SMHS ATHLETICS
UIL Realignment is just a few days away as San Marcos will see what new district their athletic teams will be put in. As everyone awaits what new districts the UIL will prepare for, here is a rundown of everything you need to know about 2026 Realignment.
What is Realignment? Every two years, the UIL reshuffles the district through all the classifications from 6A down to 1A. This is done due to the rapid rate many high schools see in their enrollments that either increase or decrease. The future football, volleyball and basketball districts will be released at 9 a.m. Monday with the districts for the spring sports being released at a later date.
What new changes are happening this year?
For the first time since 2010, the cutoff for Class 6A was dropped. In 2024, the cutoff for Class 6A was set at 2,275. This year’s realignment has seen the cutoff for 6A decrease to 2,215 due to many schools submitting enrollments way below the original cutoff.
How does San Marcos fit in this year’s realignment?
San Marcos submitted an enrollment of 2,333, putting the Rattlers firmly in Class 6A for the tenth consecutive year. Despite now knowing where the Rattlers will land in their new district, San Marcos will be nearly a lock for Division II, submitting the fifth lowest enrollment in Class 6A for Greater Austin and the smallest enrollment in Class 6A for Greater San Antonio.
Where could San Marcos land in their new district?
San Marcos can be best described as a floater school located in the middle of Austin and San Antonio. For the past two realignment cycles, San Marcos has stayed south with San Antonio based high schools but in the 2020 realignment, the Rattlers were put in a district with Austin-based high schools.
How does this affect Hays County?
For the first time, Hays County will have four high schools in Class 6A in San Marcos, Dripping Springs, Buda Hays and Buda Johnson. The possibilities of where each school can land is numerous, with one scenario potentially putting all four schools in the same district and another splitting the four schools across three districts. The last realignment cycle put San Marcos and Buda Johnson in the same district while Dripping Springs stayed in the Austin district.
The 2022 realignment cycle had Dripping Springs and Buda Johnson in the same district while San Marcos stayed south with the San Antonio district.
Prediction? When it comes to realignment, always expect the unexpected. San Marcos’ ability to move between Austin and San Antonio makes it difficult to pin down exactly where the Rattlers will be playing in their new district. With four schools coming up to Class 6A in Greater Austin and four schools coming up in Greater San Antonio to Class 6A, it raises the possibility of San Marcos being placed in a district featuring both Austin and San Antonio schools. A possible scenario is San Marcos being paired with both Buda Johnson and Buda Hays in the same district, the latter reigniting the rivalry known as the Battle of Hays County.
