HoopsCoach

I still messed this up. Added Christel House and didn’t take out Indy Manual. There should be 316 schools. 32 in 5A and 6A. Probably 63 in each class for 1A-4A.

I think Cathedral is in 6A if the IHSAA realigns this spring for the 22-23 and 23-24 cycle. Wouldn’t be surprised if they take the cowardly stance of saying let’s go 1 more year with frozen enrollments. Here’s what I see for 6A: Sectional 1: Lake Central, Crown Point, Portage, Lafayette Jeff Sectional 2: Penn, Elkhart, Warsaw, Homestead Sectional 3: Carroll, FW Northrop, Hamilton Southeastern, Fishers Sectional 4: Noblesville, Carmel, Westfield, Zionsville Sectional 5: Cathedral, Lawrence Central, Lawrence North, North Central Sectional 6: Avon, Ben Davis, Brownsburg, Pike Sectional 7: Perry Meridian, Southport, Arsenal Tech, Warren Central Sectional 8: Center Grove, Columbus North, Franklin Central, Jeffersonville

These are from the Department of Education, not the IHSAA, and they are from the fall count day this year (21-22). I post them as a preview of what we could see for classification, not a guarantee. I don’t know if the IHSAA will consider spring enrollment counts.

East Central would fit in the Southwest Ohio Conference with their rival and neighbor Harrison. It’s currently a 6 school conference - Harrison, Ross, Talawanda, Edgewood, Northwest, and Mount Healthy. All have around 850-1200 students, and their longest trip would be 50 minutes to Edgewood. As a 7 team conference, they would still have 3 open weeks for non-conference games with Lawrenceburg, Roncalli, and Moeller.

Purdue Poly is on the east side of downtown Indy on Washington Street. They probably have quite a few students from the former Indianapolis Howe that didn’t want to go to Arsenal Tech after Howe closed. If the Howe campus is available it would make a lot of sense to move this school there.

Bill Peebles helping his brother Terry have one more cycle in 5A.

One correction to make - I didn’t have Christel House Manual in my first post. I also added enrollment rank. 1 Carmel 5327 2 Ben Davis 4557 3 Warren Central 3845 4 North Central (Indpls.) 3709 5 Fishers 3611 6 Hamilton Southeastern 3430 7 Pike 3387 8 Penn 3345 9 Elkhart 3294 10 Avon 3248 11 Noblesville 3220 12 Lake Central 3211 13 Franklin Central 3206 14 Brownsburg 2983 15 Crown Point 2923 16 Lawrence North 2833 17 Center Grove 2754 18 Westfield 2611 19 Homestead 2502 20 Carroll (F.W.) 2472 21 Southport 2379 22 Perry Meridian 2373 23 Portage 2269 24 Lawrence Central 2245 25 Zionsville 2233 26 Columbus North 2219 27 Lafayette Jefferson 2153 28 Indianapolis Arsenal Tech 2111 29 Jeffersonville 2099 30 Warsaw 2087 31 Fort Wayne Northrop 2080 32 Harrison (West Lafayette) 2079 33 Valparaiso 2063 34 Whiteland 2012 35 Merrillville 2003 36 Decatur Central 2001 37 Chesterton 1995 38 Goshen 1980 39 Castle 1933 40 South Bend Adams 1917 41 Hammond Central 1904 42 Fort Wayne Snider 1872 43 Floyd Central 1854 44 Anderson 1837 45 Plainfield 1810 46 McCutcheon 1807 47 New Albany 1787 48 LaPorte 1756 49 Hammond Morton 1729 50 Concord 1689 51 Evansville North 1687 52 Bloomington South 1655 53 Terre Haute South 1650 54 Seymour 1604 55 Bloomington North 1592 56 Mishawaka 1584 57 Terre Haute North 1575 58 Franklin Community 1571 59 Munster 1568 60 Columbus East 1534 61 Michigan City 1526 62 Fort Wayne North Side 1513 63 Kokomo 1488 64 Greenfield-Central 1474 65 Huntington North 1442 66 Muncie Central 1437 67 Northridge 1410 68 Pendleton Heights 1409 69 Bedford-North Lawrence 1391 70 Mooresville 1391 71 Fort Wayne South Side 1385 72 Fort Wayne Wayne 1379 73 Mt Vernon (Fortville) 1375 74 Richmond 1315 75 Martinsville 1284 76 East Central 1264 77 Evansville Reitz 1264 78 Hobart 1264 79 Logansport 1252 80 Gary West Side 1226 81 Greenwood 1186 82 Jennings County 1180 83 New Palestine 1162 84 Indianapolis Crispus Attucks 1135 85 Shelbyville 1133 86 Evansville Harrison 1124 87 Columbia City 1108 88 East Chicago Central 1107 89 Indianapolis Roncalli 1081 90 DeKalb 1080 91 Plymouth 1079 92 Indianapolis Cathedral 1073 93 Lowell 1068 94 Kankakee Valley 1055 95 Evansville Central 1051 96 New Haven 1047 97 East Noble 1042 98 Jasper 1038 99 Marion 1036 100 South Bend Riley 1030 101 Highland 1021 102 Indianapolis Shortridge 1015 103 Lebanon 1001 104 New Prairie 985 105 Connersville 981 106 Beech Grove 968 107 Leo 963 108 Northview 955 109 Wawasee 945 110 Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger 928 111 Silver Creek 911 112 Indianapolis Washington 906 113 Frankfort 893 114 Boonville 879 115 Northwood 879 116 New Castle 875 117 Jay County 871 118 Brebeuf Jesuit 841 119 Western 838 120 Culver Academies 832* 121 Mississinewa 808 122 South Bend Saint Joseph 806 123 South Bend Washington 801 124 Edgewood 800 125 Angola 793 126 Norwell 790 127 Delta 781 128 South Bend Clay 778 129 Evansvill Bosse 776 130 Hanover Central 763 131 Yorktown 763 132 Danville 759 133 Franklin County 756 134 West Lafayette 752 135 Guerin Catholic 740 136 Washington 738 137 Madison 736 138 Hamilton Heights 731 139 Corydon Central 730 140 Vincennes Lincoln 722 141 Charlestown 717 142 Greensburg 716 143 Lawrenceburg 715 144 Scottsburg 715 145 Batesville 707 146 Gibson Southern 703 147 West Noble 698 148 Crawfordsville 695 149 Mishawaka Marian 690 150 South Dearborn 689 151 North Harrison 687 152 Indianapolis Bishop Chatard 667 153 Rushville 656 154 Twin Lakes 655 155 Owen Valley 650 156 Peru 650 157 Mt Vernon (Posey) 643 158 Bellmont 641 159 John Glenn 636 160 Tri-West 624 161 Calumet 622 162 Heritage 615 163 Heritage Hills 615 164 Fort Wayne Concordia 610 165 Griffith 609 166 Northwestern 605 167 Maconaquah 604 168 Garrett 602 169 Princeton 596 170 Indian Creek 591 171 Jimtown 582 172 Lakeland 578 173 Purdue Polytechnic (23-24) 563 174 Tippecanoe Valley 561 175 Evansville Memorial 556 176 Knox 551 177 North Montgomery 549 178 Fairfield 543 179 Speedway 543 180 Woodlan 538 181 Monrovia 531 182 Salem 531 183 Oak Hill 526 184 West Vigo 525 185 Centerville 517 186 Rensselaer Central 517 187 Boone Grove 516 188 Southridge 515 189 Pike Central 512 190 River Forest 511 191 Western Boone 511 192 South Vermillion 509 193 Benton Central 508 194 Frankton 507 195 Bremen 502 196 Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter 502 197 Brown County 501 198 Christel House Manual 501 199 Evansville Mater Dei 496 200 Heritage Christian 496 201 Cascade 495 202 Hammond Bishop Noll 493 203 Alexandria 492 204 Rochester 492 205 Blackford 489 206 Eastbrook 489 207 Southmont 487 208 Brownstown Central 483 209 Whiting 482 210 Fort Wayne Bishop Luers 481 211 Manchester 479 212 Lapel 477 213 Greencastle 475 214 Sullivan 472 215 Bluffton 471 216 Wabash 471 217 Triton Central 461 218 Eastern (Greentown) 455 219 Tipton 454 220 Mitchell 451 221 North Posey 445 222 North Putnam 444 223 Tell City 440 224 Indianapolis Scecina 439 225 Wheeler 436 226 Prairie Heights 432 227 Switzerland County 428 228 Northeastern 425 229 Eastern (Pekin) 419 230 Delphi 418 231 Central Noble 417 232 Whitko 417 233 Crawford County 415 234 Shenandoah 415 235 Lewis Cass 411 236 Elwood 410 237 Andrean 408 238 Winchester 405 239 Paoli 401 240 Churubusco 397 241 Clarksville 395 242 Union County 393 243 Perry Central 392 244 Lake Station Edison 388 245 LaVille 388 246 North Knox 388 247 Eastside 387 248 Seeger 387 249 Winamac 387 250 Linton-Stockton 386 251 Forest Park 383 252 Eastern Hancock 379 253 Park Tudor 378* 254 South Spencer 375 255 Parke Heritage 368 256 Adams Central 366 257 South Putnam 359 258 North Newton 358 259 Clinton Prairie 353 260 Covenant Christian (Indpls.) 352 261 Madison-Grant 352 262 Taylor 352 263 Carroll (Flora) 337 264 South Adams 334 265 Hagerstown 332 266 Sheridan 329 267 Knightstown 328 268 Providence 327 269 North Judson 323 270 Eastern Greene 321 271 Monroe Central 320 272 Milan 318 273 Pioneer 313 274 South Central (Union Mills) 313 275 Cloverdale 312 276 Riverton Parke 311 277 North Decatur 301 278 Lafayette Central Catholic 296 279 Covington 294 280 Fremont 291 281 North Daviess 286 282 Wes-Del 286 283 Bowman Academy 285 284 North Miami 285 285 Tecumseh 283 286 Fountain Central 275 287 Northfield 273 288 Cambridge City Lincoln 272 289 North White 272 290 West Washington 268 291 Springs Valley 264 292 South Decatur 260 293 Triton 258 294 North Central (Farmersburg) 257 295 Culver 255 296 Clinton Central 252 297 Southern Wells 252 298 Union City 246 299 Anderson Prep Academy 241 300 Southwood 240 301 Caston 234 302 Tri 234 303 Tri Central 233 304 Edinburgh 227 305 Indianapolis Manual 225 306 South Newton 225 307 Indianapolis Lutheran 224 308 Indianapolis Tindley 219 309 Tri-County 218 310 North Vermillion 213 311 Frontier 196 312 West Central 196 313 Dugger Union 193 314 Rock Creek Academy 176 315 Attica 170 316 Traders Point Christian 124 317 Indiana Deaf 94*

Finally released by the DOE. Schools with an * do not report enrollments to the DOE, so their numbers are just what the IHSAA has in their directory and may not be current. Enrollments only include students in grades 9-12. Probably not perfect, but it should give an idea what the next alignment would be based off of. Dugger Union will become tourney eligible in 22-23, and Purdue Polytechnic will become tourney eligible in 23-24, so they are both included. Carmel 5327 Ben Davis 4557 Warren Central 3845 North Central (Indpls.) 3709 Fishers 3611 Hamilton Southeastern 3430 Pike 3387 Penn 3345 Elkhart 3294 Avon 3248 Noblesville 3220 Lake Central 3211 Franklin Central 3206 Brownsburg 2983 Crown Point 2923 Lawrence North 2833 Center Grove 2754 Westfield 2611 Homestead 2502 Carroll (F.W.) 2472 Southport 2379 Perry Meridian 2373 Portage 2269 Lawrence Central 2245 Zionsville 2233 Columbus North 2219 Lafayette Jefferson 2153 Indianapolis Arsenal Tech 2111 Jeffersonville 2099 Warsaw 2087 Fort Wayne Northrop 2080 Harrison (West Lafayette) 2079 Valparaiso 2063 Whiteland 2012 Merrillville 2003 Decatur Central 2001 Chesterton 1995 Goshen 1980 Castle 1933 South Bend Adams 1917 Hammond Central 1904 Fort Wayne Snider 1872 Floyd Central 1854 Anderson 1837 Plainfield 1810 McCutcheon 1807 New Albany 1787 LaPorte 1756 Hammond Morton 1729 Concord 1689 Evansville North 1687 Bloomington South 1655 Terre Haute South 1650 Seymour 1604 Bloomington North 1592 Mishawaka 1584 Terre Haute North 1575 Franklin Community 1571 Munster 1568 Columbus East 1534 Michigan City 1526 Fort Wayne North Side 1513 Kokomo 1488 Greenfield-Central 1474 Huntington North 1442 Muncie Central 1437 Northridge 1410 Pendleton Heights 1409 Bedford-North Lawrence 1391 Mooresville 1391 Fort Wayne South Side 1385 Fort Wayne Wayne 1379 Mt Vernon (Fortville) 1375 Richmond 1315 Martinsville 1284 East Central 1264 Evansville Reitz 1264 Hobart 1264 Logansport 1252 Gary West Side 1226 Greenwood 1186 Jennings County 1180 New Palestine 1162 Indianapolis Crispus Attucks 1135 Shelbyville 1133 Evansville Harrison 1124 Columbia City 1108 East Chicago Central 1107 Indianapolis Roncalli 1081 DeKalb 1080 Plymouth 1079 Indianapolis Cathedral 1073 Lowell 1068 Kankakee Valley 1055 Evansville Central 1051 New Haven 1047 East Noble 1042 Jasper 1038 Marion 1036 South Bend Riley 1030 Highland 1021 Indianapolis Shortridge 1015 Lebanon 1001 New Prairie 985 Connersville 981 Beech Grove 968 Leo 963 Northview 955 Wawasee 945 Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger 928 Silver Creek 911 Indianapolis Washington 906 Frankfort 893 Boonville 879 Northwood 879 New Castle 875 Jay County 871 Brebeuf Jesuit 841 Western 838 Culver Academies 832* Mississinewa 808 South Bend Saint Joseph 806 South Bend Washington 801 Edgewood 800 Angola 793 Norwell 790 Delta 781 South Bend Clay 778 Evansvill Bosse 776 Hanover Central 763 Yorktown 763 Danville 759 Franklin County 756 West Lafayette 752 Guerin Catholic 740 Washington 738 Madison 736 Hamilton Heights 731 Corydon Central 730 Vincennes Lincoln 722 Charlestown 717 Greensburg 716 Lawrenceburg 715 Scottsburg 715 Batesville 707 Gibson Southern 703 West Noble 698 Crawfordsville 695 Mishawaka Marian 690 South Dearborn 689 North Harrison 687 Indianapolis Bishop Chatard 667 Rushville 656 Twin Lakes 655 Owen Valley 650 Peru 650 Mt Vernon (Posey) 643 Bellmont 641 John Glenn 636 Tri-West 624 Calumet 622 Heritage 615 Heritage Hills 615 Fort Wayne Concordia 610 Griffith 609 Northwestern 605 Maconaquah 604 Garrett 602 Princeton 596 Indian Creek 591 Jimtown 582 Lakeland 578 Purdue Polytechnic (23-24) 563 Tippecanoe Valley 561 Evansville Memorial 556 Knox 551 North Montgomery 549 Fairfield 543 Speedway 543 Woodlan 538 Monrovia 531 Salem 531 Oak Hill 526 West Vigo 525 Centerville 517 Rensselaer Central 517 Boone Grove 516 Southridge 515 Pike Central 512 River Forest 511 Western Boone 511 South Vermillion 509 Benton Central 508 Frankton 507 Bremen 502 Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter 502 Brown County 501 Evansville Mater Dei 496 Heritage Christian 496 Cascade 495 Hammond Bishop Noll 493 Alexandria 492 Rochester 492 Blackford 489 Eastbrook 489 Southmont 487 Brownstown Central 483 Whiting 482 Fort Wayne Bishop Luers 481 Manchester 479 Lapel 477 Greencastle 475 Sullivan 472 Bluffton 471 Wabash 471 Triton Central 461 Eastern (Greentown) 455 Tipton 454 Mitchell 451 North Posey 445 North Putnam 444 Tell City 440 Indianapolis Scecina 439 Wheeler 436 Prairie Heights 432 Switzerland County 428 Northeastern 425 Eastern (Pekin) 419 Delphi 418 Central Noble 417 Whitko 417 Crawford County 415 Shenandoah 415 Lewis Cass 411 Elwood 410 Andrean 408 Winchester 405 Paoli 401 Churubusco 397 Clarksville 395 Union County 393 Perry Central 392 Lake Station Edison 388 LaVille 388 North Knox 388 Eastside 387 Seeger 387 Winamac 387 Linton-Stockton 386 Forest Park 383 Eastern Hancock 379 Park Tudor 378* South Spencer 375 Parke Heritage 368 Adams Central 366 South Putnam 359 North Newton 358 Clinton Prairie 353 Covenant Christian (Indpls.) 352 Madison-Grant 352 Taylor 352 Carroll (Flora) 337 South Adams 334 Hagerstown 332 Sheridan 329 Knightstown 328 Providence 327 North Judson 323 Eastern Greene 321 Monroe Central 320 Milan 318 Pioneer 313 South Central (Union Mills) 313 Cloverdale 312 Riverton Parke 311 North Decatur 301 Lafayette Central Catholic 296 Covington 294 Fremont 291 North Daviess 286 Wes-Del 286 Bowman Academy 285 North Miami 285 Tecumseh 283 Fountain Central 275 Northfield 273 Cambridge City Lincoln 272 North White 272 West Washington 268 Springs Valley 264 South Decatur 260 Triton 258 North Central (Farmersburg) 257 Culver 255 Clinton Central 252 Southern Wells 252 Union City 246 Anderson Prep Academy 241 Southwood 240 Caston 234 Tri 234 Tri Central 233 Edinburgh 227 Indianapolis Manual 225 South Newton 225 Indianapolis Lutheran 224 Indianapolis Tindley 219 Tri-County 218 North Vermillion 213 Frontier 196 West Central 196 Dugger Union 193 Rock Creek Academy 176 Attica 170 Traders Point Christian 124 Indiana Deaf 94*

Some of those matchups are possible, but many of those schools have conference games from weeks 3-9. That will make it tough for Carmel and Center Grove to fill their schedule with some of them. I think CG, Carmel, and the MIC schools may have to continue to play in the regular season out of necessity. Here is a potential schedule for both schools based upon non-conference availability for the opponents. I don’t know the political stance of each MIC school towards Carmel and CG, so the schools who are willing to play them are just a guess. Maybe Ben Davis would be willing to play, but I get the impression they led the movement to vote the suburban schools out. CG 1 Warren Central 2 Merrillville 3 Cincinnati St. Xavier 4 Columbus North 5 Lawrence North 6 Carmel 7 Bloomington South 8 East Central 9 Cathedral Carmel 1 Homestead 2 Westfield 3 Cincinnati Elder 4 Cathedral 5 North Central 6 Center Grove 7 Chatard 8 Warren Central 9 Louisville Trinity

If Warren Central drops Center Grove with their removal from the MIC, the Warriors would have a week 1 opening to fill potentially with Snider. Warren Central may want to continue the series with Center Grove but they could move it to a week later in their season with both schools potentially having more openings.

I think the main obstacle would be getting games with either of those schools in week 1 or week 2 (the problem with any of the opponents I included as “wish list”. When Luers played Hartley it was in week 8, and the one year they played Whitmer it was in week 4. They replaced Whitmer with Leo for the next two years before the SAC went back to 10 teams.

Who would you want to see them play?

The biggest challenge will be finding their desired opponents in week 1 or week 2 only. If they had the option of playing out of conference during other weeks, more options could be considered. Here are a few ideas. “Wish List” opponents are those that probably couldn’t be worked out based upon current schedules and games the opponent would not want to drop to pick up an SAC school. Homestead - Wish list: Elkhart. Realistic: Week 1 Carmel, Week 2 Valparaiso. Carroll - Wish List: Elkhart. Realistic: Week 1 Chesterton, Week 2 Harrison (WL). Snider - Wish list: Merrillville. Realistic: Week 1 Lafayette Jeff, Week 2 Penn. Dwenger - Wish list: Cathedral, Roncalli, Brebeuf. Realistic: Week 1 South Bend St. Joseph, Week 2 Chatard (after they drop Arsenal Tech, see South Side below). Luers - Wish List: Andrean, Mishawaka Marian. Realistic: Week 1 Indianapolis Scecina, Week 2 Leo. Northrop - Wish List: South Bend Washington/Clay/Riley. Realistic: Week 1 Anderson, Week 2 South Bend Adams Concordia - Wish List: Indianapolis Lutheran. Realistic: Week 1 Culver Academies, Week 2 Norwell North Side - Wish list: South Bend Washington/Clay/Riley. Realistic: Week 1 Huntington North, Week 2 Hammond Central South Side - Wish list: South Bend Washington/Clay/Riley. Realistic: Week 1 Marion, Week 2 Arsenal Tech (renewed series). Wayne - Wish list: South Bend Washington/Clay/Riley. Realistic: Week 1 New Haven, Week 2 Indianapolis Attucks

Did you copy and paste your topic from 2 years ago? https://gridirondigest.net/topic/2012-time-to-fix-the-broken-6a-tournament/ The enrollment differential from largest to smallest within classes 2A to 6A I/6A II in Oklahoma are very similar to the differentials in classes 1A to 6A in Indiana. Oklahoma has fewer schools in most of the classes and some very small schools in Classes A, B, and C. Other than that, the size of schools is very similar in Oklahoma 2A and Indiana 1A, Oklahoma 6A II and Indiana 5A, Oklahoma 6A I and Indiana 6A, etc.

True that many New Castle faithful said for many years that they would never leave the NCC. It may just be my perception from being at Kokomo, but I felt like any administrator or AD to suggest leaving the conference would be immediately escorted out by the arms.

I like the idea, I just don’t think there is any way it will happen (just like my suggestion that the 3 Tippecanoe County schools would fit nicely in the Duneland). Kokomo will never leave the NCC. Logansport is only slightly more likely than Kokomo to ever leave the NCC. Lebanon’s growth has not happened the way some thought it would and they have stayed in the range of 1000 students for quite a few years (940 in 2000, 1017 in 2020). Frankfort and Lebanon are both unlikely to consider leaving the Sagamore and would improve the level of competition for the Tippecanoe County schools compared to the NCC. I think LCC would be reluctant to take their lumps from the bigger schools all season because it could jeopardize their post-season runs. Keeping the status quo is the easiest choice for these schools (and AD’s). I like the schedule flexibility of 6 or 7 team conferences. AD’s don’t like it because it forces them to fill dates in schedules that aren’t guaranteed with conference games (especially in football). 8 team conferences have been the goal for many, and I can understand why. Getting back to the main topic of the MIC, if I were those 6 schools I wouldn’t be in a rush to fill the void left by Carmel and Center Grove.

Harrison and McCutcheon are a package deal, and Jeff likely stays with them in any conference moves. I don’t think the size of schools they play in football matters as much as the quality of the competition. The bigger concern for the 3 Tippecanoe County schools is the lack of competition in sports other than boys basketball. Their best fit in terms of competitive balance and similar enrollments would be the Duneland Conference. The Lafayette area schools have played Duneland schools in many sports, and the drive times wouldn’t be that different from their current trips in the NCC. The Duneland schools would be reluctant to expand south when their conference currently has 8 members that are all relatively close together. The time zone change would be a problem also. I would not be surprised if Harrison and Jeff end up in a 6A sectional with 2 Duneland Conference schools. The regular season series between Harrison and Westfield is ending. Harrison will play West Lafayette and Plainfield as non-conference opponents. Lafayette Jeff has switched from West Lafayette and Lawrence Central to Cathedral and Michigan City for their 2 non-conference games. McCutcheon plays Guerin Catholic and West Lafayette.

Tech is a joke. They are an average football team in a weak NCC. Boys Basketball is going to get busted for undue influence. They can barely field varsity teams in most sports, and their enrollment continues to plummet (2608 in 2018 to 2089 in 2020). Every few years IPS “reorganizes” and tries to push enrollment at Tech back up, but it never lasts. NCC administrators have discussed removing them from the conference on more than one occasion in the last few years. Maybe that opens the door for them to go to the MIC, but they will not be competitive in anything but boys basketball. Once the AAU coach gets canned or moves on they will have a tough time competing in basketball also. I could see Southport joining the MIC. I don’t think Franklin Central would go back but they might if Carmel and Center Grove join the HCC. Avon switching to the MIC might make some sense if the Orioles think they can find more wins by making the jump. Maybe the MIC considers Cathedral and goes with a 7 team league. Cathedral could be open to that with a 6 game conference schedule for football, which leaves open 3 games for Chatard, Roncalli, and a Cincinnati Catholic school (or Center Grove). I would be interested in a 12 team HCC. I mentioned this in a related topic recently: HCC North: Carmel, Fishers, HSE, Noblesville, Westfield, Zionsville HCC South: Avon, Brownsburg, Center Grove, Columbus North, Franklin Central, Southport 5 games against division opponents, and a crossover game in week 9 for 6 conference games total. No need to play more since these teams will likely play in the postseason anyway. That leaves 3 non-conference games just like you would have in a 7 team MIC with Cathedral.

Is that from this year (21-22) or last year? The numbers I shared were from the 20-21 school year.

The WL district is basically landlocked, and without taking students from out of the district, their enrollment growth will be pretty gradual. It was about 650 in the early 2000s and has grown to roughly 750 in 20 years. Over that same period of time, Harrison has gone from 1500 to 2100. The demographics of WL resemble those of Central Catholic and I think they are happy with that.

West Lafayette - 743 Danville - 739 Gibson Southern - 728 Tri-West - 578 In recent years the 3A/4A cutoff has fallen right around 800. If reclassification would have happened for this year, Brebeuf would have been 4A with an enrollment of 816.

You’re right about Franklin County and their enrollment trend. They have lost roughly 200 students at the high school level over the last 10 years. They went from around 950 students in 2010 to 750 in 2020. It has fallen around 20-40 students per year during that time so they could be headed towards 2A three or four alignment cycles from now. Certainly could be sooner if their enrollment drop is greater at the younger levels right now. SD would probably be in a 3A sectional with county rival Lawrenceburg.

Franklin County (732) had more students than South Dearborn (723) in 2020-21. Both would have been in the top 20 largest 3A schools and still about 200 more than the largest 2A.

This is probably true. From the 2020 fall count day, here were the bottom 10 of 6A (with 32 schools) and the top 10 of 5A. The numbers are close enough, especially among the schools that had 2000-2100, that there could be some shuffling if realignment actually happens. 23 Portage 2301 24 Lawrence Central 2268 25 Zionsville 2151 26 Jeffersonville 2134 27 Columbus North 2090 28 Indianapolis Arsenal Tech 2089 29 Chesterton 2081 30 Lafayette Jefferson 2066 31 Warsaw 2059 32 Harrison (West Lafayette) 2050 1 Fort Wayne Northrop 2046 2 Valparaiso 2035 3 Merrillville 2022 4 Whiteland 2007 5 Goshen 1973 6 South Bend Adams 1949 7 Castle 1884 8 Floyd Central 1867 9 New Albany 1859 10 Fort Wayne Snider 1830

The IHSAA already pays mileage for all of the schools that travel to play regional and semi-state games. They pay $6 per mile, round trip. It wouldn’t be much of a difference (or cost much more) to pay both schools mileage to go to a neutral site instead of paying one school mileage to drive all the way to their opponent’s school. Using Mount Vernon/Memorial as an example - they should pay Mount Vernon $2304 (384 miles) to go all the way to Memorial. If they played at Bloomington South for a neutral site game, the IHSAA would pay Mount Vernon $936 (156 miles) and Memorial $1416 (236 miles). That would be an additional $48 in mileage paid by the IHSAA. At $10 per ticket, I think they could sell 5 more tickets to offset that cost. If the IHSAA was really concerned about mileage reimbursement, they would make their alignment committees do a better job aligning the sectionals and which sectionals feed into certain regionals. In boys basketball, it’s possible for a school like South Adams or Adams Central to go to North Judson for regional, meanwhile North Newton, Rensselaer, or Winamac would have to go to all the way to Lapel.