With the Wyoming High School Activities Association board of directors preparing for its biennial task of reclassification, the Star-Tribune decided to take a look at surrounding states to see how Wyoming's method of classifying its schools stacked up to the rest of the region.

Here are some of the highlights from nearby states:

n Utah and Montana both use geography as a consideration when classifying schools.

The Utah High School Activities Association has what it calls "soft" enrollment parameters, but some schools may be exempted from their actual enrollment figure to attain what it calls "a functional region of play."

Montana in 2007 overhauled its reclassification system and added geography and district/divisional alignment as the three keys in its system.

n Nebraska, like Wyoming, classifies its teams by setting the number of teams in the class rather than by setting an enrollment parameter. Nebraska has 311 high schools; for volleyball, football and basketball, the top 28 are Class A, the next 36 are B and the remaining 247 are divided evenly into the four remaining classes.

n On the flip-side is Nevada, which uses hard enrollment parameters to classify its 104 high schools. Nevada went through its realignment last year solely using enrollment figures; all appeals to change classifications were denied.

n Colorado tries to keep its classifications as even as possible. The state reclassifies its schools every two years, setting enrollment parameters in odd years and reclassifying the schools in even years.

The state tries to set its enrollment parameters to make the divisions as even as possible, which helps account for small variations in those numbers the next year. Therefore, every one of Colorado's five classifications (the system used for basketball and volleyball) has between 64 and 70 schools. Six of the seven football divisions had between 37 and 48 schools (the six-man division has only 21 schools).

n While some states have as many as six or seven classifications for its sports, North Dakota has done the opposite. For most sports, North Dakota has only two classifications. The enrollment figure of 325 students is the magic cut-off; schools larger than that are Class A, smaller are Class B. The set-up has encouraged most small schools to set up cooperative agreements for their athletic programs with neighboring schools in order to be competitive.

Here is a state-by-state breakdown of how school classification works in several nearby states:

ARIZONA

SCHOOLS: 257

CLASSIFICATIONS: Five for all sports; Class 5A and Class 4A (big-school classes) each have two separate divisions.

DIVISION LINES: Enrollment, with floating parameters. Schools larger than 1,200 students are split evenly between 4A and 5A; schools smaller than 1,200 students are split evenly into 3A, 2A and 1A.

CURRENT ALIGNMENT: There are 60 schools in 5A; 65 in 4A; 28 in 3A; 39 in 2A; 49 in 1A.

RECLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE: Schools are reclassified every two years.

RECENT CHANGES: Prompted by tremendous growth in its metro areas, Arizona recently did away with its specific enrollment parameters to classify schools, opting instead to try to find even splits among its 4A and 5A divisions and its 3A, 2A and 1A divisions.

COLORADO

SCHOOLS: 332

CLASSIFICATIONS: Seven in football; five in basketball and volleyball; four in track and wrestling. Other sports are divided into five, four, three, two or one class.

DIVISION LINES: Enrollment. Schools larger than 1,441 students are 5A; schools from 586 to 1,440 are 4A; schools from 236-585 are 3A; schools from 97-235 are 2A; schools smaller than 97 are 1A. For football, schools larger than 1,641 are 5A; schools from 1,201 to 1,640 are 4A; schools from 601 to 1,200 are 3A; schools from 276 to 600 are 2A; schools from 126 to 275 are 1A; schools from 76 to 125 are 8-man; schools smaller than 76 are 6-man.

CURRENT ALIGNMENT: There are 64 schools in 5A; 70 in 4A; 65 in 3A; 66 in 2A; 67 in 1A. For football, there are 45 in 5A; 47 in 4A; 40 in 3A; 48 in 2A; 37 in 1A; 47 in 8-man; 21 in 6-man.

RECLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE: Schools are reclassified every two years. In even years, schools are reclassified; in odd years, the enrollment parameters are determined.

IDAHO

SCHOOLS: 148

CLASSIFICATIONS: Six in football, volleyball and basketball; five in track; four in wrestling. Other sports are divided into three or four classifications.

DIVISION LINES: Enrollment. Schools larger than 1,280 students are 5A; schools between 640-1,279 are 4A; 320-639 are 3A; 160-319 are 2A; and smaller than 160 are 1A.

CURRENT ALIGNMENT: There are 20 schools in 5A; 22 in 4A; 25 in 3A; 23 in 2A; 29 in 1A-Division I; 29 in 1A-Division II.

RECLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE: Schools are reclassified every two years.

RECENT CHANGES: Idaho recently added a Classification Committee to help organize the reclassification process.

MONTANA

SCHOOLS: 181

CLASSIFICATIONS: Five in football; four in volleyball, basketball and track; three in wrestling. Other sports are divided into four or three classifications.

DIVISION LINES: Enrollment, geography, district and divisional alignment. Schools larger than 826 students are AA; schools between 340-825 are A; 120-339 are B; and smaller than 120 are C.

CURRENT ALIGNMENT: There are 14 schools in AA; 24 schools in A; 43 schools in B; 99 schools in C. For football, divisions are the same except for C, where there are 45 in 8-man and 26 in 6-man.

RECLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE: Schools are reclassified every two years.

RECENT CHANGES: In 2007, Montana changed from reclassifying schools every year to every two years. The state also added a 10-percent window for its enrollment parameters - if a school want to go up in classification, it can, but it isn't forced to move unless its enrollment climbs 10 percent above the parameter.

NEBRASKA

SCHOOLS: 311

CLASSIFICATIONS: Six in volleyball, basketball and football; four in wrestling and track; other sports are divided into three, two or one class.

DIVISION LINES: Number of schools, depending on class. For six-classification sports, the top 28 schools are in the "A" classification, the next 36 are in "B" and the remaining schools are split evenly into the remaining four classes. For four-classification sports, the 32 largest schools are "A," the next 48 are "B" and the rest are split evenly into the remaining two classes.

RECLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE: Schools are reclassified every year; football is reclassified every two years.

NEVADA

SCHOOLS: 104

CLASSIFICATIONS: Four in all sports.

DIVISION LINES: Enrollment. Schools larger than 1,200 students are 4A; schools between 460 and 1,200 are 3A; schools between 169-460 are 2A; schools smaller than 169 are 1A.

CURRENT ALIGNMENT: There are 47 schools in 4A; 13 in 3A; 13 in 2A; and 31 in 1A.

RECLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE: Schools are reclassified every four years.

RECENT CHANGES: Nevada went through realignment last year, strictly by the numbers. All appeals were denied.

NEW MEXICO

SCHOOLS: 160

CLASSIFICATIONS: Seven in football; five in basketball, track and volleyball; three in wrestling; other sports are divided into five, four, three or one class.

DIVISION LINES: Enrollment, geography and district balance. New Mexico does not use hard enrollment breaks; instead, schools are classified based on a combination of factors, all three of which carry equal balance.

CURRENT ALIGNMENT: There are 22 schools in 5A; 22 in 4A; 27 in 3A; 34 in 2A; 41 in 1A. For football, there are 22 schools in 5A; 21 in 4A; 22 in 3A; 17 in 2A; 10 in 1A; 14 in 8-man; 7 in 6-man.

RECLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE: Schools are reclassified every two years.

NORTH DAKOTA

SCHOOLS: 183

CLASSIFICATIONS: Four in football; two in basketball, volleyball, track and wrestling; other sports are divided into one or two classes.

DIVISION LINES: Enrollment. Schools larger than 325 students are Class A; schools smaller than 325 are Class B.

CURRENT ALIGNMENT: Generally, 18 schools in A, 123 in B, with numerous co-op agreements in various sports. For football, 16 in AAA; 16 in AA; 24 in B; 50 in 9-man.

RECLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE: Schools are reclassified "as needed" for most sports and every two years for football.

SOUTH DAKOTA

SCHOOLS: 188

CLASSIFICATIONS: Six in football; three in basketball, volleyball and track; two in wrestling; other sports are divided into three, two or one class.

DIVISION LINES: Enrollment. Schools larger than 450 students are AA; schools between 90 and 449 are A; schools smaller than 90 are B. For football, Class A is split into two divisions - 11A is for schools between 200 and 499, 11B is for remaining 11-man schools - and Class B is split into three equal 9-man divisions.

CURRENT ALIGNMENT: There are 17 schools in AA, 62 schools in A and 94 schools in B.

RECLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE: Schools are reclassified every two years.

UTAH

SCHOOLS: 128

CLASSIFICATIONS: Five for most sports.

DIVISION LINES: Enrollment and geography. Some schools may be exempted from hard enrollment numbers to attain a functional region of play. Utah's "soft" numbers for its next realignment would put schools larger than 1,500 in 5A; schools between 1,000 and 1,499 in 4A; schools between 400 and 999 in 3A; schools between 150 and 399 in 2A; and schools smaller than 150 in 1A.

CURRENT ALIGNMENT: There are 26 schools in 5A; 28 in 4A; 20 in 3A; 20 in 2A; and 34 in 1A.

RECLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE: Schools are reclassified every four years.

WYOMING

SCHOOLS: 70

CLASSIFICATIONS: Four in basketball, track and volleyball; five in football; three in wrestling; other sports are divided into three, two or one class.

DIVISION LINES: Number of schools. For most sports, the 12 largest schools are 4A; next 16 largest are 3A; next 20 largest are 2A; remaining schools are 1A. For football, the 11 largest are 5A; the next 11 are 4A; the next 12 are 3A; the next 12 are 2A; remaining 11 are 1A.

RECLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE: Schools are reclassified every two years.