An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions , with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Conferences often, but not always, include teams from a common geographic region.
37-529: The Oahu Interscholastic Association ( OIA ) is an athletic conference composed of all public secondary schools on the island of Oahu , Hawaii, U.S.A. The OIA was first founded in 1940 as the Rural Oahu Interscholastic Association ( ROIA ). The five founding schools were Castle High School , Kahuku High School , Leilehua High School , Waialua High & Intermediate School and Waipahu High School . The OIA originally comprised all
74-760: A season , a conference refers to a single tournament. This has since been carried over by other leagues, such as the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), which has its own conferences , the Philippine Super Liga , the Premier Volleyball League , the PBA D-League , and formerly the Philippine Basketball League . The term "conference" referring to a single tournament does not apply if there's only one tournament in
111-516: A conference system. From 2011 through to 2015, the competition had one conference based in each of its three founding countries . The winner of each conference received a playoff spot, as did the three next best teams overall. With the addition of Argentina's Jaguares and Japan's Sunwolves for 2016, plus a sixth franchise for South Africa, the competition reorganised into a new four-conference system. In 2016 and 2017, Australia and New Zealand formed separate conferences within an Australasian group;
148-584: A group of teams (generally eight to twelve colleges and/or universities, occasionally as high as sixteen) that regularly play against each other within a national governing body, the most significant of which is the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Most of these groups (including the "Power Five" conferences that are primary partners in the College Football Playoff ) refer to themselves as conferences, although
185-484: A lesser extent their own conference; NBA and NHL teams play at least two games (one at each home arena ) against every other team in their league in a regular season, MLB teams play at least one 3-game series against every other team (as of the 2023 season ), but the NFL teams do not. In college sports , the terms "league," "conference" and (generally at lower levels) "athletic association" can be used interchangeably to refer to
222-422: A non-geographic conference system in 2019 and 2020 . The league was divided into two conferences, based on ladder position in the previous season. Not every team could play each other due to the limited number of rounds, so conferences were introduced so that teams were only measured against the teams they played. The system was controversial because it allowed some weak teams to make finals, and strong teams from
259-676: A season, such as in the case of the college sports leagues, the Philippine Football League , and the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League . HHSAA State Football Championships#Division I The Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) State Football Championship consists of the two games that are played annually to crown the Division 1 and Division 2 state football champions in Hawaii . Before 1999, when
296-514: A secondary trophy called a "shield" (Irish, Scottish/Italian, South African, Welsh), with the overall league table used to determine playoff participants. The winner of each shield, however, is assured a place in the following year's European Rugby Champions Cup regardless of its overall league position. The now defunct Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association , where teams are represented by companies instead of geographical entities, and there are multiple tournaments held sequentially in
333-505: A total of sixteen teams (eight from each conference) qualify for the league's postseason playoffs. In the NHL , since the 2013–14 season, the top 3 in each division are guaranteed to qualify and division winners are awarded the highest seeds, meaning they will have home-ice advantage in a given round, with the two best remaining teams in each conference receiving wild card spots. In the NBA, starting with
370-437: Is divided into an American Football Conference (AFC) and a National Football Conference (NFC). Both conferences have 16 teams, and each conference is divided into 4 divisions of 4 teams each. These conferences, for the most part, derive from the fact that they were once separate organizations: the original National Football League and the 1960s American Football League ; the two entities merged in 1970, with each league forming
407-654: Is part of NCAA Division I (specifically the Football Bowl Subdivision ), but is itself also subdivided into an East and West division. In English association football, the top level of non-League football —i.e., the level below the Premier League and the three tiers that make up the English Football League (EFL)—was known as the Football Conference from the 1986–87 season through the end of
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#1733093274702444-563: Is the highest level of provincial competition in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the highest domestic level in Japan, and the only professional domestic level in Argentina. From the creation of Super Rugby in 1996 through 2015 , only Australia, New Zealand and South Africa participated; the competition added teams in the latter two countries in 2016 . Since the 2011 season , it has operated on
481-827: The FA Cup (open to teams from all levels), the EFL Cup (open only to teams from the Premier League and the English Football League), and the FA Trophy (open only to teams in the broader definition of the National League, plus the two tiers below it). The Kontinental Hockey League has a Western Conference and an Eastern Conference . This is similar to the NHL 's conferences in North America . In rugby union , Super Rugby
518-615: The Horizon League , Ivy League , Patriot League , Pioneer League and Summit League use the word "league" instead, and another conference calls itself the Coastal Athletic Association . The NCAA itself is divided into divisions and subdivisions based on athletic scholarship eligibility, which can lead to redundancy when these conferences also have divisions of their own. For instance, the Southeastern Conference
555-523: The 2014–15 season. In turn, from 2004, the Conference was divided into three leagues—Conference Premier, at the fifth tier of the English football pyramid , and Conference North and Conference South, which made up the sixth tier. Starting with the 2015–16 season, the Football Conference and its component leagues were renamed. The Football Conference and Conference Premier were both renamed "National League", and
592-498: The 2015–16 season, the playoff spots go to the eight top teams in each conference by overall record, with home-court advantage in each playoff series based solely on record. Major League Soccer (MLS) also divides itself into an Eastern and Western Conference , though it does not have divisions within them; it too allocates an equal number of teams from each conference to play for its MLS Cup Playoffs (since 2019, this has been seven teams each). The National Football League (NFL)
629-596: The Divisional tournaments will vary each year. In the early years of prep football the question of "who's the best high school football team in the state" could never be answered as Hawaii never conducted a state championship. This all changed in 1973 when Bill Smithe of the Oahu Interscholastic Association (OIA) and Clay Benham of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu (ILH) struck a deal where
666-592: The OIA decided to divide its football teams into 3 divisions/conferences: the OIA Open Division, OIA D1, and OIA D2. Teams are realigned every 2 years based on performance of both the varsity and junior varsity . OIA Open Division OIA D1 OIA D2 See: Oahu Prep Bowl Teams from the Oahu Interscholastic Association have competed in every Division I State Championship game since
703-513: The South African teams were joined by the Jaguares and Sunwolves in a "South African" group, with that group also being divided into two conferences. The winner of each conference continued to receive a playoff spot, with additional berths going to the next three best Australasian teams and the next best team of the South African group. For 2018, Super Rugby will revert to a 15-team format, following
740-611: The State Football Championship game was instituted, Hawaii did not crown an official state champion in football and instead held the Oahu Prep Bowl , which matched up the champions of the two football leagues on Oahu to play. As of 2016, the Hawaii High School Athletic Association board approved for a three-tier football state championship format, which will go into effect. The number of teams in
777-512: The basis of the NFC and AFC respectively. The NFL allocates seven teams from each conference for the NFL playoffs ; the four division winners (guaranteed one of the top four seeds, based on winning percentage), and the three best-non division winners, also known as wild cards . Major League Baseball (MLB) does not use the word "conference." Instead, it is divided into two separate leagues which are identical to
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#1733093274702814-514: The competition's rebranding as the United Rugby Championship. For the first season under the URC name in 2021–22, the competition reorganized into four regionally based pools, though no longer using the word "conference". Three of the pools are made up of teams from one country—Ireland, South Africa, and Wales. The fourth features the teams from Italy and Scotland. Each regional pool competes for
851-731: The conferences listed above in all but name (which, although their operations have been integrated via the Commissioner of Baseball in modern times, were originally separately managed organizations with an intense rivalry). These are the American League (AL) and National League (NL), with 15 teams each. Each league is divided into the Eastern ( AL , NL ), Central ( AL , NL ), and Western ( AL , NL ) divisions, with all six divisions having 5 teams each. Each league produces six teams for postseason play , with each division winner also guaranteed one of
888-507: The creation of the championship in 1999. The OIA lost the first ever Division I state championship game in 1999 with the St. Louis Crusaders beating the Kahuku Red Raiders 19–0. In total, the OIA is 8–6 in the Division I State Championship. Kahuku High School holds the current record for the most appearances (8) and wins (6) in the OIA and the state for the Division I title. Kahuku is also
925-570: The current Division I champion after beating Punahou School 42–20 on November 23, 2012. Teams from the OIA have competed in the Division II State Championship game 6 of the 10 times it was held from 2003 to 2012. The OIA has won only 2 (in 2003 and 2004). Aiea High School and Campbell High School are the only 2 OIA schools to have won the HHSAA Division II State Championship . Radford High School holds
962-505: The dropping of two teams from South Africa and one from Australia. The new format features three conferences—Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, each with five teams; the Sunwolves will join the Australian conference and the Jaguares will play in the South African conference. The conference winners will continue to receive playoff berths, with additional berths going to the top five teams in
999-723: The educational program of the high school and holds its athletes to a number of academic and behavioral standards. The mission of the OIA is to promote unity and cooperation amongst the member schools in the establishment and administration of policies and regulations for implementing an interscholastic athletic program. The association shall stress educational and cultural values, promote skills in competitive activities and foster sportsmanship and mutual respect. The OIA divides its baseball teams into 3 conferences spanning 2 divisions: OIA Division 1 East, Division 1 East, and Division 2 (combined east–west). Division 1 East Division 1 West Division 2 Beginning in 2018,
1036-414: The finals (one from each conference/league) and the records of teams outside a conference/league are ignored, which can allow teams with inferior records to make the playoffs while teams in the other conference with better records do not get in. An extreme example of this has occurred three times in the NFL, when the 2010 Seattle Seahawks , 2014 Carolina Panthers , and 2020 Washington Football Team reached
1073-575: The league changed its identity from the ROIA to simply OIA to reflect the integration of all of the public high schools on the island. The OIA now has 24 member schools who compete in 19 different junior varsity and varsity level sports. The league produces a number of quality athletic teams in a number of sports, especially football. The OIA concurs with the Hawaii Board of Education and Hawaii Department of Education in recognizing athletics as an integral part of
1110-419: The league season, the teams that top each conference table received berths in the semifinals, with the next two teams in each conference playing off for semifinal berths. After the 2020–21 season, South Africa fully aligned its club rugby structure with that of Europe. The then-existing Pro14 franchises from South Africa were replaced by the country's four Super Rugby franchises, which moved into Pro14 and led to
1147-571: The other conference missed out on finals. It was because of this that the conference system was removed for the 2021 season . In the United States and Canada , the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) are divided into Eastern ( NHL , NBA ) and Western ( NHL , NBA ) Conferences, with multiple divisions within each conference (two in each NHL conference, three in each NBA conference). In both leagues,
Oahu Interscholastic Association - Misplaced Pages Continue
1184-495: The overall competition table that were not already qualified. In the same sport, Pro14, now known as the United Rugby Championship , adopted a conference system effective in 2017–18 , following the addition of the two South African teams dropped from Super Rugby. The competition split into two conferences, each featuring two teams from Ireland and Wales, plus single teams from Italy, Scotland and South Africa. Following
1221-548: The playoffs by winning their respective divisions despite losing records (7–9 for the Seahawks and Washington, 7–8–1 for the Panthers). These are the only teams ever to qualify for the playoffs with losing records in seasons that were not shortened by strikes (as in 1982 , which was shortened from 16 to 9 games). In addition, a team's regular season schedule is weighted towards more games against other teams within their own division and to
1258-1090: The record for most appearances by the OIA with 2 (2005 and 2008). Iolani School currently holds the state record for most Division II State Championships with 7 wins of 8 appearances (including a 6-game winning streak since 2007). RED Division RED-West Seeding RED-East Seeding Note: Will advance to play for HHSAA DI championship playoff. see HHSAA DI football championship bracket. WHITE Division Note: RED Division RED-West Seeding ^ Clinched State Tournament Berth RED-East Seeding Note: WHITE Division OIA Football Playoff Brackets for seasons 2011 to present can be found in their respective OIA season pages. Baseball | Basketball (boys and girls) | Bowling | Cheerleading | Cross Country | Football | Golf | Judo | Paddling | Riflery | Soccer (boys and girls) | Softball | Soft Tennis | Swimming | Tennis | Track and Field | Volleyball (boys and girls) | Water Polo | Wrestling | Athletic conference The AFL Women's competition used
1295-410: The rural schools on Oahu, which were all of the schools that were not situated in the main city of Honolulu . This changed however in 1970 with the addition of the five former public school members of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu – Farrington High School , Kaimuki High School , McKinley High School , Roosevelt High School and Kalani High School . After the public Honolulu schools joined,
1332-481: The top three seeds, even if their record is lower than the league's top wild card teams . In all five sports, the champion of one conference (or league in MLB's case) plays the champion of the other conference for the final round championship, this is guaranteed to occur because the rules for the playoffs require play to be exclusively within the conference/league in all rounds before the final round, leaving only two teams for
1369-407: The two regional leagues were renamed National League North and National League South . This does not strictly meet the definition indicated in the previous sections of this article, as each individual league mentioned in this section is a separate competition. The only times that teams from different leagues compete against one another in meaningful matches are in knockout cup competitions, such as
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