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I would think the top 4 from last year will be there again. But maybe not in that order. Could this be the year Knox runs the table? Don't they have a pretty good RB returning? Triton could have contended with Schuh, but without him they I'm not convinced they'll be contenting for the top. They do have a pretty good sophomore back to jump in! But I don't see him carrying the load like Schuh would have done. My early guess would put LaVille back at the top, followed by Knox and NJ.

The conference definitely takes a hit when it comes to level of competition. We lose two top half teams and pick up two that will likely finish bottom half most seasons. But teams like Triton and Culver suddenly become relevant in the conference title chase. I hope Triton can keep playing LaVille and Bremen as non-conference games. They are short drives and draw good crowds. And it's great competition for the Trojans. I would assume NJ and Knox will play. But I don't see Knox wanting to schedule anyone else in the HNAC. I'd love to see LaVille keep Triton and Pioneer. But I could see them scheduling Culver Academy and/or Mishawaka Marian if they really want to beef up their schedule.

Now that North Miami has officially announced their move to the HNAC, what do you all think about the way the conference membership has shaken out?

It appears Bremen, John Glenn and Jimtown have dumped Clay from their 2023 football schedule. Tippy Valley is reporting games with these future conference opponents on the weeks they have previously been scheduled to play Clay. I'm wondering if Clay is planning to field a team this fall. With the school closing at the end of the 2023-24 school year, maybe they have already given up on football.

They already have 5 games listed on Harrell's site and they could fill the rest with Tipton (week 4), Western (6), SB Washington (8) and Indy Lutheran (9), who all have week's open. I'd say that's a pretty decent schedule for pulling it together last minute!

I like the way this has worked out for Triton. Since Triton already plays South Central in football, we might be able to keep LaVille on the schedule after they leave. Our two non-conference games could be Bremen and LaVille. That would be ideal in my mind.

The HNAC has soccer too. Missed that one... From a competition and rivalry standpoint, I like Argos better than O-D for filling out the non-football conference spot.

Ya, I can't imagine things coming together much better than this for football.

Track, cross country, baseball and softball, wrestling, basketball, tennis, volleyball, golf. Basically everything but swimming and gymnastics. Not all schools participate in all sports.

I just saw a tweet announcing the South Central move. I like it from a football perspective. The HNAC looses a little ground in the level of competition with these moves, but North Miami and South Central make a lot of sense geographically.

So Lewis Cass leaves the Hoosier in a lurch in order to replace Valley in the TRC. The drama continues...

I understand the rivalry will remain, but playing in different conferences just isn't the same. I would have never guessed that Valley and Rochester would play in different conferences, that's all.

Fairfield would be a perfect fit with this group. And I can't understand why Rochester is opting out. From outside appearances they would seem to fit quite well.

I hadn't thought of North Miami, but they would fit pretty well. I could live with Rochester and North Miami, although I'd be surprised if Rochester doesn't end up in the new conference with Valley.

As a Triton fan, I'm sorry to see LaVille leave the HNAC, but I totally get it. This is a great new conference from a school size and competition perspective! Add Fairfield and Rochester to the list and this is pretty darn near perfect!

So if LaVille and Knox are leaving the HNAC, who does the conference go after to replace them? South Central West Central Argos Rochester Westville Oregon-Davis

I don't think you would ever see Rochester and Tippecanoe Valley in different conferences, so you could replace CA with Valley. Long drive from Winamac to Jimtown. Probably a deal breaker there. Why did Sheridan leave?

In order to build a sustained football program that can compete with the best in the class, the first thing you need is a winning culture. When you consistently get beat up by larger programs, you won't build a winning culture. I've seen it first hand. My oldest son played football at Triton in the NSC. They had some decent athletes but consistently lost by 40-50 points to the larger schools. (New Prairie was ahead 63-0 at halftime one year.) While they gave it their best efforts, they couldn't compete and never gained the confidence needed to be successful, even when playing other 1A schools. I then had 2 sons play in the HNAC. And even though they lost huge to Pioneer every year, they gained great confidence by competing with and beating teams from similar sized schools. They played for 2 sectional titles and won in a year that had 4 HNAC teams likely among the top 10 teams in all of 1A. (2018 - Pioneer, LaVille, North Judson, Triton) Yes, the competition you play matters. But it has to be balanced. Playing bigger schools doesn't automatically result in a more competitive team.

I hear this line of thinking all the time. But if this were actually true, the old NSC would have never broken up. Culver, Triton, LaVille would have been winning sectionals left and right! But look back at the facts. That simply didn't happen! Playing Bremen, Glenn, New Prairie and Jimtown every year DID NOT result in the small 1A teams having any kind of sustained tournament success! In fact, Triton has been much more competitive in tournament play since leaving the NSC.

That's what those schools should be saying. Pioneer should be next. Why would the small 1A schools want to bring in two additional schools with double their enrollments?

I've never been a fan of conferences larger than 8 schools, but I suppose I should adjust with the times. Ten+ schools seems to be the trend these days. I find it interesting that Bremen is ready to break their ties with Jimtown and leave them out to dry in the NIC. It seemed when the NSC broke up Bremen was joined at the hip with the Jimmies and was ready to ride that relationship to the end, even if it meant the NIC. Apparently things have changed... I don't think we would be in this situation if New Prairie had left the NSC and joined the NIC back in the mid-to-late 2000s. North Judson could have replaced them in the NSC and I think the conference would still be in tact and as strong as ever. But that's water under the bridge. If you have 10 teams, I like the Hoosier model with a couple crossover games and a championship final week. I'd be in favor of rotating the crossover games so you get to play everyone every 2-3 years. Does adding Bremen and Glenn push Caston back toward the Midwest?

It's unfortunate that assumptions are made about people who reside in rural areas. Yes, I live in a rural setting. But I'm highly educated and know a fair bit about private education. I will not speak poorly of private schooling, but I do enjoy seeing public schools overcome their disadvantages to beat similar-sized private schools.

Why is that relevant?

Every time! In any class!

My preference is to seed only the top 2 in eight team sectionals. That should satisfy the people who hate to see the two best teams meet in early rounds, and it would give the bad teams a chance at drawing another bottom half team in round one. This would assure that second round games (assuming no upsets) would always include at least 3 of the top 5 teams in the sectional. But it also allows opportunity for a dark horse to win a game or two, depending on the draw.