Austin-area high schools found out their district and classification assignments for the next two years Thursday in the UIL’s biennial realignment process, which determines opponents and travel and has playoff implications.

Here are some takeaways from the UIL’s decisions, which brought enormous change for some and little for others:

More: UIL district assignments for Austin area schools for 2024-26

Schools, people and groups that benefited

Fans in District 25-6A: Not only will there be important football matchups in Week 3 with nine teams thanks to the arrival of Hutto, but most other sports will feature a grueling 16-game schedule with plenty of enticing games. There also won’t be much travel, with the longest trek being between Vandegrift and Hutto.

Local rivalries: Weiss and Hendrickson are back in the same football district. It’s arguably the best rivalry in the state that those outside of Austin don’t know about and produces playofflike intensity in most sports. The 2021 game between the two at the Pfield drew more than 7,000 fans. In the other team sports, all of the Pflugerville ISD schools are now in the same district. … The same can be said for Anderson being in the same district as McCallum in nonfootball sports. The schools are less than 5 miles apart, it’s one of the top three rivalries in the Austin area, and now we get it twice a year in every sport.

Liberty Hill football: While it will be the overwhelming favorite to win District 11-5A Division II, its travel schedule just got cut by 60% or more by being lumped in with schools in the Austin area instead of San Antonio and Kerrville. Bastrop used to be its shortest trip. Now it’s the longest. And being in a nine-team district, it only had to schedule two nondistrict games.

Anderson: It’s hard to see the Trojans, who dropped to Class 5A, not qualifying for the playoffs in nearly every team sport outside of football, and it will have a shot on the gridiron, too.

Austin ISD volleyball: Ann Richards, LASA, McCallum and Anderson are all good, and they’re now all in the same district. It will be a fun two years.

Taylor football: The Ducks appear on the upswing and could challenge for a top-two finish in District 13-4A Division I.

Those for whom the UIL did no favors

District 25-6A schools: As much fun as this district is going to be, there will probably be two good teams in every sport that miss the playoffs. Football was a gantlet the past two years, and it’s about to get worse.

McCallum: The Knights have a solid athletic department with most team sports being perennial playoff qualifiers, but there’s going to be a step up in competition. McCallum landed in a football district with Liberty Hill, Pflugerville, Connally, Elgin and Bastrop, while in other team sports it has another strong athletic department in rival Anderson to deal with.

More: The top high school sports performers of the week in the Austin area

Johnson: The Hays County school got shipped south into District 29-6A with San Marcos and other schools around the San Antonio area. It's not a bad thing to get away from Dripping Springs, Lake Travis and Westlake from a competition standpoint, but its closest district opponent is now 24 miles away. There will be some late nights for the Jaguars.

Traditions: Some of the Austin ISD rivalries might be fading away with Crockett not being able to meet either LBJ or Northeast. This isn’t the UIL’s fault, but it’s still something that’s sad to see.

Local Class 5A Division I football schools: Both the local districts are tough. The Leander ISD and Georgetown ISD schools have to deal with Lake Belton and are in Region II, which means they’ll face Dallas-area schools in the first round of the playoffs. District 12 has nine teams, including perennially ranked programs College Station and A&M Consolidated. Playoff berths will definitely be earned.

Logic: There are two Austin-centric Class 6A districts with a total of 16 teams. However, one has nine teams and the other seven. The UIL's decision not to have two eight-team districts makes little sense. It also forced the District 26 schools to scramble to find four football opponents.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: UIL realignment: Who benefited and who didn't in the Austin area?