MICFan34

There was an 8-man clinic that ran concurrently with the normal IFCA clinic two weeks back. I have no idea when the initial pilot season will be, but it looks like the IFCA is all-in on 8-man football and I do know that they have the requisite number of schools ready to feel comfortable starting the program. 

The only hang-up I have on 8-man football is the amounts of travel that will probably occur due to schools being so spread out from one another. But hopefully people around the state see it as a good thing because it's giving students a new opportunity to demonstrate their talents off the field! 

2 hours ago, temptation said:

Guaranteed they do, especially if they are still a 6 team league.

Because who's a legit upgrade, scheduling-wise, for those 6 teams? None. 

Obviously CG won't continue being a behemoth but an okay CG is still better than 99.9% of all football programs in Indiana. 

And Carmel has legit football rivalries with BD and NC. Makes no sense for those two schools to get rid of Carmel. 

So...in 2023, will any of the MIC teams play CG and Carmel?

I figured in '22, due to contracts and the relative lack of time, the MIC would still play CG and Carmel. If they continue playing CG and Carmel, what a joke even kicking them out in the first place lol. 

Any internal candidates or coaches with Catholic school experience that would want this job?

Hard to imagine any public school teachers taking a significant paycut for this position. 

3 minutes ago, EasyEJay said:

Cascade looks set to leave the ICC , will be interesting to see who in central Indiana makes the jump to this extremely competitive small school conference 

Heritage Christian or Covenant Christian? I know they're both in the Circle City for all other sports but it'd seem like competing in the ICC would be a huge benefit for them, especially since they play a good amount of those schools already. 

23 minutes ago, Bash Riprock said:

Well stated...I have watched tremendous athletes come out of the MIC for years and do great things at the next level.  It was a huge source of pride to have my kids compete in the MIC.  I have no doubt about the next generation of great MIC athletes in football among other sports.

I'll always be a MIC fan...while I cheered for "my team" when they played, I love cheering on the MIC and all Indy metro players at the next level.  I know change is a part of life, and I understand revenue and focus on all sports instead of my favorite is the driving force, but will miss the rivalries.  As I mentioned in an earlier post about CG's 2 year run, the Trojans have played BD and WC four and three times respectively in the last 2 seasons.  Those are rivalries that won't be the same.  That bums me out.

Indy Metro needs their conferences to prosper....I have no doubt they will.

Albeit lopsided, it still is amazing to me that BD and CG have played each other 6 times in 3 years, with half of those games coming in Semi-State. No matter happens with the HCC, I still hope to see Warren and BD play against CG and Carmel in the regular season. I think to all 4 of those communities, those games still massively resonate. Even if no regular season match-ups, these games will be a blast to attend during the tournament. 

9 minutes ago, temptation said:

It depends on the narrative that particular year.  
 

Often times MIC teams that win state titles cite “the grind” preparing themselves for battle.  

But when they lose, it’s that same “grind” that wore them out.  (I believe this exact quote was the reasoning that Center Grove and Warren moved their annual week 10 battle to the beginning of the season a few years back.)

Decatur Central is NOT Zionsville.  The Eagles benefit as a 5A program playing in a 6A conference as they are an affluent community with great support.  Decatur Central is a far cry from both.

But can DC turn into a medium Zville? They are building in Camby rn and these houses are going for $270+. That's not typical DC. Wonder if they can start to pull some money from Perry Township. 

14 minutes ago, temptation said:

We are taking about BEN DAVIS and WARREN CENTRAL.  Two schools near/above 4000 students who eat, sleep, and breathe football and have for 4 decades often at the expense of other sports and programs.

Center Grove and Carmel are sending double figure kids to the next level annually while BD/Warren are sending a handful combined.  
 

Save the “monster freshman class” nonsense for a couple of years.  So many variables to consider before taking that comment seriously.

Its not hard to see where things are trending and save me the “it’s cyclical” argument.  BD and Warren will continue to compete and dominate “the new MIC” solely based on enrollment advantages. 
 

As recently as 20-25 years ago, IPS schools were competitive in multiple sports on a state wide level and now they are an afterthought.  Marion County schools have now taken on that moniker in most sports due to simple socioeconomic shifts and urban sprawl.

Money talks and the suburbs have it.  I walk the front lines daily and can tell you that by the time many kids at most Marion County schools reach the practice field at 3pm, they have already fought multiple battles that most suburban kids don’t have to.  It’s a much steeper climb.

Why don’t schools like Warren and BD compete for state titles in sports like golf, tennis and swimming?  Shouldn’t they be able to?  They have 4000 kids!  Are their coaches not trying hard enough?

I encourage anyone to job shadow me and see the trauma that many kids in the city experience on a daily basis.  It’d blow your mind and you have to see it to believe it.

Do some quick research on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.  It’ll do you some good

Can we just sign your comment as the reason for why CG and Carmel are leaving. It's 100% spot on. And I am also someone who deals with Marion County MIC kids on a daily basis as well. 

5 minutes ago, temptation said:

Tell me what sport Decatur Central finishes in the top half of an 8 team MIC in…other than softball.

Like you said earlier, they have still have an old school mentality when it comes to hiring teachers first, coaches second. 

But don't you think playing in the MIC in every sport will elevate them in their playoffs? 

Their sectionals almost always include Pike and BD.

But softball and baseball would be my guesses?

It's going to be Decatur Central and whatever school wants out of the new HCC. DC plays MIC schools in EVERY sport besides football and to me, they're an easy addition. DC's upside is way higher than Southport, Tech, Perry, Kokomo, etc. The MIC should add a school that looks and acts like them, other than enrollment disparities. 

1 hour ago, temptation said:

The recruiting rankings don’t lie.  He’s right.

Yet Brownsburg had a few more players in those rankings and still lost, albeit with a "month to prep". WC has a monster freshman class coming in and they'll be top dogs soon enough in the new MIC. 

WC, BD, LC (Mickens, plus others), and LN(just sent three to FBS programs), will be just fine. Even Pike and NC are sending players to higher levels in the '23 class. 

Can we stop with the "MIC is dead" narrative. They'll still be high caliber players and programs in the conference and they'll battle with the same programs they've battled with the past 25 years.

We have no idea what the next 20 years will look like, the projections and guesses crack me up. 

MIC Football Championships (1996-2021)

Football State Championships (1996-2021)

Warren Central: 7 (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2018)

Ben Davis: 5 (1999, 2001, 2002, 2014, 2017)

Carmel: 4 (2007, 2011, 2016, 2019)

Center Grove: 4 (2008, 2015, 2020, 2021) 

Here's a final look back at the MIC Conference Championships & State Championships won for each school since the MIC was created. 

Let's say the HCC goes ahead and approves both CG & Carmel...and they decide to play a 9 game closed schedule.

How will the MIC programs schedule non-conference games? They'll need 4 non-con games to fill up their schedules. This seems like it'd be a major headache for these 6 programs. 

Do they go after DAC schools, Penn, P/Ps, out of state opponents? 

21 minutes ago, HHF said:

Does DC want to be in a conference with BD and WC?  HUGE enrollment discrepency.  The Hawks like winning conference championship in The Mid State.  I dont see them leaving to play schools twice their size every week.  

Not sure but DC essentially plays all 6 of the MIC schools in every sport so it wouldn't be a foreign concept for them. 

18 minutes ago, temptation said:

4  One MIC source says he's heard Avon and Cathedral have been reached out to.  Another says Lafayette Jeff and Kokomo.

 

Believe Decatur Central should be added to that list as well. They run tight with the 6 MIC Township schools in admin decisions. 

1 minute ago, Footballking16 said:

That didn't answer a single question I asked though?

How many times a year does a team with 70 varsity players with a few D1 athletes play a team full of 20 skinny kids and a 2 man coaching staff?

Not talking about DT's specific point...

but at several JV & Freshman games in the MIC, I have seen some teams come in with upwards of 50+ players and some of the other teams only having 15-20 players. 

It's not a varsity issue whatsoever IMO. 

3 minutes ago, Grover said:

They've tried to join before.

You know what year(s)? 

3 minutes ago, temptation said:

Franklin Central and Avon.

Intriguing! Just hard to see them leaving the HCC with the MIC's lack of investment in every sport except for Football, Track, and Boys & Girls Basketball. 

I know it's probably a no but I would love to see Cathedral in the MIC lol. 

If the inevitable occurs, what does the MIC try and do, to replace Carmel and CG? 

10 minutes ago, Grover said:

Doesn’t the Brownsburg AD have to sign off?

I mean Brownsburg has been Transfer U the last several years so I'm sure the Brownsburg AD did sign off. It'd be a bad look when you accept a plethora of transfers but don't sign off on players transferring to another program. 

33 minutes ago, oldtimeqb said:

Zionsville is the other school that I keep hearing about as far as movement.  If they go up to 6A along with Harrison as @foxbat mentioned, that means at least 1 must come down.  (I think there were only 31 in 6A?)

I'd assume Merrillville? People kept saying that they'd be in 5A for the next cycle. But they've also accumulated two Regional Championships in the past 2 years, does that factor in as well? 

9 minutes ago, Bash Riprock said:

That is not accurate.  If you wanted to say played the lower tier of the conference, that's one thing.  But those schools are not Wofford and the Citadel of high school football.  They have very good athletes.  LC was really playing well last part of the season.  NC had a down year, but had been playing very good football.  LN and Carmel was also on the back end of their regular schedule.  If you want to keep talking sectionals, no team has a choice of who they play.

BD has made 3 straight semi-state appearances.  They have just ran into a CG team those 3 years that was better.  BD has nothing to be ashamed about....and they will continue as one of the state's best.  Hard to believe a program with 3 straight semi-state appearances is getting criticized.

This is spot-on. And it's important to recognize that since 2003, BD has only won 2 State Championships in the past 18 years, yet have been to 3 straight Semistate games and like the above post, have lost to a better CG program (that has won 27 games in a row). It's a more equal fight in 6A than it was 20 years ago, in addition to the rising powers of the HCC. 

1A: Adams Central vs Lutheran: I think Adams Central wins this game in a close one. Lutheran has a weird way of not winning games in Semistate or State that they are favorites in, going back to the last 10 years. 

2a: Andrean vs Mater Dei: I think Andrean wins this game in a close one as well. This may be one of my favorite matchups of the weekend. Two powerhouse private schools that possess a lot of talent on both teams. 

3a: Brebeuf vs Gibson Southern: This is my favorite game of the weekend. Brebuef's D-Line will be the difference in the game and get key pressure on Allen. After seeing GS play Tri-West on Saturday, GS plays a fun brand of football with a lot of team speed on their side. I think this is another game that goes to the wire. Brebeuf's explosiveness in the pass game should be concerning to the GS defense. 

4a: Northridge vs Mt. Vernon: Northridge's Cinderalla run ends with a loss to the Marauders. Mt. Vernon is just too explosive for Northridge to contain for 48 minutes. I think this will be the best atmosphere of the 6 games. 

5A: Zionsville vs Cathedral: I think this game will end with a final score similar to the New Pal/Cathedral game in the Regionals. I just don't see how Zionsville gets it going offensively against one of the best defenses in the state. 

6a: Westfield vs CG: The amount of high-level talent in this game is unbelievable. It'll be a well-executed game on both sides but CG wins this by 2-3 TDs. I just don't see how Westfield will be able to run the ball against the Trojans' stout DL. 

Just now, BTF said:

I don't think Cathedral should elect to play up. No one else does, so why should they. On the outside looking in, I think it's easy for a fan to make that claim. But when you are a coach or an AD, it's pretty clear that the trend is to just go where the IHSAA puts you. Let's see what they do in 6A the next couple of years. If the competition is too stiff, they'll move back down. 

Agreed. I'm excited to see how Cathedral does in 6A these next two seasons. 

This specific year, Cathedral would have easily won their sectional (LC, LN, North Central would be my guess) and then went against CG in Regionals. That'd be an incredible match-up for a Regional Championship. 

54 minutes ago, Footballking16 said:

Perhaps the same reason why Cathedral doesn't volunteer to play two classes up with Center Grove, Warren, Carmel, etc?

Much more practical way of looking at things when the shoe is on the other foot isn't it?

Yet in the past 20 years, Cathedral has willingly scheduled *checks notes* these 6A powers: Center Grove, Carmel, Westfield, Ben Davis, Brownsburg, Warren Central.... and these out of state powers: Elder, St. X, Moeller, LaSalle, Brother Rice, Louisville Trinity, St. Edwards, East St. Louis. 

Comparing Mishawaka's situation to Cathedral's is laughable. I have massive amounts of respect for Cathedral and believe they should only be in 6A if they move up to the Success Factor, but if there's one team that should volunteer to play up, it's Cathedral.