Leaderboard

The issue with long drives isn't fans or Varsity Football on Friday nights.....its kids spending 2.5 hours in a bus on a school night to play a JV Tennis Match and all the other sports that don't exclusively play on Friday night. Commuting for football doesn't bother me at all......but go talk to the baseball coach that has to play a double header 80 minutes away and then teach the next day. That burns out coaches and their families very quickly

A better metric for the success factor, Pierce said, would be to use a larger window of historical data to predict future success. That would help eliminate cases where a talented group of athletes achieves success and then graduates, leaving a team to compete above its weight without the same level of talent. Hit the nail on the head. Many of us saw this from the beginning. Bump it to 9 points over a 3 or 4 year period.

Not to dig up any old dead horses...but these so called academics need to take statistics 101 again....As has been pointed out ad naseum....The advantage in P/P demographics is not who they count.....but who they NEVER have to count. The fact this went unstated in the article is due to one of more of the following: Poor quoting of the researchers statements from the Indystar. Ignorance of the researchers on the issues relavent to their study Some type of bias in study's collection methods. A "clearinghouse" method of counting students would account for this, and may have possibly precluded any need for SF.

I like the idea of the lookback or trending forecasting model as opposed to just a set 2-year snapshot. Ultimately, you want programs to move up to a next level because their PROGRAM is ascending and not just because a couple of teams did so in a couple of years. The main reason that I suspect that most people who think that 2-year is too short and argue for 4-year isn't specifically because it's accurate, but because 1) it's better than 2-year in looking at program ascendancy as opposed to just limited team success and 2) it's easy to implement, as well as explain, than the lookback or trending modeling might be. Edit: BTW, Scecina is a school that got bumped and didn't win a state final in doing so ... 1A to 2A with a pair of red rings. Happened in the first implementation of SF bump ups.

I too am excited for the season to start and love the football talk - even if prematurely. Figured I'd put together some responses to your questions and statements. "Top 3 teams in the SIAC?" Reitz, North, Castle/Memorial (too close to call right now) "Can Reitz run the table again and go 9-0 again in SIAC play?" Yes. They may get upset and lose 1 game (maybe @ Jasper or @ Castle?) but definitely good enough to run the table. Maybe even more convincingly that last season. "If Reitz does go 9-0, will they be the first to get rid of the 9-0 Curse the last 2 seasons?" I think so. Jasper will be a little improved, but Boonville and Memorial both won't be quite as good as last season. Definitely expect Reitz to be in regionals where the formidable, defending champ East Central probably awaits. "Will there be a surprise team in the SIAC to win it outright? Since expansion, there has not been a repeat champion." I think the time for a repeat champion has come. "After achieving their first winning season in quite some time, will the Huskies finally see some success this upcoming? Dark horse contender?" I think so. I would be shocked if North does not have an improved record. Feel like at worst they go 6-3, but could see them going 7-2 or 8-1. They have a few skills guys to replace but there's no excuse to not improve with the size and experience on their lines. "How does this years Mater Dei’s offense look after Wunderlich, going to be tough after losing 9 offensive starters." MD is a huge mystery or question mark headed into the season. Hard to replace a QB like Wunderlich. Going from him to an undersized underclassman (well, that's the rumor anyway) at QB is a huge change. Expect them to change the offense a bit - more run heavy, more QB designed runs, more jet sweeps, more predetermined reads/passes, etc. - to utilize the QB skill set and help him get comfortable. But, it is MD - they have a great coaching staff and they do have some solid returning starters. Feel like they will be middle of the pack and still make a playoff run - move to 3A definitely a possibility. "How will Memorial look this season? They got the athletes, but questions on who will fill up the trenches" Memorial definitely has some solid players returning - Fisher, Rode, Ellspermann, Baker, Nichols, McGuire, Johnson, Broshears, Mattingly, Vaughn, Waller - is a solid group of 11 to return. However, how well will the rest of the spots fill out? I think they will struggle a bit at times but overall be a very competitive team. I could see them going 6-3 or 7-2 and be a top 3-4 team. I do think their sectional run ends and they move back to 3A. "One of the more interesting teams, but will Vincennes be a contender or a pretender this season? Very tough games in the beginning of the year with Mater Dei and Reitz in Week 2 and 3." I think a lot of people are engrossed by Vincennes after they were a surprise last season - almost beat Reitz, beat Mater Dei, almost beat North, had a shootout with Gibson Southern - and they return their conference POTY at QB and a handful of other starters. However, I think a bit part of their success last season was because they were a surprise and they rode that momentum and motivation. Teams did not expect them to be much improved or the QB to be that much of a weapon. It seems like the expectation is for them to make another jump but I feel like they do about the same or maybe even worse now that teams may be more prepared. However, the SIAC is obviously much better if Vincennes is competitive, so I hope to see them do well. "Jasper somehow will be in the Top 4 standings this season. How many wins does the Wildcats win and can they finally get a taste of a sectional crown." I'm not as high on Jasper as other people, but I do think they will be improved. They return a handful of players but also lose some difference makers like Young, Bair, and Perkins. If the next QB can step in and run the offense well, they will be in good shape though. If they can somehow beat Memorial and Reitz early in the season, look out. "Castle takes some hits in the trenches, and losing arguably the best defender in the SIAC. Who will step up for the mighty Knights this season?" I think the big question mark for Castle is what do they do at QB and what do they do to replace their top defensive players. They return a top 5 skill guy in the conference in Harris, but how will they utilize him. I think the Knights definitely have the potential to be a top 3-4 team. "Will Bosse/Harrison win a couple of more games this season? Bosse returns a very good offense duo and plenty of starters. And Harrison returns very good weapons, but does take a hit in the trenches." Bosse returns almost their whole team, including some very talented skill guys. I think the big question for them is - how much better and stronger will their lines be? With their skill guys and how much they rely on them, they cannot afford to get manhandled in the trenches. They will really struggle against teams with good lines (Reitz, North, Memorial, etc.) but could see them surprising some teams with their skill and competitiveness. Will that amount to many more wins, if at all? Probably not. Same with Harrison, although they don't return near as much. I think they will really struggle this year. "How will Central’s new HC handle the reigns this year? Very tough job right now on First Ave" I think he will handle the reigns well, but it will be another very tough year for the Bears. But that might be okay. It could be a rare situation in which an 0-9 or 1-8 season is a positive. Regardless of wins or losses, their time for change is now, with a motivated coach that is willing to stick around. If their numbers can increase and their lower levels can be more successful, their future will be in good shape.

Preach. We just need to accept that the NIC is on it's very last peg leg to stand on. At some point the three schools will either be conference-less or make a small conference with SB St. Joe and Marian. Penn and Elkhart have got to be looking at all of their options. It is a touch situation all around, but the SBSC has almost brought this upon themselves with their poor performing schools across the board. I feel for the kids that go there.

Not that I think it would happen anyway, but if you flipped Northridge and Concord for Riley and Washington in this above scenario... I could MAYBE see it working. But like others have said, I do not believe the NLC is in any hurry to basically blow up it's current structure just to fix the disparities the NIC has. Like @US31 said - it's not up to the NLC to fix the NIC's problems. I would think as thing currently sit, the NLC is pretty happy/content currently.

https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/sij/article/view/27047/24912

Per Twitter, Gibson Southern’s Sean DeLong received an offer from Kentucky Wesleyan.

I have ESP. N

All I'm saying is that whatever problems exist with current NIC schools....those problems are not the current NLC schools' to solve. At no point am I "mad" about anything. I'm just trying to point out the reality of how these decisions are made, and all of these schools should be welcome to make the best decisions for their own student athletes. Sometimes those best interests are common to other schools...sometimes they aren't.

The problem is not that the FBI is bad at what it does. In fact, they’re very good at their law enforcement responsibilities. The problem is that the Bureau is now wielded as a political instrument, not a law enforcement agency.

I miss the BD/Penn rivalry. I know it was one sided in results, but those games were always close. A few plays here and there, it's an even series.

Thats a very good point, and the benefit of playing in Indiana. Now only thing it would effect is their finish in conference rankings. They probably don't even care if they leave with a conference title or not. They are just ready to be gone.