ɪn ˈɔːɹdɚ tə pɹɪvˈɛnt dɪstˈɔːɹɾᵻd tˈʊɹnəmənt stɹˈʌktʃɚz, fɔːɹ ˈɔːl spˈoːɹts ðɪ ˌɛmˈeɪtʃsˈɑː jˈuːsᵻz "nˌɪɹli ˈiːkwəl dᵻvˈɪʒənz," wˌɛɹ ˈoʊnli ðoʊz skˈuːlz spˈɑːnsɚɹɪŋ ɐ tˈiːm ɪnðə ɡˈɪvən spˈoːɹt ɑːɹ bɹˈoʊkən ˌɪntʊ æz mˈɛni ˈiːkwəli sˈaɪzd ɡɹˈuːpɪŋz ɔːɹ æz klˈoʊs tʊ ˈiːkwəl ˌæzˌɪz mˌæθɪmˈæɾɪkli pˈɑːsᵻbəl æz ðɪ ɐsˌoʊsɪˈeɪʃən fˈiːlz ɪz ɐpɹˈoʊpɹɪət ɡˈɪvən ðə nˈʌmbɚɹ ʌv skˈuːlz spˈɑːnsɚɹɪŋ ðə spˈoːɹt.
In order to prevent distorted tournament structures, for all sports the MHSAA uses "nearly equal divisions," where only those schools sponsoring a team in the given sport are broken into as many equally sized groupings (or as close to equal as is mathematically possible) as the Association feels is appropriate given the number of schools sponsoring the sport.