HoopsCoach

Yes, and hopefully the answer of no to Columbus North from the HHC will also be dynamic. I assume you got that from checking my profile and seeing an affiliation with the North Central Conference. Columbus North would not work in the NCC. They would dominate most sports with the exception of boys basketball, which is the only sport the current NCC members care about. That is why they booted Harrison and to a lesser degree McCutcheon. Speaking of Harrison and McCutcheon, It’s too bad the geography does not work for Columbus North to be in a conference with them. Columbus North/Columbus East are pretty similar to Harrison/McCutcheon. The Terre Haute schools have joined with the Tippecanoe County schools already. If location wasn’t a factor, a conference of those four schools plus the Bloomingtons and CN/CE would be a pretty balanced combination of 2 high school districts. Columbus North and Southport could also fit well instead of Columbus East. Geography is a significant barrier to a conference like that ever forming.

I’m not sure why you’re getting defensive. Something must have changed after you got the info about BHSS not being in the process of joining the HHC in late January because they did join the conference a few months later. I said hopefully the source you got your info from about Columbus North contacting the HHC and being told no is the same source that led you to believe BHSS was not going to join the HHC, which obviously changed. I am saying I hope things change again and Columbus North eventually gets into the HHC just like things changed with Bloomington South and they joined the HHC.

These were the two comments I was referring to about your source. You said you were reading between the lines with your source and the situation was dynamic. You did say in another post that you thought BHSS would be the school to add if anyone, and that you liked the idea of adding BHSS and BHSN along with dropping NA and Jeff. The part I said about adding CN and SC is my own opinion. My mistake if you misunderstood and thought I was implying that you or your source said that part.

Hopefully the source you got your info from is the same source that led you to believe BHSS was not going to join the HHC because Columbus North and Silver Creek should both be targets for the HHC to expand. 10 members with 2 divisions for football - Bloomington South, Columbus North, Floyd Central, New Albany, and Jeffersonville in the “Metro” division, and Bedford North Lawrence, Columbus East, Seymour, Jennings County, and Silver Creek in the “Central” division.

There are definitely some similarities between several of the NCC schools, FW North Side, South Side, and Wayne. I think you can also include New Haven. It’s too bad the geography and travel are prohibitive because a conference of these 8 schools could be pretty balanced in most sports. Anderson 1693 Fort Wayne South Side 1419 Fort Wayne Wayne 1367 Fort Wayne North Side 1320 Richmond 1261 Muncie Central 1254 New Haven 1117 Marion 993 Another combination that could be a competitive mix is the larger SAC schools and the schools that formerly made up the western part of the NCC. Kokomo has experienced a decline in their enrollment but they still compete pretty well. Carroll (Fort Wayne) 2581 Homestead 2345 Harrison (West Lafayette) 2109 Fort Wayne Northrop 2069 Lafayette Jefferson 2008 Fort Wayne Snider 1854 McCutcheon 1823 Kokomo 1385 Neither of those conferences will ever happen. I think some kind of scheduling alliance needs to happen between the SAC and NIC. Homestead/Carroll should play Penn/Elkhart in every sport, and Dwenger/Luers should play St. Joseph/Marian in every sport.

Who else would try to join? Blackhawk Christian was rumored when they transitioned to 11 man football, but their football program has not been competitive yet. Who do you think would leave? Southern Wells discussed it, and it is the right move for Southern Wells, but their leaders decided to give their community members what they wanted despite a majority of students and coaches favoring a change of conferences and committed to staying in (only) the ACAC. Jay is unlikely to leave now that the ACAC has 8 members, including another 3A school. Bluffton could get into the CIC tomorrow if they wanted to, but the travel is prohibitive. Heritage and Woodlan just got a conference game in every sport with another Allen County school. Adams Central and South Adams are landlocked and stuck in the ACAC unless they want to double their transportation budget.

It’s too bad Fort Wayne and South Bend/Elkhart are 2 hours apart. A blend of the SAC and the NIC could provide some good matchups and create better competitive balance with divisions of similar schools. Something like this: Division 1 (largest schools) Penn 3476 Elkhart 2876 Carroll (Fort Wayne) 2581 Homestead 2345 Fort Wayne Northrop 2069 Fort Wayne Snider 1854 Division 2 South Bend Adams 1878 Fort Wayne South Side 1419 Fort Wayne Wayne 1367 Fort Wayne North Side 1320 South Bend Riley 1249 South Bend Washington 693 Division 3 (Private/Parochial) Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger 936 South Bend Saint Joseph 922 Culver Academies 833 Mishawaka Marian 783 Fort Wayne Concordia 735 Fort Wayne Bishop Luers 538

Greenfield Central seems like it would make a lot more sense for a week 5 opponent. Cathedral has week 7 open.

Dropping a conference opponent seems like an indicator that a school may be interested in another conference or independence. If Carroll had somewhere else to go with similar schools (along with Homestead), they probably would, and Concordia wanted to leave the SAC to join the Northeast 8 when that conference rebranded.

The NCC is only a high school conference. The middle schools that feed into the NCC high schools tend to compete in their own conferences that include other schools in their local area, or they do not have a conference affiliation.

The rule is known as the Success Factor, not the State Champion Factor. It applies to teams that have experienced significant tournament success in consecutive years, which indicates the ability to compete in a classification greater than the school’s enrollment classification. It was created to prevent teams from holding dominance over a class, especially if a school/team has inherent advantages compared to schools in their enrollment classification. I think the rule works well, and generally accomplishes what it was created to do. It is not perfect, and I wish the totals/bumps were based upon a longer period of time so they reflect long-term success rather than a couple of really good seasons.

33 in 5A. I think the intention is to set classes in all sports by enrollment first and not move any teams down in response to another team’s bump so no team benefits from another team’s success factor move.

Bloomington South (and Columbus North) make sense for the Hoosier Hills in many ways, but I wonder if the recent demise of the Circle City Conference would make the three remaining Conference Indiana schools consider trying to join together with Roncalli and Chatard. The CCC and CI already had a scheduling partnership in football for several years, and a merger could bring the conference back to 5 members. I think BS and CN should at least consider that possibility before making any commitment to another conference. I would also kick the tires with Cathedral, who already plays Chatard and Southport. A 6 team conference of Bloomington South, Columbus North, Southport, Roncalli, Chatard, and maybe Cathedral could be competitive in most sports.

Roncalli and Chatard may want to consider partnering with Southport and Columbus North (and Bloomington South if they don’t go through with joining the Hoosier Hills) to salvage Conference Indiana. Several of those schools already have a history of playing in some sports, including football. Another possibility could be the Sagamore with Harrison, McCutcheon, Danville, TH North, and TH South.

I think you took my original post about the schedule as a criticism, which was not my intention. I clapped back a little bit when I read your reply, and finished my follow up with the comment about spelling it out to solve the puzzle as a Wheel of Fortune joke. It obviously did not land, so that’s my bad. It’s the offseason. Coaching changes, schedules for next season, rule changes, and player recognition are common topics of discussion during this time of the year. It also isn’t unique to Rensselaer. There are other ongoing topics on this forum related to schedules (SAC non-conference games). This thread just focused on Rensselaer’s schedule because of the original message about the Bombers leaving the Hoosier Conference.