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Fort Wayne conference re alignment


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Just add Norwell & Bellmont to the current ACAC and have a couple of the bigger NECC teams replace them in the NE8. Have Blackford join for SW & Jay to rival with as well. Would make all the sports fun in the East Allen, Wells, Adams, Jay, & Blackford county areas.

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17 hours ago, BTF said:

Penn seems to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. Any chance of them going independent? I feel that they are making a strong effort landing games with Valpo, Mishawaka, and Cathedral. New Prairie is a formidable opponent. It's not their fault that Elkhart is lousy. Of the other four teams on their schedule, they need to get rid of at least one and land a Fort Wayne team, Snider preferably to renew a rivalry. Homestead or Carroll would suffice. I don't see anything wrong with 2 or 3 guaranteed wins. Those are good to rest some starters and give their second and third stringers valuable playing time. 

Simple and honest answer I don't know. I have not heard any news or grumblings coming from the Athletic department. Penn's best two options are the DAC or Independence in Football only. If the South Bend Schools and the Catholic Schools want to stay a conference, Penn can stick with them for all other sports. 

I think an Independent schedule will either see Penn broker a deal with local schools to keep them on the schedule or for them to fall off completely. If the South Bend schools don't want to play Penn on a rotational basis, we could either see Adams full time or not at all. The same could be said about Marian and St. Joe, Penn should play them either on a rotational basis or both if the South Bend Schools opt out. Keep Elkhart on the schedule. Valpo does not seem to be going anywhere and Mishawaka needs to go back to being the last game of the season. There is more hype when both teams are 7-1 or 8-0. Snider, Carroll and Homestead could be a rotational thing. Add one of the Blue Bloods of Indy (Carmel, BD, Cathedral, Center Grove), and add one of the teams from the HCC. Lastly add a team from out of state. 

Valpo

Indy School

Out of state school

South Bend team

Elkhart

HCC team or filler

Fort Wayne Team

Marian/St. Joe

Mishawaka

This would be a loosing season for us based on the last 5ish years. But, a Penn team that can have a winning season or beat one or two of the "out of conference" games people will pay more attention. 

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2 hours ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

Simple and honest answer I don't know. I have not heard any news or grumblings coming from the Athletic department. Penn's best two options are the DAC or Independence in Football only. If the South Bend Schools and the Catholic Schools want to stay a conference, Penn can stick with them for all other sports. 

I think an Independent schedule will either see Penn broker a deal with local schools to keep them on the schedule or for them to fall off completely. If the South Bend schools don't want to play Penn on a rotational basis, we could either see Adams full time or not at all. The same could be said about Marian and St. Joe, Penn should play them either on a rotational basis or both if the South Bend Schools opt out. Keep Elkhart on the schedule. Valpo does not seem to be going anywhere and Mishawaka needs to go back to being the last game of the season. There is more hype when both teams are 7-1 or 8-0. Snider, Carroll and Homestead could be a rotational thing. Add one of the Blue Bloods of Indy (Carmel, BD, Cathedral, Center Grove), and add one of the teams from the HCC. Lastly add a team from out of state. 

Valpo

Indy School

Out of state school

South Bend team

Elkhart

HCC team or filler

Fort Wayne Team

Marian/St. Joe

Mishawaka

This would be a loosing season for us based on the last 5ish years. But, a Penn team that can have a winning season or beat one or two of the "out of conference" games people will pay more attention. 

For this to work (which is probably a great plan for Penn unless they can somehow get in the DAC), HCC has to be week 1 or 2.  HCC is all conference play once Week 3 comes around.  I'd love to see Penn play some HCC teams...in fact I think they are a perfect HCC fit across all sports, just too far away.

Now....how long the HCC will stay in its current form is anyone's guess. 

Edited by US31
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3 hours ago, US31 said:

For this to work (which is probably a great plan for Penn unless they can somehow get in the DAC), HCC has to be week 1 or 2.  HCC is all conference play once Week 3 comes around.  I'd love to see Penn play some HCC teams...in fact I think they are a perfect HCC fit across all sports, just too far away.

Now....how long the HCC will stay in its current form is anyone's guess. 

Thank you for that info. 

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On 9/28/2023 at 11:01 AM, US31 said:

I only see once sectional champtionship as far back as 1994?
If you look back, their season has ended in the sectionals to either a FtW area team or Penn.
Unless the goal is to be the big fish in the NLC pond....in which case, carry on.  I don't begrudge then that at all....their community, their school, more power to them. 

Point 1: Correct - only 1 Sectional Championship ever in school history. Prior to 1998, the Tigers had never won a single sectional game.
Point 2: Uh... yeah... kind of makes sense since the only other big schools around are Penn or in Fort Wayne that they would be who ends Warsaw's seasons...
Point 3: Conference affiliations are more than just football. Many Tiger sports have competed against non-NLC foes in their regular seasons with the likes of Penn, Elkhart, The Region, and Fort Wayne area schools. Those sports benefit from having longer seasons/more opportunities. Football is more difficult with only 9 games to be able to add those non-conference opponents.

On 9/28/2023 at 11:58 AM, 00NWP said:

I can remember a time when a team like NorthWood had almost double the amount of kids on the sidelines compared to Warsaw.
Success builds a program. Losing regular season games does not make you better in the long run...winning does.
And this is just talking about football...Warsaw would also get dominated in almost every sport moving conferences. 

Point 1: I can never remember a single season in which NorthWood ever had "double" the amount of kids on a sideline compared to Warsaw in my lifetime (30+ years). Equal amount of kids? Yes. Double? Absolutely not. The Tigers have rarely ever had "numbers" issues. But it is surprising that they rarely seem to have the number of athletes that similiar schools of their size (other 6A/5A norther teams) have.
Point 2: I agree wholeheartedly with you here. Pounding week-over-week with Carroll, Homestead, Snider, Dwenger, Penn, Region teams... I don't see how that does anything to "develop" the program. Looks at some of the weaker schools in the MIC and HCC. What has a school like Noblesville done playing in that meatgrinder of a conference HCC? They have 5 sectional victories in the last 20 years. Has playing HSE, Fishers, Westfield, Brownsburg, Zionsville and Avon (all strong programs) benefitted the Millers at all? I don't think so.
Point 3: In what world would Warsaw get dominated in every other sport moving to the SAC or any other large conference in the north? As previously stated, the Tigers play a majority of these teams already in basketball, soccer, volleyball, etc., and typically hold their own. I would say Warsaw competes rather consistenly with the likes of Penn, Carroll and Homestead in a variety of sports on both the girls and boys side of things.

On 9/28/2023 at 12:33 PM, US31 said:

and to his credit, Coach Curtis has definitley improved their non-con opponents

On 9/28/2023 at 12:50 PM, BTF said:

They need two top ten programs on their schedule........they have one of them starting in 2025. 

Michigan City has been a good add to the schedule. Chesterton the last two years was added when they were a 6A school at the time, but since dropped to 5A. As well, added perennial Columbus, OH area power Dublin Coffman a few seasons back. Next year, Warsaw starts a home and home with Warren Central, then I'm pretty sure after that home and homes with Ben Davis and Fort Wayne Snider. To me, adding these types of games in the non-conference are much better for the program than playing an entire conference season against the same teams they would have to face again in the post-season.

On 9/28/2023 at 2:53 PM, Komets2727 said:

Plain and simple, Warsaw is a 6A school playing 3A and 4A teams and having their way during the regular season and then playing 6A schools in the playoffs and are one and done.
If the Warsaw community is fine with that, more power to them, if not, get better by playing 6A schools more frequently. Simple solution, but won’t be done

Simply not true. As long as Warsaw has been a 6A school, they have never played a 3A opponent. NorthWood actually moved to 4A even before a 6th class was added. The only 4A schools on their schedule currently are Northridge, NorthWood, Plymouth and Wawasee. As well, in the 10 years since they have moved to 6A, they have gone "one and done" less than half those years (only 4 "one and dones" vs. 6 post seasons with at least 1 sectional victory)

Everyone here acting like Warsaw is some huge 6A school that should be dominating in 6A football. It's mind baffeling. The Tigers have had more success in the last 25 years that they ever had historically. It started with Coach Jensen in the late 90s and Coach Curtis has done a tremendous job raising the bar even more during his 6 seasons at the helm. But as a reminder - Warsaw was the 30th largest school in the state during the last enrollment cycle. They were only 17 students away from being in class 5A.

Edited by NLCTigerFan07
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On 9/28/2023 at 2:19 PM, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

that is a lot of travel week in and week out especially for JV and freshman games.  (I looked at the other sports, Penn is consistently playing teams from the DAC and Summit during their seasons, this move would not affect them as much). 

You're right, and if Penn's teams are affiliated with the DAC the most likely scenario is their schedules largely stay the same because of the number of competitions/games/meets would require a number of games to be played against NIC/NLC programs. Football is affected wholesale, but all the other teams are marginally impacted considering their current schedules. 

Football would have to move all jv and freshman games to Saturday mornings, but that's about as complicated as it gets, imo.

Edited by PDB26
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