I don’t envy the jobs of those on the realignment committee. Determining what size each class will be is nowhere near as hard as the next step — determining who plays in what conference. You can never make all 446 schools happy, and those you make unhappy on this step are usually quite heated.

By doubling the number of N.C. High School Athletic Association classes from four to eight, things have changed dramatically this year.

For one thing, we don’t know a lot about what changes are coming to the playoff format next year, other than the obvious slashing of one round of the playoffs. Will conference champs still get 1-seeds or just automatic bids? Will split conferences be treated the same as now, or will we shift to using RPI to seed?

Until schools know those answers, they might not know whether or not to be happy with their projected conference.

Also, what were once easy regions to realign might now be difficult.

Below, I’ve listed what I think are the five of the toughest schools to realign this go-round. Only one, Midway, is what might be considered a “usual suspect.”

I didn’t list schools where the split conference they’ll likely fall in is easy to project. For instance, it isn’t hard to figure out where to place Laney and Hoggard, despite being the only two 8A schools within a two-and-a-half hours’ drive. There are four 7A schools in New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender counties that make it a no-brainer.

It also isn’t tough to figure out where Currituck County will be despite being the northernmost school in the NCHSAA and the only 5A within about three hours of driving. Currituck has one 4A next door and a handful of 3A teams for a 5A/4A/3A no-brainer split conference.

But it’s not so easy with these schools.

I know because I tried my own hand at what conferences I think will be made, as did Joel Bryant.

6A West Brunswick

The Trojans are the only 6A in the southeasternmost corner of North Carolina, and they have two realistic options. Either be the only 6A in a 5A split with the possible likes of South Brunswick, Dixon, Croatan, Richlands, Northside of Jacksonville and Havelock, or be the only 6A in an 8A/7A/6A split with Hoggard, Laney, New Hanover, Ashley, Topsail, and North Brunswick.

I think the choice is the longer road trips in the 6A/5A split (winning a conference title in any sport has been near-impossible otherwise), but that’s something the school would have to weigh.

3A Midway

Midway’s closest schools are in three different classes — 6A Triton, 2A Hobbton, and 4A Clinton. Its current conference isn’t the most geographically friendly and now has teams in 5A, 4A, and 3A. Historically, Midway has been all over when it comes to conference formation because of its unique size and location. Sometimes it goes eastward to link up with Duplin County, which only has two 3A schools in the next realignment. Being part of a conference that sends the Raiders all the way to Jacksonville or Kinston feels too far, but locally there aren’t many easy options without being the smallest school.

Personally, I think being the only 3A in this league would be OK — 5A Douglas Byrd and St. Pauls, 4A Red Springs, Fairmont, and Clinton. That preserves the rivalry with Clinton and keeps the travel from branching too far away (though Fairmont is not a hop, skip, and a jump away, it’s a trek they make now).

8A West Forsyth and Northwest Guilford

(Yes, I’m cheating and combining these two into my “five.”) Whatever happens with these two schools will send a domino effect in the Triad. I don’t see them having to leave the Triad to fill an 8A league in the Triangle or Charlotte area, so the first question is: do you put them together into one split conference or no? If you do put them together, the chances are one or the other will be without some nearby 7A rivals. Northwest is closer to the Forsyth county line than West is to the Guilford line, so I wouldn’t be surprised, if they’re combined, that Northwest joins a mainly-Forsyth conference.

6A Glenn and Mount Tabor

These two are also getting combined into one of my “top five,” and they will be bellwether teams for how schools are being handled across the state. They could be the smallest teams in an 8A/7A/6A split to preserve rivalries, or the biggest 6A teams in a 5A split that isn’t so geographically friendly. Mount Tabor in particular has already proven it can punch above its weight class in a number of sports. Whichever way they go will say a lot about what’s being prioritized.

5A Hickory

One of the better all-around athletic departments in 3A is going to 5A… and practically no one else in the Catawba Valley is. Hickory has, in the past, been part of conferences that stretch into Watauga, Burke, and Caldwell counties, but it would likely have to be the only 5A in such a league right now as South Caldwell, Alexander Central, Watauga, Freedom, Statesville, North Iredell, and rival St. Stephens are all 6A. County schools like Newton-Conover, Bandys, Bunker Hill, Maiden, and Fred T. Foard are going 4A. Could Hickory be the only 5A in that league? Would they get paired with East Lincoln and North Lincoln to form one of these splits? They’d be outnumbered either way, but seem like they’d compete well with the 6A schools and tower over the 4A ones.

Again, we’ll know what the decision makers are prioritizing once the first model is sent out.