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To exclude ourselves from the jury pool.

Why does it need to be closed? If/when any additional information comes out about the situation (as reported by a news source and not a rumor), could/would that not be able to be discussed here?

So end of April probably.

Just obey Rule #1.

I'm agnostic so far as the tournament's format is concerned, but nobody should indulge this type of thinking––especially not from coaches. The idea that there is nothing to play for once you cannot win any type of championship is shameful.

If you're gonna lose arguably the best player in school history I guess it helps to return every other body on the roster. 😂

I attended Mac closer to the Steve Shine era.

Mike Otto "hold my beer"

In an effort to drum up conversation and hopefully others to post some kind of a preview like btownqbcoach1 did, I'll talk about Paoli. Offensively we bring back 10 of 11 starters, losing only Trey Rominger at Fullback. However Trey will be hard to replace as he finished 11th all-time in the state's history in rushing yards. We bring back our entire offensive line in seniors Jaxson Reynolds (6-0, 200), Jeremiah Hutcheson (6-6, 265), Peyton Baker (5-11, 230 and All-Conference in 2023), Ian Drake (5-10, 220), and Coy Busick (5-11, 230 and All-Conference in 2023). This group has quite a bit of experience as Reynolds started his sophomore year and Baker, Drake and Busick started the second half of their sophomore seasons. Senior QB Fletcher Cole returns (6-0, 180, 655 yards rushing and 12 TDs, 486 yards passing and 5 TDs, All-Conference WR '22 and QB '23). Senior WRs William Baker (6-2, 160) and Garrett Hickman (5-11, 170) return and have been playing a lot since their sophomore year. Junior Cooper Spires (6-0, 155) also saw a lot of time at WR last year. At slot back we return Juniors Dane Padgett (6-3, 190, 761 yards rushing and 10 TDs, All-Conference in 2023) and Treighlin Minton (6-2, 170, 241 yards rushing and 1 TD). Junior Coen Brace (6-0, 175) also started at slot back last year the last 3 games due to injuries and did a really nice job. I'm really curious who ends up taking the FB job. I could see it being Junior Tyler Hannon, or Sophomore Dawson Guidry. Both did a really nice job on the JV last year. Defensively we bring back 10 of 11 starters, losing on Trey Rominger at Inside Linebacker. We rotated quite a few guys on the defensive line with Busick, Drake (All-Conference in 2023), Hutcheson probably getting the most snaps and Baker and now sophomore Rusty Turner (6-1, 240) getting quite a few snaps during the game. At OLB Reynolds (All-Conference in '22 and '23) returns and Tyler Hannon (5-9, 165) played that spot the 2nd half of the season. Padgett also rotated in that OLB. At ILB, senior Isiah Apple (6-0 200) returns. Apple played half the season at OLB before moving inside. Hannon also played some ILB last year as well as senior Jareth Nunez (5-9, 180). At Defensive Back we return Cole (Junior All-State), Minton (All-Conference in 2023), Spires, and Baker with Hickman and senior Ashton Jones (5-10, 150) playing quite a big as well last year. Kicking duties could go to Nunez (All-Conference in 2023) or Hannon. We are going to do our best to not have to punt but if we do, I think Sophomore Justin Thorton (5-11, 180) will do it. I expect we will look something like this coming into the season barring injury or a family moving to Wyoming. We have some young kids that played JV last year I'm excited to see how they've changed. I could see us trying to figure out how to use some of these kids. Hopefully it's a good season for us.

That's literally the only reason why. The IHSAA can sit back and justify a 71-6 drubbing in a "postseason" game, citing the luck of the draw. They no longer can however if/when the sectionals are seeding appropriately. And be doing it the way they have been, they screw deserving teams in the process. It's a joke honestly.

Just going to throw Phil Garnett out with the trash?

That's conjecture. You'd have an argument if Monrovia made it to the second round or even the sectional final and lost, but in essence, Monrovia did what everyone says you have to do to take that crown; they eventually played the best in that sectional and beat them. As for seeding them, go ahead and seed them. It's not costing Indiana anything extra as there is already that "10th game." Whether it's guaranteed terminal or guaranteed "near terminal," it's still on the books. You can certainly argue about whether the schools get a "take" of the 10th game, but that's relatively easy to work out. Again, I've still not seen the reasoning that all-in only works with a random draw. Perhaps it eventually leads to folks deciding to create a qualifier, but it's not fact that it only works with a random draw. And maybe it does lead to a qualifier and maybe folks just say, "That's pretty much what we expect the first round to be and now it is pretty much guaranteed." It just seems odd to me that there are statements of conjecture as fact and wanting to skip to the "foregone conclusion." What does it hurt to seed first and see where it goes?

That 16 seed still QUALIFIED for the postseason. They effectively earned that right to get blown out by a #1 seed. 2022 Monrovia is a statistical outlier. A complete anomaly. The only team in the 10 years I've tracked the postseason using Sagarin to seed the postseason that has beaten three top 32 teams en route to a sectional championship. That's it. And if I recall, that was a loaded sectional with a bunch of top 32 teams with Monrovia being just outside the top half at the conclusion of the regular season (34th or 35th). But because of the all-in, blind draw, the top 2 teams in that sectional played the first round making their path that much easier from the jump. Had they been seeded 1-8, not sure how Monrovia fares. But that's beyond the point. Cinderella is a myth when it comes to Indiana high school football, 2022 Monrovia be damned. If you seeded each sectional 1-8 or 1-4 in 5A/6A every year, it would put an end to this nonsense. True seeding would effectively start the qualifier domino.

But it's not about wins and losses, but that you got to play the game. Right? Go Braves. That Josiah Ball is a heckuva shooter.

Keep 9 games. Take the top 32 teams in all classes, split it N/S and seed them. The rest get put into regional pods and based on their record/Sagarin/whatever get a 10th game against an evenly matched opponent. That becomes their "bowl game." You want to talk about equity for the athletes--a system like this gives probably twice as many young men a chance to end their career with a win as opposed to losing by six scores in the opening round of the Sectional.

As you should be. In HS sports, everyone should make the post-season, I can't imagine thinking otherwise. Your perspective sounds like that of a fan. Nothing wrong with that, but I have never heard of a coach calling any regular season and exhibition. I've also never really heard of any energy in coaching circles to get the "all-in" approach changed. We'd like seeding-- but I don't think any of us really want teams excluded.

I understand the reasons and I apologize. I will no longer comment on this.

Just a reminder from the pinned topic titled "Rumors".

Justin Fields follows Falcons players amid speculation he unfollowed the Bears: https://sports.yahoo.com/justin-fields-follows-falcons-players-184630312.html

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2024/02/20/from-term-limits-to-bus-lanes-indiana-lawmakers-fight-locals-for-control/72481908007/ Government is more effective the more local it is. This is the way it always has been and always will be it. It is simple logic. The Indiana state legislature needs to realize that.

https://gridirondigest.net/clients/donations/

https://www.courierpress.com/story/sports/high-school/2024/02/17/ihsaa-girls-basketball-gibson-southern-advances-to-state-championship/72530848007/

Here is a great video of it. She is still down 9-8 at this point.

I'm perfectly fine with football being different. It's the only sport with 6 classes (as opposed to 3 or 4). I also think it's the only team sport tournament that is only one game per week. Soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball, and softball will all play a mid-week or Saturday morning/night en route to the championship. And I would want the qualifier to a minimum standard. Something like 2 wins out of a 9 or 10 game season. The easy answer is to not force football to be done by Thanksgiving so basketball can start... but I know this is Indiana.

Then maybe you should clear the air for us.