HoopsCoach

A lot of teams do not value conference championships, especially really good teams like Homestead girls basketball that are focused on winning state championships. Winning your conference is important if your team knows they are unlikely to win anything in the state tournament. A conference championship is a chance to accomplish something and celebrate it. Many schools with swimming and diving know their swimmers will not win a sectional event and advance to state, so winning a conference championship is their goal. Some larger schools, like Homestead and Carroll, don’t face the level of competition in their conference that they will see in the state tournament, and it does not feel like an accomplishment to beat inferior teams and win the conference. When Carroll and Homestead joined the SAC for basketball and football, it was done for scheduling purposes, primarily in football. The SAC schools were willing to take them as long as they agreed to the gate splitting because Carroll and Homestead would bring big gates to the two revenue sports. Most of the SAC schools didn’t expect to win very often against Carroll and Homestead, but playing them would increase their much needed revenue. It appears to have cost the conference Concordia, and now Homestead and Carroll are not going to play several of the schools in certain sports anyway.

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.

If the administration of RCHS supports the football team taking a day off from school (education-based athletics) to make a 6+ hour round trip for a football game, so be it. The team and fans could still make a day of it…on Saturday. It just seems that other alternatives, including some that may be more economically friendly for a school losing so many students ($), may have been available. If your head coach and stakeholders are happy with playing North Knox instead of Knox, then enjoy the game and good luck. I do realize how many students RCHS has lost. You know I post, frequently, about school enrollments and demographics. No doubt Rensselaer has lost a significant number of students in recent years. Many small communities have experienced the same trend. Knox is one of them. Here is the enrollment trend for both schools over the last 15 years. Rensselaer Central 2011 - 570 2021 - 494 2025 - 428 2026 - 407 Those numbers indicate a 1-year decrease of 5.16%, 5-year decrease of 21.38%, and 15-year decrease of 40.05%. Knox 2011 - 620 2021 - 583 2025 - 498 2026 - 474 This shows a 1-year decrease of 5.06%, 5-year decrease of 23.00%, and 15-year decrease of 30.80% at Knox Community High School. In 15 years, Rensselaer has lost 163 students, and Knox has lost 146. Even though Knox had 64 more students than RCHS on count day this year, I think they are relatively similar schools experiencing a decline in their enrollment. Both have had solid seasons in football (and other sports) despite the enrollment trend. Next season, RCHS will drive past Knox to play John Glenn, a 3A school with 606 students, drive a similar distance as they would travel to Knox to instead go to Griffith and play another 3A school with 643 students, and drive a little further southeast of Knox to play Culver Academies, a non-public 4A school with over 800 students. If the opportunity is available in the future, is there a reason RCHS would not want to play Knox? Could you spell it out and help me solve that puzzle?😉

Knox appears to need a week 9 game. I am sure contracts are already in place for next year, but a shuffle that could make sense in the future is to move Whiting to week 4 (the Oilers could drop Calumet Christian) and plug Knox into week 9 with Rensselaer Central.

Another game that should be on a Saturday is North Knox. I hope the folks at Rensselaer who scheduled that game know it is North Knox, not North OF Knox. Starting at 6pm (Central) after a 3+ hour bus ride on a Friday evening does not seem like a good idea. Maybe 6 pm on Saturday would make more sense.

One advantage to a division format is that a team like Columbus North would only have 5 (or 4) required conference football games and they could play several non-conference opponents who compete at the level they want to face. That is what the Eastern Indiana Conference does so East Central can play up. North could potentially have a schedule like this: Week 1 - Whiteland Week 2 - Columbus East (HHC) Week 3 - Floyd Central (HHC) Week 4 - Roncalli Week 5 - New Albany (HHC) Week 6 - Jeffersonville (HHC) Week 7 - Bloomington South (HHC) Week 8 - East Central Week 9 - Jasper

ADs seem to prefer conferences with 8 members, but the Hoosier Hills could benefit from expanding to 10 or 12 and using a division format for football. Bring in Columbus North and Bloomington South. Then add Silver Creek and Charlestown who are outgrowing the MSC, and convince Madison to return home to the Hoosier Hills where they can compete better in a division of 3A/4A schools instead of playing the 5A/6A schools as they previously did in the HHC. Charlestown and Madison are unlikely to join, but I could see Silver Creek making the jump based upon their growth. The divisions for football could be split between the “Metro” Division and “Central” Division (the schools between the Metro areas). Here’s what it would look like with 12 members including 2025-26 enrollments. Metro Division Jeffersonville 2147 Columbus North 2098 New Albany 1755 Floyd Central 1752 Bloomington South 1714 Columbus East 1280 Central Division Seymour 1644 Bedford-North Lawrence 1186 Jennings County 1161 Silver Creek 1009 Charlestown 918 Madison 803 If Madison and Charlestown are not interested, then shift Columbus East to the Central Division and go with 5 in each. Everyone plays everyone in the other team sports - boys/girls basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, boys/girls soccer. In the individual sports like wrestling, swimming, tennis, track, XC, etc., a division format could be used based upon competitive balance. Middle school sports can go with north/south divisions and play the middle schools of the conference members closest to them to limit travel. Some of the larger high schools have more than one middle school that feeds into the high school, while others are a single, direct feeder middle school. Now tell me all the reasons this can’t and shouldn’t happen.

I compared the DOE numbers I posted from 2024 to the IHSAA enrollments that were used for classifications prior to the current cycle. Out of 403 schools, all but 19 of them were the exact same number used by the IHSAA as the DOE reported enrollment. The schools that were not the same number were mostly urban schools that likely have to count students that may not attend the member school but are eligible to participate with the athletic teams of the member school. The South Bend public schools, Evansville public schools, and the two Bloomington public schools accounted for 11 of the 19 schools that had a different number between DOE & IHSAA. I did not include the Warren Online Academy in the enrollment for Warren Central in 2024, which accounted for the difference between DOE & IHSAA for Warren Central. I forgot to add the WOA number to Warren Central again this year. Decatur Central was one of only two schools that actually had a lower number for the IHSAA than they report to the DOE. Their DOE number was 2050 but their IHSAA number was 1883. The other 6 schools with different numbers were relatively small differences - +13, +4, +2, +1, +1, and -1.

It was an amendment to Senate Bill 1, which was removed. It called for school corporations and districts within counties that have fewer than 50,000 residents to consolidate into a single district for the county. I think discussion occurred that led to a change to the threshold identified for the population which would have reduced it to something like 30,000, but the amendment was removed before SB1 was approved.

I included Anderson Prep Academy and Purdue Poly Broad Ripple as schools with 11-man football by mistake. They should be removed from any projections of classes for football.

232 Eastern (Pekin) 398 233 Shenandoah 398 234 Delphi 394 235 North Putnam 391 236 Prairie Heights 391 237 Clarksville 388 238 Lewis Cass 388 239 Wheeler 383 240 Winchester 379 241 Eastern Hancock 377 242 Paoli 375 243 Linton-Stockton 364 244 Hagerstown 363 245 Central Noble 360 246 LaVille 360 247 Eastside 355 248 South Spencer 355 249 Perry Central 354 250 Eastern Greene 350 251 Churubusco 349 252 Lake Station Edison 348 253 Taylor 348 254 South Putnam 347 255 Crawford County 344 256 Sheridan 341 257 Union County 339 258 Forest Park 334 259 South Adams 331 260 Knightstown 329 261 Whitko 327 262 South Central (Union Mills) 325 263 Clinton Prairie 324 264 Parke Heritage 323 265 North Knox 321 266 Winamac 320 267 North Judson 318 268 Monroe Central 314 269 Riverton Parke 314 270 Milan 312 271 Cloverdale 307 272 Lafayette Central Catholic 306 273 Fountain Central 305 274 North Decatur 300 275 Fremont 298 276 North Newton 295 277 Tecumseh 295 278 West Washington 294 279 Carroll (Flora) 289 280 Indianapolis Irvington 286 281 Northfield 286 282 Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian 282 283 Madison-Grant 281 284 North Daviess 280 285 Indianapolis Lutheran 279 286 Faith Christian 277 287 Triton 273 288 Bowman Academy 270 289 Pioneer 270 290 Anderson Prep Academy 269 291 North Vermillion 261 292 Caston 255 293 North Miami 255 294 North White 255 295 Southwood 253 296 Southern Wells 250 297 Tri 250 298 South Newton 248 299 Wes-Del 246 300 Covington 245 301 Greenwood Christian 244 302 Springs Valley 243 303 Clinton Central 239 304 North Central (Farmersburg) 237 305 Union City 236 306 South Decatur 226 307 Purdue Polytechnic - Broad Ripple 220 308 Culver 219 309 Edinburgh 208 310 Tri Central 206 311 Tri-County 206 312 West Central 206 313 Cambridge City Lincoln 181 314 Frontier 180 315 Indianapolis Tindley 178 316 Attica 166