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Earlier in the week, @Bobref started a thread titled "Sectional Draw 2023" and the thread kind of went a couple directions away from the intended purpose. One of those directions pertained to the notion that 6A and 1A should be the classifications with 32 teams rather than 6A and 5A. This topic interested me, and I decided to take a deep dive researching it. It took me about ten hours total over the course of several days to compile. I'm not saying this to get a pat on the back, but to help you understand I didn't just breeze through it without any deep thought or research. Nevertheless, for this particular scenario, I compiled lists for 1A through 5A using the most recent enrollment numbers the IHSAA released (which was two years ago). I excluded 6A since it obviously wouldn't be affected by the change. In compiling the classification lists, the goal was to base it off this specific year's tournament in regard to the Fort Wayne Dwenger situation and the teams playing up due to the success factor. The 1A through 5A breakdown for this year's tournament is the following: 5A - 31 teams 4A - 64 teams 3A - 64 teams 2A - 62 teams 1A - 58 teams Total - 279 teams I wanted to keep these numbers as similar as possible. This meant that 5A would have 63 teams rather than 64 as a result of the IHSAA moving FW Dwenger down in the middle of the classification period. Therefore, these were the classification numbers I came up with: 5A - 63 teams 4A - 64 teams 3A - 64 teams 2A - 56 teams 1A - 32 teams Total - 279 teams After compiling lists for the classifications, I wanted to look at the ranges for each classification from the largest school to the smallest school. See below. 5A (63 teams) Largest School: Harrison (WL) - 2,079 students Smallest School: New Haven - 1,064 students 4A (64 teams) Largest School: Kankakee Valley - 1,062 students Smallest School (aside from the success factor team): Bellmont - 641 students Success Factor Team: Evansville Memorial - 556 students 3A (64 teams) Largest School: John Glenn - 638 students Smallest Schools: North Putnam and Tell City - 444 students 2A (56 teams) Largest School: Indianapolis Scecina - 439 students Smallest School: Covington - 294 students Success Factor Team: Lafayette Central Catholic - 296 students 1A (32 teams) Largest School: Fremont - 291 students Smallest School: Attica - 170 students Here are the ranges from the scenario above compared to the current numbers (excluding success factor teams): 5A: 1,064 - 2,079 (currently 1,513 - 2,079) 4A: 641 - 1,062 (currently 795 - 1,510) 3A: 444 - 638 (currently 511 - 790) 2A: 294 - 439 (currently 379 - 510) 1A: 170 - 291 (currently 170 - 378) Instead of just compiling a list of classifications given the scenario, I wanted to get the full scope of what this could look like as it pertains to sectional assignments. As a result, I put together classification maps and spent a ton of time trying to come up with sectional assignments that limit travel time as best as possible while also ensuring schools from the same school district aren't split up. I cannot stress enough how hard I tried to keep travel times down. I flirted with many different scenarios by looking at the travel times on Google Maps but some long trips just couldn't be helped. It's important to note I'm only including these sectional assignments to give you an idea of how 1A through 5A could look given the hypothetical 32 team 1A scenario. I'm not necessarily saying this is how they should look. See the link below to view the classification/sectional assignment maps. https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1SqvN_8IxXWiJQxvs4E0RSxadUGh_f9k&usp=sharing Here are the sectional assignments I came up with. 5A (63) Sectional 9 (8): East Chicago Central, Gary West, Hammond Central, Hammond Morton, Harrison (WL), Lowell, McCutcheon, Munster Sectional 10 (8): Chesterton, Hobart, LaPorte, Merrillville, Michigan City, Mishawaka, South Bend Adams, Valparaiso Sectional 11 (8): Columbia City, Concord, Goshen, Huntington North, Kokomo, Logansport, Northridge, Plymouth Sectional 12 (7): DeKalb, Fort Wayne North, Fort Wayne Snider, Fort Wayne South, Fort Wayne Wayne, Muncie Central, New Haven Sectional 13 (8): Anderson, Greenfield-Central, Indianapolis Attucks, Indianapolis Roncalli, Mt. Vernon (Fortville), New Palestine, Pendleton Heights, Richmond Sectional 14 (8): Columbus East, East Central, Franklin, Greenwood, Jennings County, Seymour, Shelbyville, Whiteland Sectional 15 (8): Bloomington North, Bloomington South, Decatur Central, Martinsville, Mooresville, Plainfield, Terre Haute North, Terre Haute South Sectional 16 (8): Bedford North Lawrence, Castle, Evansville Central, Evansville Harrison, Evansville North, Evansville Reitz, Floyd Central, New Albany 4A (64) Sectional 17 (8): Hanover Central, Highland, Kankakee Valley, New Prairie, South Bend Clay, South Bend Riley, South Bend St. Joseph, South Bend Washington Sectional 18 (8): Angola, Culver Academy, East Noble, Leo, Mishawaka Marian, NorthWood, Wawasee, West Noble Sectional 19 (8): Bellmont, Delta, Fort Wayne Dwenger, Jay County, Marion, Mississinewa, Norwell, Yorktown Sectional 20 (8): Frankfort, Guerin Catholic, Hamilton Heights, Lebanon, Peru, Twin Lakes, Western, West Lafayette Sectional 21 (8): Brebeuf Jesuit, Crawfordsville, Danville, Edgewood, Indianapolis Shortridge, Indianapolis Washington, Northview, Owen Valley Sectional 22 (8): Batesville, Beech Grove, Connersville, Franklin County, Greensburg, Indianapolis Chatard, New Castle, Rushville Sectional 23 (8): Charlestown, Corydon Central, Lawrenceburg, Madison, North Harrison, Scottsburg, Silver Creek, South Dearborn Sectional 24 (8): Boonville, Evansville Bosse, Evansville Memorial, Gibson Southern, Jasper, Mt. Vernon (Posey), Vincennes Lincoln, Washington 3A (64) Sectional 25 (8): Benton Central, Boone Grove, Calumet, Griffith, Hammond Noll, Rensselaer Central, River Forest, Whiting Sectional 26 (8): Bremen, Fairfield, Jimtown, John Glenn, Knox, Lakeland, Rochester, Tippecanoe Valley Sectional 27 (8): Bluffton, Fort Wayne Concordia, Fort Wayne Luers, Garrett, Heritage, Manchester, Wabash, Woodlan Sectional 28 (8): Alexandria-Monroe, Blackford, Eastbrook, Eastern (Greentown), Maconaquah, Northwestern, Oak Hill, Tipton Sectional 29 (8): Greencastle, North Montgomery, North Putnam, Southmont, South Vermillion, Tri-West, Western Boone, West Vigo Sectional 30 (8): Centerville, Christel House Manual, Frankton, Heritage Christian, Indianapolis Ritter, Lapel, Purdue Polytechnic, Speedway Sectional 31 (8): Brown County, Brownstown Central, Cascade, Indian Creek, Mitchell, Monrovia, Salem, Triton Central Sectional 32 (8): Evansville Mater Dei, Heritage Hills, North Posey, Pike Central, Princeton, Southridge, Sullivan, Tell City 2A (56) Sectional 33 (8): Andrean, Lake Station, LaVille, North Judson, North Newton, South Central (Union Mills), Wheeler, Winamac Sectional 34 (7): Adams Central, Central Noble, Churubusco, Eastside, Prairie Heights, South Adams, Whitko Sectional 35 (8): Carroll (Flora), Clinton Prairie, Covington, Delphi, Lafayette Central Catholic, Lewis Cass, Pioneer, Seeger Sectional 36 (6): Elwood, Madison-Grant, Monroe Central, Sheridan, Taylor, Winchester Sectional 37 (6): Covenant Christian, Eastern Hancock, Indianapolis Scecina, Knightstown, Park Tudor, Shenandoah Sectional 38 (6): Hagerstown, Milan, North Decatur, Northeastern, Switzerland County, Union County Sectional 39 (7): Cloverdale, Eastern Greene, Linton-Stockton, North Knox, Parke Heritage, Riverton Parke, South Putnam Sectional 40 (8): Clarksville, Crawford County, Eastern (Pekin), Forest Park, Paoli, Perry Central, Providence, South Spencer 1A (32) Sectional 41 (4): Bowman Academy, Frontier, South Newton, Tri-County Sectional 42 (4): Culver, North White, Triton, West Central Sectional 43 (4): Caston, Clinton Central, North Miami, Tri-Central Sectional 44 (4): Fremont, Northfield, Southern Wells, Southwood Sectional 45 (4): Cambridge City Lincoln, Tri, Union City, Wes-Del Sectional 46 (4): Edinburgh, Indianapolis Lutheran, Indianapolis Tindley, South Decatur Sectional 47 (4): Attica, Fountain Central, North Central (Farmersburg), North Vermillion Sectional 48 (4): North Daviess, Springs Valley, Tecumseh, West Washington I hope you all find this information as interesting as I did. Does this information change your original opinion? Should 5A remain at 32 teams or should 1A have 32 teams instead? Feel free to provide your thoughts and share any ideas you have.

I really do appreciate the guys who officiate these games. Without them, I can't sit in the stands and watch football and complain about it on a message board. Lol.

Brother Parkhurst is alive and well on the Region Sports Forum posting his weekly DAC Rankings and giving random predictions. Now that Valpo is possibly down to their 3rd string RB (Burda out too?) he's back to having hope that Merrillville has a chance. I think he has the Pirates losing to Snider in Semi-State.

Speaking for this fan (and I suspect many others), they’re (Chatard) not satisfied but, unfortunately, they will always play where the IHSAA assigns. Catholics are big on rules…I’m not one, btw….but I’m big on rules too. As regards that (and I’ve said this 1000 times….now 1001), the IHSAA is waaay to cute about always pairing Chatard and Roncalli in 4A Sectionals (as they would always pair Cathedral/Roncalli when they were in 4A). Historically, Chatard and Roncalli are almost perfectly .500 against one another BUT splitting Sectional victories sends Chatard back to 3A. The fact is, even in a REALLY down year, Chatard is almost always going to be a Top 5-10 4A team….yet they are also generally going to split Sectional Championships generally with Roncalli (at best). Which will always send them back to 3A. Thanks IHSAA. To fix this I’d suggest two simple “fixes”. One is a rules change as to the Success Factor and the other is a “pairing” problem. 1. Stop constantly pairing Chatard and Roncalli in Sectional. I know it’s a vicarious groin thrill for most when Catholics knock each other out but, in the end, it really screws up 3A. BTW, very few talk about Evansville Memorial (who has kicked @ss in 4A but is bumped 3A) but they, to a degree, are part of the 3A Catholic “problem” (you can thank me later @tango) …..I’m pretty certain Chatard has never beaten Memorial…at least in my lifetime. 2. Change the Success Factor point requirements for bumped teams to simply need 1 point to stay “up”. That by itself might solve the “Chatard” problem (but it’s also a Memorial problem) in 3A….but I guarantee you’d solve it by not always pairing them with Roncalli in conjunction with changing it from 1 point to stay up a class. ——————————————————————————————————————— Back to 4A generally being superior to 5A 70% of the time. Many here seem to be simpatico with the idea that East Central (with their stylish mullets and their handsome girlfriend-stealing southeast Indiana looks….much like a young Lysander back in the day with his Butch-wax crew cut) would have cruised through 5A last year and possibly, scared the Hell out of 6A this year. I’m a little amazed that some here, though, up until East Central BARELY EDGED out Roncalli in Playoffs (after losing to them in the regular season)seem to forget that Roncalli had a MAC-sized line and arguably the best North/South RB in the State (the kid was robbed btw as regards State awards) and was assumed to have rolled through 4A and the late DT (I can only assume this to be the case given his absence) had Roncalli as a 6A challenger. The survivor of EC/Roncalli would have rolled through 5A. I’m fully signed on with @Rodney about that. Heck, DT, before his unfortunate apparent passing had one of them challenging for 6A (Roncalli).

Officially everyone is tied for second so I typed it at random. All five went 2-2 against each other so no head to head tiebreaker anyway

Shtick..., what nonsense I have no shtick! I'm very versatile I love forming brilliant ideas to better high school football in Indiana, such as the post-game zebra press conference I love making wild claims that can't technically be proven incorrect I love fighting with BTF about how there is no real football north of Indy other than a few FT Wayne schools I used to love poking fun at 1a football, but apparently, I can't do that anymore (freakin communist is what it is) Most importantly I love the images in my head of you angrily responding to things I write. About the Parkhurst thing, I set my team to Merryville the day they lost last year in hopes of messing with him every time he posted anything unfortunately, he disappeared so that didn't pan out Am currently taking applications for my next "team" send suggestions to my inbox ye currently thinking about becoming a GS fan and posting a weekly thread about how Chatard should be in 4a so we can be relevant If I had a "shtick" it would be pressing enter at random intervals in my paragraph

If the tournament was seeded based off of the final sagarin rankings following week 9… South: 1. Brownsburg vs 16. Indy Tech 8. Avon vs 9. Warren Central 5. Lawrence North vs 12. Perry Meridian 4. Cathedral vs 13. North Central 6. Franklin Central vs 11. Columbus North 3. Ben Davis vs 14. Southport 7. Lawrence Central vs 10. Pike 2. Center Grove vs 15. Jeffersonville North: 1. HSE vs 16. FW Northrup 8. Carmel vs 9. Zionsville 5. Noblesville vs 12. Lafayette Jeff 4. Crown Point vs 13. Elkhart 6. Carroll vs 11. Homestead 3. Fishers vs 14. Lake Central 7. Penn vs. 10. Warsaw 2. Westfield vs 15. Portage

If the tournament was seeded based off of the final sagarin rankings following week 9… South: 1. Bloomington South vs 16. Terre Haute North 8. Harrison vs 9. Whiteland 5. Bloomington North vs 12. Seymour 4. Decatur Central vs 13. Franklin 6. Plainfield vs 11. Terre Haute South 3. Castle vs 14. Columbus East 7. Floyd Central vs 10. McCutcheon 2. Evansville North vs 15. New Albany North: 1. FW Snider (BYE) 8. FW North vs 9. Hammond Morton 5. Concord vs 12. Munster 4. Mishawaka vs 13. Hammond Central 6. Michigan City vs 11. Goshen 3. Merrillville vs 14. South Bend Adams 7. Chesterton vs 10. La Porte 2. Valparaiso vs 15. Anderson

I knew you would! Well, Anthony Davis didn't show up for the Trojans, but the Irish defense sure showed up! And it looks like Marcus Freeman learned how to coach this week, or maybe he took lessons. Maybe a bit premature to question his coaching talents. GO IRISH!

Brownsburg: This really could be their year. I like this team. The weather absolutely sucked last night and they just out toughed HSE. This team has some moxy. Ben Davis: All eyes are now on their westside rival Center Grove: The professionals. Love that people are shorting them this year East Central: Have mercy on the 4A Bishop Chatard: +1 to the 2023 win column of Indiana vs. GCL South Cathedral: I still believe you're capable of winning 6A Westfield: Same as above Hamilton Southeastern: Thank your lucky stars you avoided the top 3 and went North Fishers: I don't think you're capable of winning 6A, but I think you're capable of surprising anyone and make teams hurt after they beat you Crown Point: The weak OOC scheduling and mediocre play of the DAC makes you suspect. Your real season starts now. Fort Wayne Snider: The 5A favorite Fort Wayne Carroll: The Chargers will be ready for their Central Indiana opponent and not fear them. Great job in the OOC scheduling. That is if they get by Penn and Crown Point. Penn: Are you back or still a JAG? Valpo: Great run the past 2 years. At somepoint before the State Finals your injuries will finally catch up with you. Lawrence North: In for a battle next week Franklin Central: Program took a step forward this year Evansville Reitz: On a collision course with East Central Bloomington North: Best regular season in the history of the program? Bloomington South: Rewarded with an immediate rematch with North Merrillville: The Pirates are getting all of the breaks in the world with their Sectional opponents and Valpo dealing with a bad injury bug. We could see them in Semi-State again. New Pal: A potential rematch with Greenfield-Central is looming in the 2nd round of Sectionals. Get by that and the Dragons are likely favored to make Semi-State Mishawaka: A potential rematch with Snider is looming in Regionals. Always tough to beat the Cavemen. Especially at the historic icon known as Steele Stadium NorthWood: Came into the season as a team some expected to run the table in the regular season. They could be the 4A North favorite if they can get by Northridge in a potential rematch in the Sectional Finals. Warsaw: Get by Carroll and Penn and they could potentially get an easier opponenty (Crown Point) in Regionals Lawrence Central: Nice W against Carmel to give the Bears momentum heading into the rematch for Lawrence Township bragging rights

Oh be still my heart. This sectional would be amazing. Kudos and thanks for the overall work!

Outstanding work, sir! Thank you @Frozen Tundra.

I completely agree. I have to think the IHSAA looked into a 32 team 1A scenario before going with a 32 team 5A instead. If that’s the case, I’m guessing they saw how big of a gap there’d be between the biggest and potentially smallest 5A teams and thought, “1,000 students is too much.” Either that or they didn’t like how weak 1A looked. I don’t know. Nevertheless, I’m with you. Needs to be a 32 team 1A.

Since you read the sectional thread then you know I am all in favor of this concept. It baffles me how incompetent the IHSAA really is that they haven’t done this already. The smallest schools and the largest schools should be the smaller class tournaments, 32 teams each. Also, let me be the first to say what a great job you did with this!!!👍 Guess I am the second to say it…

I appreciate the amount of work that went into this, and I agree with this in concept. Let me be the first to suggest: Move Lutheran out of this version of 1A.

My “oh my” team of the week is 3A Hanover Central. They moved to a new conference this year, clearly stepping up a level in competition. Nevertheless, they blew through an undefeated conference schedule and last Friday completed a perfect 9-0 regular season.

You picked against the Trojans this week. Don’t change now!!!

Forgot to Add: Split 1A in half as opposed to 5A.

Honestly, I have a lot of respect for Chatard. A friend of mine from Crown Point married a Chatard girl and I've learned through her and her friends that Chatard really is a family. Her brother played for St Pius X and was a really good DB for Chatard. I get it now. That's a really good point about Chatard and Roncalli that I hadn't thought of. And I agree with your thoughts on the success factor. I really hate the way our Tournaments are formatted. It just sucks. And I'm not talking about how the 2 clear best teams in a Sectional can meet int the 1st round. I'm talking about how we can go weeks with just crappy slates of games. No offense to teams that fit that criteria, but when I turn on a Regional Championship I don't want to see .500 team because their Sectional was weak and not because they upset someone big. Here's the format I would prefer: Solves the problem of those who want an all-in format and those who want to seed. All In Format: Sectionals: Split teams into North/South buckets Identify teams (pick a percent of total in large area) in Central Indiana that are on a “borderline” The borderline can float North or South depending upon the geographic locations of the teams making up a Class Split borderline teams in half and have them rotate between North and South bracket on a yearly basis as long as they remain in the same Class the following year Figure out a set of rules if the above creates uneven brackets Seed the North bracket and then seed the South bracket Higher seed is home and then switch to current location rules This helps or hurts a poorly (both directions) seeded team. The Visiting team has the option of picking a neutral location if the Home team’s field is greater than a certain mileage distance from the visiting team. Regionals: Re-Seed the remaining 8 teams taking Sectional results into consideration Higher seed is home The Visiting team has the option of picking a neutral location if the Home team’s field is greater than a certain mileage distance from the visiting team. Semi-State: Re-Seed the remaining 4 teams taking Regional results into consideration Visiting team travels no matter how far the location Stat Finals: Should be an entertaining game

FC beats The Woofs 51-18 to force a 3 way tie for 2nd 🥈 place. I’ll do a combined WRC sectional post tomorrow. I swear to God I will

My Top 15: 1. Ben Davis 2. Center Grove 3. Brownsburg 4. Westfield 5. Hamilton Southeastern 6. Fishers 7. East Central 8. Chatard 9. Cathedral 10. Crown Point 11. Fort Wayne Snider 12. Carroll Chargers 13. Penn 14. Valparaiso 15. Lawrence North I have Brownsburg at 3 behind Ben Davis and Center Grove because history tells me that I can't trust Brownsburg to get the job done in the tournament.

If Wagner didn’t have to play QB for Bosse, you would see the same versatility from him. If Bosse had another QB, Wagner would play every position on the field, including defense.

Reitz is loaded. Take Vera off the Panthers they may have the same record. Take Wagner off the Bulldogs can’t say the same. Plus Wagner stats with a worse oline worse defense to put him in good positions are way better than Vera’s. I’m not sure it’s that easy.

No

Up until last night’s 34-7 win over Cincinnati Elder, I thought this was just another good, solid Chatard team….but now I’m uncertain. In the years Ive watched that pairing neither team has so thoroughly dominated the other….and Chatard is doing it with their #2 QB and RB not to mention any other injuries they may have. Elder has 4 losses now but only their losses to Chatard and a good Moeller team have been by more than 4 points. They were 6 seconds away from beating St. Edwards (who some will remember beat Center Grove by 17 earlier this year) until they lost by 1 and they have also beat both Cincy and Louisville St. X this year. Everyone wants to point to the win vs. Cathedral but this thoroughgoing drubbing of Elder is much, much more significant and telling in my mind. In perspective, it seems to make the Cathedral win almost feel like it was closer than it should have been. On another note, until Sagarin incorporates out of state games in their analysis, I just can’t reasonably point to it as indicative of anything anymore. There have been waaay to many significant games played by Indiana teams against high quality out of state teams that not only aren’t measured by Sagarin but actually seem to lower teams in his ranking by even playing those games. I think Chatard actually dropped again in Sagarin after it’s blowout of Elder. Anyhoo, I don’t generally get overly excited about teams (and I’ve seen Evansville Memorial sometimes easily take Chatard’s lunch money in the past) but I’m beginning to wonder if this team isn’t along the lines of the 2019 and 2020 teams…which I considered very good. That said, anything can happen in playoffs.

Well...except Peru did beat Mac

Well, three of those are older than the 20 year parameter (2000, 2000, 2001), one of the has not happened yet (2023), and one of them, Mt. Vernon (Fortville) is actually about 45 miles north of Bargersville. So that puts the number squarely at 10 (out of about 110 championships I think). I think directly or indirectly we are both shining the spotlight on the Indy area and surrounding counties. That region's probably won 60 or more state championships in the last 20 years.

https://titanfootball.sellmytees.com/?fbclid=IwAR3WhE1FjsTWGT0lXFtvoRijms9uusB2qBV4Ql28_pAFSfbE-BD250FKbLM_aem_AbvHqrAgxV6Cjier9ntIUwm3_MH6ZD7tVi8Jr1KE37Z5AYyTLxb-WfPA33qUVcnacyY

72-0 is a bad look.

It wouldn't shock me to see Triton at Semi State. May, Shively and Prater are super athletic, really impressed with Renforth and #52 defensively. I'd say outside of the first Q, Winamacs defense held pretty strong. They've just been struggling with turnovers.

93% of the time? We gotta get that number up. Jasper 13 VL 0 half time

He should have stuck with lacrosse.

Chatard's QB that year was headed to Ball State, so they had a lot of talent too. Ironically, we won that game by 25 because of our D, not the O. I don't know if anyone in 3A can knock them off, but just because they beat Cathedral doesn't mean they can't be beat by a 3A school.

I think it was the best decision I could have made for the GID's sake LOL! But I always got yer guys's back!

I thought this guy was the chosen one:

Whoever @Bobref was touting to be the next coming of Touchdown Jesus and was going to save the day for ND EDIT: YES, BUCHNER

I think the North Knox and Paoli game will be a great game...

All I got from his explanation is talent trumps gameplay ! Who knew !!!