Classification is done by sport based on teams competing in the entire state. So the pool of teams you are measured against maybe different for various sports ie, virtually every team in the state has a basketball team, not every school in the state fields a lacrosse team. That is why classification may be different across different sports. football being the exception because LI doesn't compete for the state championship so total teams are ordered large to small and then put in appropriate conference !-4 in both Nasau an Suffolk.