What will the Shore Conference football divisional alignments for the 2021 season look like?

That all depends on what the Shore Conference Football Committee deems fact and fiction based on what transpired in 2020. The football committee is schedule to meet later this week and new divisional alignments could be in place before 2021 arrives or shortly thereafter.

With all the not-so-good issues the COVID-19 pandemic created during the fall, it was a season of enlightenment in many ways -- and not just in the Shore Conference.

In Monmouth and Ocean counties it was discovered a four-team playoff to crown a Shore Conference champion would not only be a Hamilton-like smash among players, coaches and fans, but that the title would be coveted -- even in a season with state playoffs.

Next, the six-game, regular-season schedule and plus-two pod pairings were successful giving teams of all ability levels competitive games. We learned competitive games could be created by abandoning the group classification notions that teams from Group 3 cant play against those from Group 5 and Group 1 programs cant compete versus those from Group 3.

Group sizes are about enrollment, not about ability on the football field. We saw when there are honest intentions at work, fair matchups can be created whether teams are 6-0 or 0-6.

NJ.com football writer Joe Zedalis and Steve Falk from the Asbury Park Press collaborated on 2021 divisional football alignments that would take into consideration overall records over the past three seasons (a staple in the building of new divisions by the Shore Conference and other football leagues around the state) and the number of returning All-Divison and All-Shore selections. The All-Division teams were selected by the 43 conference head coaches.

It is believed information on returning players has never been considered by the Shore Conference. It does, however, shed light on which teams will have the strongest nucleuses returning for 2021.

The division alignments listed below were not requested by the Shore Conference and may, or may not, be utilized by the governing body in its division-building process.

Things to consider:

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Joe Zedalis covers Shore Conference football for NJ.com. He may be reached at jzedalis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @josephzedalis. Like NJ.com HS sports on Facebook.

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What could Shore Conference football divisions look like in 2021? Heres a thought - nj.com