[30 going on 40]

I don't get it about separating the private schools. Doesn't it cheapen the whole thing if you don't play all the best teams in the state?

No, Silly. It only makes it easier to win the title. There are a handful of publics (many of whom don't compete directly with privates for students anyway. Some of them don't even have privates in their own class) who don't care how watered down the competition is as long as they get a trophy. See, that's how you save time and effort. You don't work year round for a trophy, you slowly try to politically eliminate those that do.