A meeting between Columbia Basin Big Nine principals today will help decide the fate of the conference going forward.

Proposals are expected to be presented from Tri-Cities area principals that would divide the league into a North Division and a South Division in a meeting at West Valley High School in Yakima.

The proposals are coming because of the two-year reclassification cycle underway in the Washington Interscholastic Activities Assocation.

The CBBN has been broken up into divisions before, most recently in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years when there were Columbia and Cascade divisions.

Unlike that setup, the new proposal would mean the schools would be divided geographically rather than the seemingly random divisions as before.

"The reorganization would save local districts a considerable amount of money in travel costs," said Richland School District spokesman Steve Aagaard in an e-mail Wednesday, "re-establish local rivalries and mean less time out of the classroom for student athletes because of the reduced travel. Board members were in support of this possible change."

The South Division would be made up of the seven Tri-Cities schools -- Richland, Hanford, Chiawana, Pasco, Kamiakin, Kennewick and Southridge -- as well as Walla Walla.

The North Division would be Sunnyside, Davis, Eisenhower, West Valley, Moses Lake, Eastmont and Wenatchee.

"It makes more sense for the Tri-City area for a number of reasons," Kamiakin athletic director Don Schumacher said. "From the time out of school, to parents being able to attend to crowd participation. The North doesn't have as much to gain, but they don't lose anything as far as traveling is concerned."

The divisions would save the Kennewick School District about $90,000 per year thanks to reduced fuel costs and less need to pay substitute teachers who coach and are gone to far-away meets or games, according to information presented at a Kennewick school board meeting Wednesday.

While the Tri-Cities schools are in favor of the new proposal, the North Division schools are less than thrilled.

"You do have to look out for the best interests of your school and kids," West Valley athletic director Joe Coscarart said, "but you also have to look out for the better good for the greater whole.

"By forming your own division it might help you, but it is a cost to the other schools."

West Valley initially had opted up to Class 3A, but rescinded that when it was realized Eastmont had made a mistake in the numbers it turned in. Initially, Eastmont was going to remain a Class 3A school but when the mistake -- forgetting to add in the Running Start students -- was discovered, the Wildcats were sent up to Class 4A.

"We wanted to keep all options open and not fully commit," Coscarart said.

The school could remain a Class 2A school and join the CWAC, something that is a definite possibility depending on how today's meeting shakes out.

According to a presentation presented at the Pasco school board meeting Tuesday night, the travel distances under the North-South proposal would be shorter than the distances under the old Cascade-Columbia divisions for all schools except Sunnyside.

The North-South division proposal is just one of a few expected to be presented today. It is not known if a final decision will come about today, or if the principals will just make a recommendation to the superintendents.

"The other alternative is to completely break away," Coscarart said, "but that is out of our hands. That is a principal and superintendent decision."

No matter what divisions the schools are put in, scheduling will be a chore for a six-team Class 3A league.

In football, schools will have to find five nonleague games. In sports like basketball, the schools will have to come up with a whopping 10 nonleague games and may have to go to Oregon and Idaho to find opponents.

With nine Class 4A schools and six Class 3A schools, both divisions will be mixed classifications similar to the Greater Spokane League.

In most sports, the divisions would meet up for a district tournament at the end of the season, though in football it could create some chaos as to which division will get more bids to the regional crossover games.

The CBBN is not the only Mid-Columbia league experiencing changes thanks to the WIAA's reclassification.

The Class 2A Central Washington Athletic League will most likely drop to nine schools, as Quincy moves down to Class 1A. The athletic directors are meeting today to start work on next year's schedules.

A nine-team league would create some problems, as football teams would be faced with byes late in the season, which can be a tough time to find nonconference opponents.

In Class 1A, the SCAC is going back to 15 teams, as Warden is back at Class 1A numbers. Warden will most likely be placed in the East division, while Mabton -- which is opting up after being designated a Class 2B school -- would shift back to the West division.

Mabton football is going to play an independent 2B schedule and will not be eligible for the postseason.

Liberty Christian dropped to Class 1B, which means its football team will no longer be playing an independent schedule and will be able to advance to the playoffs if it qualifies.

In Oregon, Hermiston's Class 5A Columbia River Conference is staying the same. The Bulldogs will continue to face Pendleton, Hood River Valley and The Dalles-Wahtonka.

The Class 3A Eastern Oregon League is losing Grant Union, which petitioned the Oregon State Activities Association to move down. Grant Union will now be apart of the Class 2A Blue Mountain Conference.

* Staff writer Jacques Von Lunen contributed to this report.