GSL, Big Nine dump Tuesday night

Greater Spokane League activities coordinators agreed to a new football schedule Wednesday for the fall season.

With it, the Tuesday night state playoff play-in games became a thing of the past.

The league, which will have 11 members during the 2006-07 school year, will revert to an eight-game league schedule – a staple for most of its existence – the next two seasons if the league principals agree in their meeting next week, according to league secretary Randy Ryan.

With an odd number of schools, the eight games will be spread over nine weeks, starting the weekend of Sept. 1. Five league games will be played each weekend, with one team having a bye and eligible for a non-league game. University was selected to have the opening-week bye for the next two years.

The GSL has entered into agreement with the Big Nine Conference, which is also becoming a combined 4A/3A league, to revise the 10th week schedule. The two leagues will still combine their state playoff berths – four on the 4A level, two on the 3A – but will also play games between schools that do not qualify for the state playoffs.

The new system is:

The 4A is similar to the old system, except with the games on Saturday of the schedule’s 10th week. The GSL No. 1 seed will host the Big Nine No. 4; GSL No. 2 hosts Big Nine No. 3; GSL Nos. 3 and 4 will travel to Big Nine Nos. 2 and 1, respectively.

With the GSL having just three 3A schools – the Big Nine will have seven – it will only have one play-in participant. The GSL No. 1 will host the Big Nine No. 2 on Saturday, while the Big Nine No. 1 hosts the league’s No. 3 seed.

The two league’s schools that fail to qualify for the state playoffs will match up for six games, three of those in Spokane, on Friday night.