PDB26

I think @npcougar15 posted about the rate that New Prairie's district is growing, or it's potential for growth. It would likely be a tough row to hoe in the DAC for the Cougars for at least a little while, but you'd think the arrangement would benefit them in the tournament. However, to your point, a spot in the Northwest Crossroads would almost certainly be the best fit--at least until the population explodes around New Carlisle and Rolling Prairie. Adding Jeff and Penn to the DAC would have to be the wildest arrangement in the state. Still better than being in the NIC. We really needed Elkhart to stay on its upward trajectory, and I'm sure there's no prying Mishawaka away from the NLC at this point.

I came up with a split a couple of years ago designed to avoid the straight east/west division problem--I don't remember exactly which teams I grouped together--but it looked similar to what you have. You and @Boilernation pretty much have all of the details hammered out for how this type of thing could/should work. Elkhart is really the only problem at this point, since you need a tenth team to pull this off. NP would have to really punch up in the DAC, but it might be the least bad option for them if the NIC gets 86ed. I don't like independence for football because that it's more likely to complicate getting games for the freshman and jv teams or result in the freshman and jv teams playing basically the same type of schedule they play now.

Yes. Outside of the Wright years--shudder--Penn and Carmel have had a pretty even go at each other.

Good point, but you can argue it's easier for good teams to go home early in the four team sectional. Carroll is likely remain ascendant. It's probably true that with steady leadership that Crown Point is ascendant as well. That's true. I think some forget the many years in the Geesman era where Penn didn't get out of the sectional or win the regional, but I agree that you can't call Penn the future based on a sectional championship. There is a lot to unpack here. In a sense you're right, Penn has experienced more fluctuation under Yeoman, although it might look more that way because 2019-2021 were bad teams, and not just by Penn standards. I think the elephant in the room is Penn had to replace a number of hall of fame/great coaches at the end of the Geesman era and over the course of Cory's time as head coach. Already some of those replacements--good coaches in their own right--have had to be replaced over the past five to ten years. But it's also true that Penn has played and continues to play more games against better competition under Yeoman than they ever did under Geesman--out of necessity, if nothing else. One negative that has come with that is there are more instances where they've been shown up. The field was just so much more limited during Geesman's time. And still, as I mentioned it above, there were plenty of years when Geesman's teams couldn't get out the sectional or win the regional--as I'm sure you're aware of being a Fort Wayne guy. To your point, Penn could certainly be out in the first round next year even if they somehow win a state championship this year, but that seems more like a function of the sectionals getting more competitive, generally, with the field cut in half.

You could seed within the four regionals and then reseed for the semi state if that's important, but I think @Trojanmp52's suggestion was to random draw within the four regionals. @BTF said the IHSAA would never get rid of the sectional--which makes sense to me; it's probably a more meaningful championship than the regional to more around the state--so I suggested eliminating the regional round. This would give us 6 classes with the three game sectional, and the only difference would be that the winners of 5A and 6A sectionals advance to the semi state.

Under your proposal, we call the regional the "sectional" and now we're back to the old three game championship. I like it.

All 32 teams in each class still get in. There are four regionals from eight sectionals. The suggestion is to conduct the blind draw within each of the four regions. Pretty good suggestion, and I don't think I've seen anyone propose this before.

Seeding is a good idea with the all-in tournament, and seeding teams within the four regionals before re-seeding for the semi state should mitigate travel concerns to a reasonable degree.

I always thought it made more sense to split 1A into two 32 team classes instead of 5A. As wide as the enrollment ranged in the old 5A, each additional body is more meaningful for those small teams. Of course, I can understand why folks would want a 32 team 6A, but there's no way enrollment is more impactful in the large classes than it is in 1A.

I can see arguments on both sides for Carmel or Mishawaka, but I'd keep Valpo and Carmel and cut the Mishawaka game loose. Whatever decision is made, this is a lose-lose proposition for the Kingsmen.

I'm not plugged in by any stretch of the imagination, so the best I can do is speculate. I hope that within the program they feel there's a need for a new arrangement, and I hope the administration is taking as much interest in the discussion as they have been in stripping all the character out of the place for about a decade or more. The die-hards are great. Almost all of them that I knew growing up have turned in their gear by now, but I have a lot of good memories of people in that group. They really got it in a way that parents and extended family just can't, especially as time goes on and we get further away from the start of the Geesman Era.

It for sure does not make sense for Penn to continue playing football in the NIC. I'd say one of Penn's biggest challenges over the past 10-15 seasons has been to adapt, evolve, and develop young players while playing in a conference that, for the most part, has not required that type of progress. I'm not sure that any of Penn's programs really benefit from the arrangement either. I need to note the format over these past 9 seasons should have been a boon to Penn given there were only five conference games in each season. Now we're staring down the barrel of a 7 conference game season like it's 2001 again. It makes sense for Penn to explore its options. Independence would be better than being in the NIC, but that would be a close second to full membership in the DAC. Joining the DAC when invited 22 years ago would have been the visionary move--one that would have paid dividends many times over by now--so I'd say it's most sensible to see if that invitation still stands. It's important to be in a conference with like-sized schools. It's arguable that all of the DAC football teams would be no worse than the third best NIC team in any given year. The year over year familiarity is important as I think it gives the best measuring stick for program growth as compared to one off or home and homes with out of conference opponents. Those games are important, sure, but meaningful competition within the conference year over year is equally important. I'd be a little less excited about the DAC's round robin format given that leaves just one out of conference game, but I'd assume any move to bring Penn in would alter the scheduling some. Even the DAC's scheduling didn't change the overall competition would be better, and Penn could still get an Indy metro team like they used to when it was just BD and some duneland teams on the schedule. Because of those factors, I'm less inclined to believe that a wide-ranging and variable independent schedule serves Penn's interests better at this point. I also think that the developmental levels of the program would likely suffer in an independent arrangement--although not any more than they already do. Penn's freshman are playing Elkhart (twice!) and Edwardsburg this year. I might be wrong, but yikes. As you noted earlier, Penn's other teams travel often to The Region, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis and elsewhere as a part of their schedules. It's necessary because there are so many more competitions in most other sports. Schedules would change slightly, but the rest of Penn's programs would still have a significant number of local games even if they were in the DAC.

To your point, and despite the fact that the conference doesn't--and won't--make sense, there aren't a lot of other logical landing places for the members. The NIC is a collection of inconsistent and largely underachieving football programs. I'm having a hard time seeing why conferences would entertain adding any of the members outside of New Prairie, Penn, and maybe the combination of Marian and St. Joe for the new small school conference--if those two can overcome any potential hangups about adding parochial schools in the new conference. New Prairie is interesting to me. I think they would be competitive punching up in the DAC, but they're pretty much on an island if they don't fit in there. The further along we get with Elkhart the more they look like an even more disappointing South Bend program, so I'd avoid adding them if I'm the NLC--even under the hypothetical where Warsaw has left the conference. The only beneficial football arrangement for Penn is to get into the DAC.

You're right, and if Penn's teams are affiliated with the DAC the most likely scenario is their schedules largely stay the same because of the number of competitions/games/meets would require a number of games to be played against NIC/NLC programs. Football is affected wholesale, but all the other teams are marginally impacted considering their current schedules. Football would have to move all jv and freshman games to Saturday mornings, but that's about as complicated as it gets, imo.

Nothing like being NIC Champs! That's pretty disappointing if it's playing a role in staying affiliated with the NIC.

This is (a) funny and (b) true, but you can't outsmart everyone out there. In fairness, Penn running on 2nd and goal-to-go probably wouldn't rate as a tendency breaker to many defensive coordinators either.

Not at all surprising about the other ADs. Is Cory holding up some sort of move or do you think it just makes more sense to make two big changes at once?

I'm willing to concede getting the ball back from Mishawaka with 50 seconds isn't all that much time, but it was enough for another possession. I'll never think it's all that perplexing, especially in the high school game, to put the ball in the hands of a senior quarterback who is one of your best and most effective players on a field-side rollout with a single read and the opportunity to run to the pylon. That's about as insulated as it gets in the passing game and play calling in general.

It would be disastrous to have to play Riley and Washington. You're right; a Notre Dame-type relationship with the NIC would be a good solution for the football program. The NIC seems to be in a pretty weak position, too, so I'd say now is the time to try to make that happen.

Don't you think that's a little oversimplified? At least you're consistent.

Alternatively, Penn could have scored, preserved time in the half, and used their two remaining timeouts to get the ball back with another chance to score again. Penn has had so much success over the years with quarterbacks they could get on the move with the option to turn designed passes into improvised running plays. This play just didn't work out. What would the complaint have been if they had run it three times and failed to score, run it twice and settled for a failed or successful field goal attempt, or if they had thrown an interception on a more obvious passing down?

Sure, the call could have been different, the qb's decision could have been different, and the pass itself could have been better, but it's a touchdown if not for the poor throw.

Local down here has Carmel 14-7.

These are great; I especially like 1, 4, and 5. The dress limit is farcical. It seems like seeding each of the four regions within a class would resolve most of the issues that people have with the current tournament format. Schools at the margins of a region--I'm thinking like Penn and Lake Central in the first round-- would potentially benefit least from this strategy, but it seems like a good way to make the regular season mean more and mitigate any post-season travel concerns at the beginning of the tournament--Carmel and Lake Central, above--as much as possible. Neutral sites are a drag, totally agree.

I don't think we could have stopped them from scoring the way we schemed it up--one of several reasons. The only way Warren would have scored less is if our offense was able to hold onto the ball for long stretches. He was everywhere.