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There are 6A programs who have said no. They don't want to be embarrassed by losing to a "small school." Thankfully, Westfield and Center Grove have not been among them ... each has played a home-and-home with New Pal, which kinda blows holes in the "New Pal doesn't play anybody" theory. (Every non-conference opponent NP has scheduled in the Kyle Ralph era has played on Thanksgiving weekend in the last decade).

This past season, there were 17 New Pal alumni on college rosters, including seven playing Div. I, and one on the Super Bowl champions' practice squad.

Every coach I've taught with reads the forum. 🙂

@Indiana Fan This definitely makes the most sense from a geographical standpoint. However, the IHSAA has shown they won’t want to do a major reshuffling of sectionals in the event teams get moved down in the middle of a two-year classification period. Decatur Central needs to make semi-state in 2026 in order to remain in 6A. The likelihood of that happening is very slim. So if they have to drop back down for 2027 then that leaves their sectional at 3 teams and southern Indiana at 15 teams compared to the 17 teams up north you have laid out here. I anticipate Decatur Central will be part of the five-team sectional to offset this. One of those northern teams is going to end up in the south and Zionsville seems like the best bet. As much as I would prefer your alignment, the IHSAA is not going to like it. Now New Palestine could easily get to semi-state in 5A and replace Decatur Central in 6A in 2027 but there are no guarantees of that. Therefore, this is my best guess of what we’ll see: Sectional 1 - Crown Point, Lake Central, Merrillville, Portage Sectional 2 - Carroll, Elkhart, Penn, Valparaiso Sectional 3 - Carmel, Harrison, Noblesville, Westfield Sectional 4 - Fishers, Fort Wayne Northrop, Hamilton Southeastern, Homestead Sectional 5 - Avon, Brownsburg, Pike, Zionsville Sectional 6 - Lawrence Central, Lawrence North, North Central, Warren Central Sectional 7 - Ben Davis, Decatur Central, Franklin Central, Perry Meridian, Southport Sectional 8 - Center Grove, Columbus North, Jeffersonville, Whiteland Regardless of whether or not Decatur Central remains in 6A for 2027 or gets moved back down to 5A, if New Palestine moves up to 6A in 2027 then you can just plug them into sectional 6 with the east side Indy schools.

I typically stay out of these threads, but every now and then I catch the usual noise and feel compelled to point something out. For years the narrative was the same. "New Pal doesn't play anybody." "Sure they're undefeated, but who have they beaten?" "That schedule is going to catch up to them in the playoffs." We heard it over and over again. Now we've put together what I'd call an elite schedule, and wouldn't you know it, those same voices have shifted right on cue. No credit for answering the challenge, just a new angle to complain from. It's honestly laughable, and it's all the proof you need that some people on here simply cannot be won over. The goalposts don't move, they disappear entirely. What bothers me more than any of it is the inability, or maybe the unwillingness, to appreciate what Kyle has built. Not just at New Pal, but for Indiana high school football as a whole. That kind of sustained excellence should be celebrated on a forum that exists because we all supposedly love this game. Tearing it down runs counter to the entire point of why we're here. Anyway, back to ignoring the noise. We've got 24 weeks to get our boys ready to run through a gauntlet.

my mistake you are correct.

Let’s do it. With @Coach Nowlin and @First_Backer_Inside

Same reason why I am finding excuses to make my way back to OLEY'S !!!!!!

At least if they don't it would be a lot easier to change to 24 than the people who get premature tattoos that don't end up happening lol

When are you going to change your name? I wake up everyday and get on here waiting to see 24andCounting and never do. You know we are less than half a year away from opening night in Indiana. Time is ticking for you!

Nice job, Sectional 20 is flip a couple coins for how they are going to draw that one up. All the others i had about the same on.

The teams that struggled to compete - Shelbyville & New Castle - have left the conference. Pendleton Heights was ranked most of last year. Yorktown gave Roncalli its best game of the tournament until Thanksgiving weekend. Mt. Vernon had a lousy year last year but has a state championship this decade. Greenfield-Central has consistently put up winning seasons of late. And new additions Brebeuf, Guerin Catholic and Lebanon are all solid programs.

No, but New Pal streams all of its home games on IHSAAtv.

Yes, exactly.

What was reported was that two families with links to Mexican cartels paid their tution with money transfers out of Mexico. Apparently these families were on a list that should have precluded IMG taking those payments. Probably more country club sport families if I had to guess.

I'm thinking Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini will redo the sectionals. The question is whether it can be prompted to know that North Central (Farmersburg) and North Central are two completely different schools. And Harrison (Lafayette) and Evansville Harrison. And 3A with SB Washington, Indy Washington, and Washington HS will need a lot of prompting to keep straight.

Currently, the Bears have $32M in cap space, and 4 picks in the first 2 rounds. Mr. Poles, it’s right there in front of you. Given the strides they made last year, if Poles hits a homer this off season, they will be in as good a position as anyone to win a championship.

They needed to find a way to justify taking two months to create the sectional alignments haha....I kid, I kid.

Exactly. This is definitely something to consider. And those sectionals seem good to me as well. Multiple ways to do it. The IHSAA has made it difficult for themselves with this rolling 2 year SF.

Outstanding HIRE: Loved working with him at Manchester Team Camp over the years

I think you nailed 6A. The more I look at it, especially with a map, you have to place the 5 team sectional up in the NW corner of indiana. Sectional 1- Crown Point, Valpo, Merrillville, Lake Central, Portage Sectional 2- Elkhart, Penn, Northrop, Carroll Sectional 3- Homestead, Noblesville, HSE, Fishers Sectional 4- Harrison, Westfield, Zionsville, Carmel Sectional 5- Pike, Brownsburg, Avon, Ben Davis Sectional 6- North central, Lawrence North, Lawrence Central, Warren Central Sectional 7- Decatur Central, Perry, Southport, Franklin Central Sectional 8- CG, Whiteland, Columbus North, Jeffersonville This makes too much sense for 6A. Thanks for doing this!

lol

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1NciF91zy63EMbqP18JsTnlvm4LFnG3o&usp=sharing Updated classes for sectionals. Again didn't take a lot of time with all of them but a general idea for people to go off of.

Mt. Vernon (Posey County) has hired a new HC. https://mvwildcats.org/Article/121743

Just found out: IC started JV in 2025 season, will play JV ball in 2026, and Varsity in 2027, YEAR 2 of this current cycle makes sense

Thanks for weighing in. 🙄 One of the reasons a conference exists is to aid in scheduling. An independent team has to fill nine weeks - and fit those in against other teams. And when you are a top program, a lot of schools *will not play you*, making scheduling even more difficult. When you're playing out-of-state teams, it's usually because there were no in-state options. The HHC is fine, especially with the new additions. It's a competitive league with really good communities, programs and coaches. And it still gives teams the freedom to schedule two more games (and, for New Pal, East Central will be one of those two going forward).

HAHA get the Luers fans fired up. Lose the 3A State Championship, reward...go to 4A. Cascade wins the 3A State Championship, reward...go to 2A. Something isn't quite adding up right here.

How does Indiana HS coaches coming together to black ball IMG prove a point or send a message? How many Indiana Football HS players have left their home school to pay over 90k a year (granted could get lower with scholarships) ?

I admire anyone willing to take on IMG. I don't necessarily agree with it, but I certainly have to respect a program willing to schedule a team of that caliber. The same respect I have for Dinan for going out and getting Center Grove. The same respect I have for Homestead for continuing to schedule Indy teams whom they lose to 90% of the time. Not the model for all coaches, but I think one has to respect a coach who only schedules the "best."

I get what you're saying. But to be fair, this is a fan forum. The coaches have one of their own. I think the purpose of this forum is to share opinions, respectfully, from a fan's perspective. That being said, as previously stated, I doubt any of us here are qualified to question what is or isn't in the best interest of Ralph's program.

Some might argue traditionally, FC would win the All-Sport trophy year in and year out by finishing 2/3 in most sports and win all the CC sports. That has changed some over the years. VB and BB in particular has had some good teams. It is what it is man. Speaking of country club sports, I played Golf in HS, my coach was a great player, we always played East (Otter Creek) and North (Harrison Lakes) on the road, because our coach loved playing those courses.

Interesting to see so many folks who are not involved with New Pal speak on what's best for New Pal Fascinating 😂