CB123

Coach, based on what you’ve said in your posts here, I think there is really only one conference that suits your stated needs, and it’s the Greater South Shore Conference. There wouldn’t be any time zone issues—all GSSC schools are on Central Time—and the schools are all generally Rensselaer’s size. A few are a little bigger, but none of the league’s core members have more than about 600 kids, and nearly half are in the 400s or less. Rensselaer would be a bit of a geographic outlier—after Illiana Christian leaves in 2026, there won’t be a single full member south of U.S. 30—but even so, Rensselaer’s longest trip in the GSSC (Whiting) would be 20 miles closer to Rensselaer than Tipton is. In terms of competitiveness, there’s no doubt in my mind that Rensselaer’s strong 2A sports program would compete very well in the GSSC in all sports, but the league would not be a pushover, either. The GSSC has produced some very good football and basketball teams every year, and those have varied from year to year. There aren’t a lot of perennial bottom-feeders. There’s a lot of competitive and enrollment balance in the league, much like the old Northwest Hoosier Conference (pre-Lowell). In football, the GSSC has two divisions, although I think those divisions really need to be realigned, and perhaps if Rensselaer joined the conference, that might facilitate the realignment. The divisions are called “North” and “South,” and those used to be geographically accurate, but they aren’t anymore. If Rensselaer came into the league, and they went back to a geographically accurate north/south split, or even based the divisions on competitiveness, the Bombers would be in a division with Boone Grove (a football-only member), Calumet, Griffith and Wheeler, who have the four best winning percentages in the conference over the last 7-8 years. All four of those schools have had some very good football teams in recent years, and although Calumet is struggling right now, it recently (2021, I think) won a 3A football sectional that included Knox and Hanover Central. In terms of scheduling, you’d have four division games, which would allow you ample opportunities to retain some of your longest-standing rivals in nonconference play. If they went strictly on enrollment, it would be an easy split—all the 2A schools (Boone Grove, Lake Station, Rensselaer, Wheeler and Whiting) would be in one division, and the 3A schools, plus associate member Gary West Side (who plays in the GSSC in football and volleyball), would be in the other division. (I would hope they wouldn’t go that route because, with all due respect to Lake Station, nobody benefits from a Lake Station-Rensselaer football game at this point.) None of the other nearby conferences fit. Although Rensselaer is smack in the middle of the Midwest Conference, your sports program is too strong for that league, and while the Bombers would rack up a lot of trophies, the competition would not prepare them for the postseason at all. The Hoosier North only has a couple of schools that aren’t on Eastern Time, and you’d have some road trips in that league that would make a trip to Whiting look like a short drive down the street. The Northern State Conference, except for LaVille, are all bigger schools, most of them are on Eastern Time, and again, the travel distances would be something else. The Northwest Crossroads Conference is all 4A/5A football schools except for Andrean, and they’re a 2A that plays like a 4A. While I think Rensselaer would compete pretty well with a lot of those teams in many sports (including football), if your enrollment trend is trending downward, that wouldn’t be a good long-term solution. In short, I think the only existing conference that suits Rensselaer’s needs is the GSSC. The only other options are to go independent or try to cobble together a new conference, and given your stated time-zone issues, that would mostly involve picking off either the southernmost or smallest schools from the GSSC anyway, maybe along with North Judson to round it out. And honestly, I don’t think any of the GSSC schools would want anything to do with North Judson, both from a travel perspective and from the perspective of getting their football teams’ heads handed to them by a 1A school. And getting Boone Grove likely would not be possible because they have such strong ties to the PCC. The only reason they’re in the GSSC for football is because the GSSC doesn’t require them to join in any other sport. No matter how you slice it, the only existing conference that works for Rensselaer is the GSSC. And if you approach them now—when they need a new member to get back to eight core schools and 10 football schools—the timing could be just right. Personally, I’d love to see it. I’m a River Forest alumnus, and I’m interested in what’s good for our conference. Rensselaer would absolutely be great for our league, and much like Rensselaer, the GSSC really doesn’t have any options that are quite as good. It could absorb the four-team Great Lakes Athletic Conference, but there are enrollment and competitiveness discrepancies involved in going that route. I hope Rensselaer considers the GSSC as an option. I think it would be a good fit for everyone involved.

Buzea is one of the greatest football coaches in the history of Region football. Only three Region coaches have taken at least two teams downstate in the largest class. (Don Howell did it four times at Hobart, before Hobart moved into the second-biggest class, and Mark Hoffman did it twice at Valpo.)

The regionals are already set. There is no more "work" to be done after the sectional draw. Sectional 1 winner plays Sectional 2, Sectional 3 plays Sectional 4, and so on down to Sectional 47 and Sectional 48.

I very much like the success factor. If you can compete out of your class and still win two sectionals or a regional in a two-year cycle, you should stay up. My one criticism is that I think moving up in the first place should be based on a four-year performance cycle, not a two-year cycle. Any school can have a once-in-a-lifetime class that accumulates six points in two years, but that doesn't necessarily mean they should get bumped up. However, if you're dominating your class over a four-year cycle, that indicates a consistent program level.

Boone Grove has been on quite the down cycle the last couple of years. Glenn should win easily.

The Duneland Conference has all conference games from Weeks 3 through 9. DAC teams are only available for nonconference games in Weeks 1 and 2.

Interesting. I assume if the HCC chose to go this route, the North Division would be the Hamilton County schools: Carmel, Fishers, Hamilton Southeastern, Noblesville and Westfield. The South would be Avon, Brownsburg, Center Grove, Franklin Central and Zionsville.