PASCO -- And the new name is?
Mid-Columbia Conference.
The Tri-City school districts and Walla Walla Public Schools announced Tuesday the new name for the athletic league they will play in for the 2012-13 school year.
The Tri-City schools and Walla Walla left the CBBN in January after a disagreement over whether the league should break into divisions.
The seven Tri-City schools wanted North and South divisions to "greatly reduce travel distance, which will both save districts money and require less lost instruction time," according to a Tuesday news release from the Pasco School District.
The late secession from the CBBN, though, has put the Tri-City schools in a spot where they likely will have much higher travel costs for the upcoming football season.
With an eight-team league, each school must fill three nonconference games. The Class 3A schools -- Hanford, Kamiakin, Kennewick and Southridge -- will have one of those spots filled by Sunnyside, which is remaining in the CBBN.
The CBBN will do a double round-robin in the regular season, while Sunnyside will do a single round-robin and then play the MCC's Class 3A schools for postseason purposes.
The MCC's Class 4A schools -- Chiawana, Pasco, Richland and Walla Walla -- each will get a game against a CBBN 4A school. The 4A schools remaining in the CBBN are Davis, Eastmont, Eisenhower, Moses Lake and Wenatchee.
Filling the rest of the schedules will be difficult because most schools have secured games for the upcoming season.
"It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so late," Kamiakin athletic director Don Schumacher said. "We are looking at anything we can get: Pendleton, Lewiston, Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls, Hermiston, any from the west.
"One of the reasons we formed the league is to stay away from the travel, but because of the late start, that may be what happens this year."
Football schedules usually are done two years out, guaranteeing each school a home-and-home. If schools from the west side or the Idaho Panhandle are needed to fill out schedules, the MCC teams could face significantly higher travel costs for football than in recent years.
The playoffs also will be different for the Class 4A schools. The CBBN teams do not want a regional relationship, according to Schumacher. The MCC will meet with the Greater Spokane League to try and keep some form of the regional crossover games going.
Most other sports' schedules have been completed, with round-robins being similar to what they have been in the past.
The MCC will be a mixed 3A and 4A league, similar to the GSL. The teams will face one another throughout the regular season, one league title will be awarded and teams will be seeded for the postseason based on league records -- not just how they do against teams in their own classification.
"The framework is a lot the same as the Big Nine," Schumacher said. "We're not trying to reinvent the wheel, just adjusting it to the new league."
The new conference's bylaws have not been ratified because the committee working on them still is making adjustments. The league's superintendents said they hope to have the bylaws done by Friday, but the athletic directors are not scheduled to meet again until next week.
"The school boards and superintendents are working on a timeline," said Todd Baddley, Richland School District assistant superintendent. "When we ratify the bylaws and the new name, that is when we formally have a new league."
* Craig Craker: 509-582-1509; ccraker@tricityherald.com
