As with any change there will be some schools who are happy and others that are negatively affected. I will try to make sense of what will likely happen with these scenarios.
This is only for 3A-6A, the lower classifications will not be affected by the changes and I will discuss those later. Also, at this time we don't know which schools are moving up or down due to the most recent school enrollment numbers, so I will consider things as they stand in 2008.
Let's look at the 'pro's' of this move. Schools in heavily populated areas should benefit. For instance, 6A Dade has a large number of schools in that classification, the move will simply combine schools into larger districts, thus teams SHOULD play a 'stronger' schedule with only two or possibly three non district games. In addition, more games will matter. A team could 'clinch a playoff berth' in week six and shut it down until the playoffs, but that is unlikely as 'seeding' would still be a factor.
Other 'pro's' include ease of the scheduling. There is room for the 'muck bowl' and other non-district contests that are played yearly. A team will only have to schedule a maximum of three non district games. It still provides a school like Pahokee or Madison County the ability to play 'up' in competition. It still allows room for the ever increasing out of state games.
The major 'con' is the couple of districts where there will be significant travel (+1 hour driving). Also, district play will begin earlier if teams want to keep 'week 11' non district right before the playoffs. So teams will need to gel sooner. Another potential problem is what to do in the playoffs. If you put the 4 teams who qualify in the same bracket, you get two rounds of re-matches(vs. potentially just one in the second round today). If you move them around the state, you bring SIGNIFICANT travel to the first 3 rounds of the playoffs, a situation that is not so prevalent today.
A look at 6A: District 1 is the 'Jacksonville area' with six teams. The 'Orlando area' is the next closest to these teams where there are '22 schools'(District 2-5), before you move to the '4' that are 'Sarasota/Tampa area' which are 'hangers'(District 6). District's 7/8, 9/10, 11/12, and 13-16 are easy combo's as the teams are in the general area of each other. All in all, not too bad, there will be 4-7 schools that have a ways to travel whether Orlando area north to Jacksonville or Orlando area west to the "Sarasota/Tampa area'.
A look at 5A: District 1(Pensacola) will need to combine with District 2(Jacksonville). Same for both, but it is too far to reasonably expect much of a traveling crowd either way. Districts 3 and 4 are 'alright' to combine, there is some travel, but not too bad. Districts 5-10 should be fine. It is 'Tampa Area' towards Lakeland. Districts 11/12 are Bradenton Manatee south to Ft. Myers and currently has 11 teams. Look for Bradenton Manatee and Lakewood Ranch to join the 'Tampa area'. Districts 13-16 will be combined into three districts presumably. All together only the Jacksonville/Pensacola issue is a problem.
A look at 4A: District 1 only has three teams, it is an easy combo with the 4 schools in District 2 and more than likely Mosley(Lynn Haven) and Rutherford(Springfield) from District 3. That would leave eight teams in District 3(Tallahassee) and District 4(Jacksonville). It is better than Pensacola to Jacksonville in 5A. District's 5 and 6 will be 'ok'. District's 8-11 are the 'Tampa Area' with 21 schools. District 12 is Central Florida and District 7 is the eastern coast of Florida from Daytona down to Titusville. There is also six schools in Lee/Collier county(Naples/Ft. Myers) that are 'hangers'. It is safe to say that there will be some issues in the 4A classification.
A look at 3A: District 1 and 2 are an easy combo. Districts 13 and 14 are also a good match(10 teams, one will need to go up or down). Too many teams in District's 15 and 16, but at least one new district will make sense. Districts 3-12 should be able to make some good combo's, but the numbers vs. distance will likely create one district where there is significant travel. Should end up with 6-7 good districts here.
In the end, we will just have to sit back and see how the districts are put together and how they choose to put the brackets together. See how it 'works' and go from there. Everyone won't be happy for sure, but it really boils down to if overall it is 'better' than what we see today. Teams like Manatee and Everglades who did not make the playoffs due to having two other high quality teams in their district could make the playoffs in the new set up. The 'race' for 4th will bring more teams into the fold late in the season.
The lower classifications were unaffected and i have to shake my head as to 'why'. I realize that some schools are 'for' the current set up with 2A/2B and 1A/1B classifications. It just does not make sense to me to have four state champions from 158 schools with enrollments of less than 1066. It seems like it would have been a good time to perhaps enlarge the new '2A' classification to approximately between 500-1066 and have 1A at under 500 students. I could see a 'small school classification if the FHSAA wanted to turn the '4' into '3' classifications. A 1A/1B for instance. 2A would have plenty of schools for a 'big classification' and plenty of competition.