temptation

Only the 48 sectional winners eligible. Hamilton Southeastern Brownsburg Cathedral Center Grove Roncalli New Palestine Westfield Carroll (Fort Wayne) Fort Wayne Snider East Central Whiteland Warren Central Bishop Chatard West Lafayette New Prairie Lafayette Jefferson Merrillville Bloomington South Mishawaka Kokomo Indianapolis Lutheran Southridge Andrean Plainfield Fort Wayne Luers Northridge Owen Valley Evansville Memorial Columbia City Valparaiso Lawrenceburg Evansville Mater Dei Castle Linton-Stockton Triton Central Adams Central North Judson Providence North Decatur Knox Lafayette Central Catholic Yorktown Sheridan Park Tudor Carroll (Flora) Lapel Monrovia Bluffton

All teams eligible. Hamilton Southeastern Brownsburg Cathedral Center Grove Roncalli New Palestine Westfield Carroll (Fort Wayne) Fort Wayne Snider East Central Fishers Carmel Ben Davis Lawrence Central Whiteland Warren Central Fort Wayne North Lawrence North Bishop Chatard Brebeuf Jesuit West Lafayette New Prairie Lafayette Jefferson Crown Point Merrillville

I’m all in on this one. Huge upside/opportunity for the northern schools.

Indy schools desperate because they kicked the two best teams out of their, I mean there, conference.

Furthermore, I would assume that streaming impacts attendance negatively at nearly every school that offers it regularly. Looking at IHSAAtv.net, all six Carmel home games were streamed this fall. You can’t tell me that post pandemic, in an era where so many other options are available that Carmel’s game against that a contest against a Ben Davis team (whose fans simply don’t travel) set an attendance record.

But they set an attendance record at homecoming this year huh? Not buying it…Carmel has hosted too many big games in its history.

There’s no need for Indy schools to travel farther than 40 miles from their locker room.

Are folks actually on the verge of "feeling sorry" for Carmel, lol? Never thought I'd see the day. Joking aside, I think it is a variety of factors and I'd even argue that Carmel is one of a select few schools in Indiana where football is not king in terms of prestige and attention. Next question simply to be controversial and keep the conversation going... Do Carmel kids have enough grit?

You answered your own question...when you reach the tournament and can look your players in the eye and say "we've been here before" or "we've played teams tougher than our semi-state/state opponent in OCTOBER (no coach would actually say this out loud, lol) it is a huge advantage...and with the recent tournament results at the 6A level, its nearly impossible to argue that these are true statements. Combine that with the commitment to the sport being more serious in central Indiana in terms of pay, teaching schedule, facilities, etc...and the enrollment advantages in most cases, which can not be ignored.

"Barely" huh? 10 out of 13 in head to head matchups... In that case, Georgia "barely" beat Oregon in week 1...

I’ll take LC +31.5 Alex.

Source?

I'm not ready to say surpassed just yet.

I think a close loss and running the table still gets Tennessee, which is wrong.

Quick rant: Why are possessive pronouns and adverbs so hard for many folks on this board to grasp?

I don't think they do, by much. HSE and Fishers also have huge numbers and success in those sports but Carmel is just on another level. In sports like XC, even though 7 kids run varsity ALL 130 get to compete on the same course, on the same day. In football, 11 kids see the field at a time. I'd say participation game numbers in a Friday night contest approach 60 (just a complete guess honestly). Am I way off base here in assuming Carmel has 250 kids that probably go out for football once freshman numbers are considered? That is a steep damn hill to get your name on the two deep. The other sports are also "no cut" in most circumstances.

Please lord. Gimme some hope.

I realized getting worked up about the first rankings is a ridiculous thing to do but there are some obvious ones after last night. Is it the eye test or is it SOS/whom you have beaten? Seems inconsistent. I think that TCU and Michigan have legitimate gripes but if they continue to win, it'll all work itself out. 5 SEC teams in the top 11? Come on. Tennessee deserves to be #1 but what I will find fascinating is if they lose to UGA Saturday, where do they drop to? I know it depends on the margin of victory but I can't see them dropping any farther than 5-6. That means, they win out and sneak back in despite not playing in the SEC title game? Come on. I said above that a one loss UM/OSU as long as the game is one possession on Thanksgiving weekend is deserving, especially considering the imbalance of the Big Ten divisions. I feel like that scenario was basically eliminated last night. Tennessee will be rewarded more so than the UM/OSU loser in a close loss to UGA because of WHEN the game was played...a loss Saturday gives the Vols plenty of time to right the ship.

Honest question…how many high school kids “go out for football” on an annual basis at Carmel? You’re talking 11 kids on the field at a time…in a school of 5400. I know that their swimming/track/XC programs have triple digits and the path to swim/run varsity is really steep. Two per event in swimming/track and 7 run varsity in XC. Does this lead to apathy? Once again, no evidence…just spitballing.

Ben Davis gave the ball away multiple times (4 I believe?)...not sure it was necessarily anything Brownsburg did superbly. Cathedral/Center Grove won't.

So you'll spot me +24.5?

I've got a foot and a half on board with Brownsburg at this point. Every time I place two feet on the ship, they seem to underachieve. They'll roll Avon to set up a great regional and possible semi-state.

Breath one: "Crown Point is overrated." Next breath: "Crown Point beats Jeff by 25." At least you have both bases covered Saturday morning.

Owen Valley was my biggest surprise. Didn't have them ranked all season. Wasn't a believer in the schedule.

They will look for any way possible to put Bama in, for this I am convinced. I may need to shower in bleach Sunday morning because I am rooting for Notre Dame AND Brian Kelly simultaneously Saturday night.