Iirc, MSHSAA's reasoning for doing it this way is because the numbers are on a two year cycle. There's always a bit of confusion about that. But at the end of the day, LSN is battle tested and Nixa isn't. Not sure what that's worth. Who knows? I know the prevailing thought is the battle tested team is in a better spot. Nixa is well coached. If they get punched in the mouth early, I'd be shocked to see them not respond.
Mshsaa has not done 2 year classification in a long time. it is annually.
This last part is not aimed at you but some folks on this board suck at finding information or fail to look so that it benefits them. So with that being said here it is straight from the mshsaa handbook.
Enrollment Declaration: Member school enrollment declaration takes place annually. As per By-Laws 5.1.6, member schools will submit an electronic report of all students who are enrolled on the last Wednesday in March in grades 9-11 by name. Information regarding the process and requirements will be sent to the membership in advance, and is available on the MSHSAA website. The window to submit the report on the MSHSAA website is from April 1 to April 15. The report is DUE April 15.
Annual Schedule for Schools Reclassification: MSHSAA member schools are classified annually based on updated school enrollment figures. The schools in each classification, or class, will compete against one another in MSHSAA-sponsored district and/or state competition. The District and State Music Festivals are evaluative only. MSHSAA does not sponsor state championships in "emerging sports/activities” (see By-Law 5.2) and there are no classifications.