came back to varsity football within the classification next fall, an appeal could be heard to change the state bracket back to 16 teams in 2025, said WIAA assistant executive director Andy Barnes.

"Otherwise, it is a two-year commitment to this," Barnes said.

Jim Shapiro, the longtime King's coach, recognizes Class 1A numbers are down, and said he is "not bummed" that the classification will employ a 12-team bracket over the next two seasons.

The way the WIAA's current 12-team bracket is set up, the top four seeds will received first-round byes.

Also, whereas Class 4A, 3A and 2A will still have its 32-team district bracket, 1A will have a 24-team bracket in Week 10.

To see the full allotment for state playoff berths in each sport, click here.