temptation

Biden: “I’m going to show that diversity is our strength and make a black woman the vice president of the United States!” Trump: “She’s a DEI hire.” MSM: “Trump is racist.”

Another once in a generation athlete…or maybe not.

Despite being someone who has difficulty passing on any opportunity to take a dump on Notre Dame, I think this analogy misses slightly. ND is among the most talented 10-15 teams in football annually but every team has the same pool of players and scholarship limits by which to abide. Warren annually has nearly 300 kids out for football and has a decisive enrollment advantage over nearly every other school in the state in that category. I am not "following the rest" as my poll is complete and has been for quite sometime. I guess I could still make some adjustments as new information comes out in terms of transfers and such and I told many folks on this board I would wait to give any type of analysis until we got closer to the season. Hell, schools are back in session in Marion County so I wouldn't be surprised if new faces continue to show up in new places as we get closer to the season. I concede that about half of the teams on your list could give Warren a run but you were basing that solely off last year. East Central and Crown Point had generational type teams for their respective schools and Warren had a down year. That's not something I expect to continue this year. I also will not concede on Chatard and even the most staunch insiders on here have mentioned Cathedral is a big unknown this year. I'll give you Ben Davis, Center Grove, Snider and Carroll obviously, but that's where it stops for me in 2025.

Ironically, I think that most of those who compile rankings (the real ones, not mine on here) would tend to agree but they'd take the stance that Warren HAS earned it. Fair or not, a school with 9 state championships (7 in the last two decades) is likely going to be given the benefit of the doubt and "down seasons" are going to be marginalized. Like I said, not necessarily fair but its kinda how it goes.

Yep, best response I’ve got. While I agree, Warren has a lot to prove and their trajectory has been exactly stellar since their last state title, I think you’re overreacting here. And it’s not me building up Warren, it’s everyone. You’re gonna be pissed at the preseason coaches/media rankings.

You’re drinking before sundown huh?

List em…with reasoning.

Can’t place an HCC team above em, 6A isn’t top heavy this year. They’ll be higher than you think they should be, but I bet Snider is too.

I took that statement back. I had forgotten a couple of those shortcomings you mentioned. I will say however, that their offense's inability to get out of their own way contributed to their defense being put in a lot of bad spots and can't speak to how many of those scores in the games you mentioned were actually defensive touchdowns. Warren is a high ceiling, low floor team this fall. Gonna be interesting to see if they can put it together. The home schedule is extremely favorable.

C’mon. You are doing it again. I can’t believe you are putting me in the spot of defending Warren and that I am about to make an SEC analogy but here we are. The MIC, though not as formidable as it once was is still the SEC of Indiana high school football and even though Warren had a subpar year last year and were a mid pack team in the MIC, they win seven games in every other league not named the HCC. Add to that fact that nearly all of their talent is returning and they’ve upgraded at the skill positions and it’s not hard to fathom.

I mean, you are being a bit intentionally obtuse. Warren plays a top 5 schedule annually and their record does not tell the whole story. I have been as critical of them on here as anyone and watched them fold and dare I say the word QUIT in a couple of games last year once their season started heading south. However, they did manage to give Ben Davis a bit of a game even though there are a couple of important caveats from that game specifically. 1. Warren scored two special teams touchdowns. 2. BD played without Nylan Brown. However, Warren did lose its quarterback early in that game and had to turn to a freshman if I am not mistaken. The damn broke in a couple of games as the offense could not sustain drives and hang on to the ball, not to mention the penalties. They then regrouped and played deadlocked with Center Grove for 2+ quarters…and we saw what CG did against the eventual state champs a week later. That regional game was 0-0 at the half until Warren’s defense had nothing left to give late. I always enjoy looking at the preseason magazines but the most overrated stat is “returning starters” particularly from a team with a losing record. That’s the case here which is why I am in wait and see mode on Warren. It comes across as me being bullish or hyping them up because I honestly (fingers crossed) see a lot of potential for parity in 6A this year. There is no clear favorite.

You’re right. My bad.

Actually if you look more closely, I am honestly not really on any bandwagons this year. While it’s easy on the surface to see that Warren has the most talent in the state, how it works together and in sync remains to be seen. I am skeptical of a lot of things in the Warren program if you look at my posting history but their talent is off the charts. The had the best defense in Indiana last year and nearly all of those guys are back. They’ve upgraded at the skill positions on offense so common sense states they’ll be better. Now, I think you will be surprised where I have Snider in these rankings. I have tons of respect for the program.

Eh, I can’t be critical. It’s all I have in many cases when comparing teams. I tend to agree and think this is the most likely outcome. Warren’s D was its strength last year and will be once again. But they’ve gone to the transfer portal on offense. Will be interesting to see how it clicks, especially in week 1.

Those games were at completely different parts of the season.

What do you need to see in week 1 to convince you that Warsaw has a chance at being in the game/winning at Warren in week 2?

See a lot of 3 and outs for Warsaw in this one…hard to control the tempo.

You got lucky once. 😉 I respect the hell out of Warsaw (enough to rank em) but if they are even close to Warren in the 2nd half, that is damning for the Warriors.

They play in week 2. A measuring stick game for Warsaw.

Warsaw/Warren spread right now in your mind is…

If I wasn’t capable of “taking the jabs” I wouldn’t still be here.

Solid start.

Thought we were past this…are wife jokes back on the table? IDGAF if he has won at every level, he’s joining the BIG TEN which is better than it’s ever been and quite possibly is on the verge of becoming the best conference in America. Look, I have never had a reason to cheer against Indiana football, I have always had sympathy for them to be honest. This doesn’t change any of that, but it just seems like manufactured clickbait and a lack of respect/understanding for what he’s walking into. His line about Indiana almost winning the Big Ten in 2020 had me rolling. 8 wins is actually attainable with that schedule though I’d place the over/under at 5.5.

He’s a clown because he’s spouting out false bravado and arrogance in order to be interesting which I sort of respect. Cultures are changed in the locker room, in the weight room and on the practice field, not from behind a microphone. Yes, a clown.

Not ready…yet. Could see them slowly climbing that top 50 towards the top 25 as they have a couple of early season tests but the October 4th game at Penn will tell me all I need to know. That could truly be a contest of northern Indiana’s past vs northern Indiana’s future.