temptation

Some talk in the other thread got me to thinking about honestly how crazy this conference has been in 2022. Anybody have Plainfield/Martinsville in a tie for first and Decatur Central in sixth with PERRY MERIDIAN on their Bingo cards in the preseason? Should be an exciting last three weeks and the tournament should tell us whether it is parity or mediocrity…

Should be fresh as a daisy coming off two bye weeks.

Did anybody have them winning AT Michigan City before the season? They are trending up.

Any truth to the rumors that Cathedral has asked the game be moved to Sarasota, FL Friday night?

Edit: Completely overlooked Chatard and Brebeuf. Make it 18 teams. 1. Roncalli 2. Crown Point 3. Carroll 4, Snider 5. Merrillville 6. Chatard 7. Fort Wayne North 8. Brebeuf 9. Martinsville 10. Whiteland 11. Franklin 12. Mooresville 13. Evansville Reitz 14. Dwenger 15. Homestead 16. Decatur Central 17. Vincennes Lincoln 18. Valparaiso

I agree with all statements, but my other remains true. The DAC is loaded with 5A and 6A schools in a highly populated area of the state that has stepped its game up in terms of its commitment to football. It SHOULD be top 3. The Mid-State, SAC and SIAC are littered with smaller schools. Hard to evaluate the Circle City honestly as they have some built in advantages and is FOUR teams "really" a conference? If you had to rank a top 25 of ONLY DAC, SIAC, Mid-State and Circle City schools what would it look like? Here's mine based on my latest power rankings: (16 teams from these three conferences appear in my top 50.) 1. Roncalli 2. Crown Point 3. Carroll 4, Snider 5. Merrillville 6. Fort Wayne North 7. Martinsville 8. Whiteland 9. Franklin 10. Mooresville 11. Evansville Reitz 12. Dwenger 13. Homestead 14. Decatur Central 15. Vincennes Lincoln 16. Valparaiso

Unless the sprinklers or hose make an appearance, lol...how much speed does LaSalle have? (Sorry, I had to.)

Already told you. New Pal and Roncalli don't have to justify their ranking to anyone based on the athletes they trot out there on Friday nights. 247 does the work for me as both teams have an abundance (probably not the right word) of next level talent which is on par with/better than some of the 5A/6A schools I have them ranked ahead of. Just busting your balls a bit. Please don't be "I am going to nit pick and criticize the guy willing to put his rankings out there but run and hide when I am asked to post my own" guy. Thanks for reading though. I love the debate. It's what makes it fun.

Not even close. Let's go head to head with the DAC, Mid-State, SAC and SIAC. 1. Crown Point/Martinsville/Carroll/Evansville Reitz (I'll take Crown Point out of this grouping slightly ahead of Carroll.) 2. Merrillville/Whiteland/Snider/Evansville Mater Dei (Top three here are a push in my opinion.) 3. Valparaiso/Franklin/Fort Wayne North/Vincennes Lincoln (I am taking both Franklin and Fort Wayne North over Valparaiso.) 4. Chesterton/Mooresville/Homestead/Castle (I'll be kind here and place Chesterton in 3rd of this grouping, though possibly fourth.) 5. Lake Central/Decatur Central/Fort Wayne Dwenger/Evansville Memorial (Lake Central is a distant fourth here.) 6. Michigan City/Plainfield/Fort Wayne Luers/Evansville North (I'll give you Michigan City here.) 7. Portage/Perry Meridian/Fort Wayne/Wayne/Jasper (Gimme Jasper here.) 8. LaPorte/Greenwood/Fort Wayne Concordia/Evansville Harrison (Don't know enough about this group to make an educated guess.) Right now as I see it. 1. HCC 2. MIC 3. Mid-State 4. SAC 5. SIAC 6. DAC 7. Circle City

Very underwhelming for a conference with 5A and 6A schools. An average Sagarin rating of 66.17 as of this week. Well behind the HCC (86.12), Circle City (80.73), MIC (79.90), SIAC (71.27), Mid-State (71.13) and SAC (listed at 48.92 due to being closed but well ahead of the DAC).

Truth.

HM - #41

Not so fast is right. Based on what I’ve seen so far? Yes. HSE has the more impressive resume. Their end of season contest against Brownsburg will also be telling. Now, if Carmel rolls BD Friday night and then does the same to Warren and LC? They’d be right there with the Royals. Hell, I’ve already stated that on any particular night I could see any of the top 7 knocking each other off. It’s that close in my opinion. And no, I have no ties to Carmel.

Kokomo - HM (#35) Carroll (Flora) - NR

A mediocre conference at that.

Sagarin, where Warren Central is 5 spots higher than a team (Lawrence Central) that beat them by double figures...just one example. (I actually like Jeff's rankings too but let's not sit here and pretend they are flawless.)

He only likes boring class rankings with little controversy where his favorite team is #1.

LOL

I asked for parity in 6A and it looks like it has been delivered. I don't know what to make of this "conference" on a week to week basis as I firmly believe none of the teams are as good as their best moment, nor as bad as their worst. A lot of Jekyll and Hyde here. Ben Davis @ Carmel: The game of the week in central Indiana as this will tell us a lot about both teams. As expected, BD struggled early after their emotional win over Warren and held off a pesky LN team. Carmel, as expected took care of bottom feeder North Central with relative ease. I could see this one going either way but I think BD has two difference makers on offense that Carmel does not. Giants squeak one out 27-24. Center Grove @ Pike: The good news? The Trojans' offense exploded for 63 points last week. The bad news? They gave up 41! CG usually begins peaking at this time annually so a bit head scratching, but they could play a B/C level game for them and defeat Pike. Which Pike shows up? The one that game LC fits or the one that rolled over and let BD/WC score at will? Either way, it won't matter. GC wins 48-7. Lawrence North @ Warren Central: The Wildcats gave BD a scare on the road last week before falling late. They now travel to a Warren team who righted the ship, at least temporarily with a rout of Pike. Its pretty simple for Warren here. They take care of the ball, they win. They don't and they sweat it out if not lose. I think the "good Warren" shows up this week. Warren wins 30-14. North Central @ Lawrence Central: The Panthers are simply counting down to basketball season at this point in what has been a fall to forget. LC gets back on track here after last week's track meet against CG. Bears win 38-0. What say you?

All signs pointing to a Brownsburg/Hamilton Southeastern showdown for the conference title in week 9, but some business to take care of first. Avon @ Westfield: The Orioles seem to be improving at least in the box score as they earned a moral victory on homecoming last week in a narrow loss to Fishers. A big problem awaits this week however as they travel to an angry Westfield team coming off of back to back losses for the first time since 2019. This one may get out of hand early. Westfield gets back on track and rolls 38-14. Brownsburg @ Zionsville: Many say last week's contest against Westfield was a changing of the guard in the HCC as we will undoubtedly have a new conference champion. Brownsburg seems to always slip up in one they shouldn't and Zionsville is more than capable though they were brought back to earth last week against Southeastern. I expect a close game early, before Brownsburg steps on the gas in the second half to win, 34-21. Fishers @ Franklin Central: The most intriguing matchup of the week to me as both teams are out of contention for the conference crown but top tier/half bragging rights (if that's a thing) are at stake. Fishers' close one against Avon last week gives me some pause whereas Franklin Central picked up a big road win at Noblesville. I think this one is close all the way through but Fishers makes 1-2 more plays late. Tigers win 24-17. Hamilton Southeastern @ Noblesville: Like Brownsburg, Southeastern has its sights set on a conference title but needs to take care of business first. I boasted about the Royals' resume in another thread as they have survived a gauntlet this far. Noblesville, on the other hand seems to be in the midst of its best football having been played in late August/early September. I think Southeastern remains focused here and wins 30-10. What say you?

Not sure why he would be…K-State seems to have Oklahoma’s number.

“Valpo really struggled with crown point which was shocking to one person.” Fixed it for you.

The coaches/media separate classes and it’s boring to me…especially at the 5A/6A level. Is being top ten out of 32 schools really an accomplishment? To me, this is an interesting way to compare teams that will most likely never match up on the same field. It makes for fun conversation and gives the 1A/4A schools an idea (just one man’s opinion) of where they stand. Roncalli and New Pal have legitimate D1 kids on their rosters and their results speak for themselves. They deserve to be recognized as one of the best in Indiana and a 4A poll does them little justice. This is more of a power ranking based on resume and who I think would win were they to match up at that particular time. I had New Pal in the 20’s preseason and Westfield on the edge of the top 5 by the way. I have some 1A-3A schools honorable mention but it will be hard for them to crack the list.

It did. Did you know where I had New Pal ranked preseason? You can’t diminish HSE’s win over a Westfield team that is 3-3, yet then cite New Pal’s win over them as a major accomplishment in your next breath.

Wish New Pal had another challenging game on the schedule. Loved their series with CG. Admittedly, I don’t see them moving up in this poll unless someone in front of them implodes. Just no one left on the schedule that’s a legitimate litmus test. Will be interesting to see if teams like Roncalli, Reitz or East Central can remain competitive in a potential tournament contest.