remaining schools (43 for 2010 and 2011; 41 for 2012 and 2013) in 2-1A. In eight-man football, there are two divisions of roughly equal size, with 105 schools scheduled to compete in 8-man for the 2010 and 2011 seasons, decreasing to 104 for 2012 and 2013 due to consolidation in many rural towns. Beginning in 2018, Classes 6A, 5A and 4A will have 32 schools in each classification for football, with the two-division format in 4A eliminated. Classes 3A and 2A will have 48 schools each, and Class 1A will have the remaining 11-man football playing schools (31 in 2018 and 2019). 8-man Division I will be limited to 48 schools, with the remainder in 8-man Division II. The KSHSAA did not sponsor state championship playoffs for football until 1969. District play was introduced to determine playoff participants in 1981. From 1981 through 2001, only district champions advanced to the playoffs. In 2002, the top two teams in each 11-man district began to qualify for the playoffs; district runners-up were added to the playoff brackets for 8-man in 2004. In 2016, districts were abolished in Classes 5A and 6A. In those classifications, teams now schedule the first eight games on their own, with the ninth week acting as the first week of the playoffs. Teams are seeded onto the bracket based upon overall record and divided into two groups of 16 based upon geography. Beginning in 2018 the same format was adopted in Class 4A. Schools form leagues to compete against one another, and participation in a particular league is voluntary. Most schools in a league are located within a close geographic range. The most notable example is in Wichita, where the nine high schools within the city limits form the Greater Wichita Athletic League (GWAL, more commonly known as the City League). However, due to sparse population in western Kansas, schools in the same league are often separated by distances of more than 100 miles, and in a few cases, schools are almost 200 miles apart. In some sports and activities where not all small schools may field a team, classifications are combined for purposes of state championships. For example, in policy debate, there are state championships for 6A, 5A, 4A, and 3-2-1A combined. Historical classifications Basketball: 2021 to present: 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, 1A-Division I, 1A-Division II 2019 to 2020: 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, 1A 2014