crimsonace1

Here's a Google map with what (I think) will be the six classes, based on Success Factor & IHSAA enrollments. Have fun trying to figure out who goes where. https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1O6J1oaoKWSgPWgPhsL7-eng1-_vqyqEr&usp=sharing A couple of caveats - Chatard was placed in 4A, Western Boone in 3A, LCC in 2A and I put 64 teams in 4A and 63 in the other classes to leave open the possibility of Chatard, WeBo or LCC moving down. If I get some clarification from the IHSAA on how that will be handled, I'll adjust the classes accordingly.

I've reached out to the IHSAA try to get clarification on how Chatard, WeBo & LCC will be handled.

No. 6A = 32 teams 5A = 32 teams (+ any leftovers if there are more than 320) 4A-1A = Leftover teams up to 64 per class. If there are not an equal number of schools, the smallest classes will get the extra teams. There are 317 football-playing schools, so 6A will have 32 teams, 5A will have 32. In a normal year, 4A-2A would have 63 each and 1A 64, but with the possibility of Success Factor drops, that may change. It's not going to be perfect, but with a three-year cycle, everything got screwed up. Success was based on the last two years at the point of reclassification, so yes, Pioneer & Southridge get an extra year up (and New Pal moves down a year earlier than originally expected).

The SF is a 2-year cycle, but the last enrollment cycle was a three-year one because of COVID screwing with the enrollment numbers. Because SR & Pioneer's latest regional title came in what will now be the *first* year of the new two-year cycle, they'll get an extra year. New Pal & a couple other schools drop back down a year early, too. Someone is going to benefit and someone's going to stay up an extra year. You're not going to come up with a system that pleases everyone. As I read the IHSAA's notes on their Success Factor page, what I think will be the only mid-cycle adjustment will be Chatard, WeBo & LCC will stay up for the first year of the cycle and move back down. But that's a stab and hasn't been confirmed with the IHSAA. Southridge may be moving up on enrollment in 2024 as it is.

I only have 4A-6A done so far, but here's the map for those who want to take their own stab at figuring out who goes where. https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1O6J1oaoKWSgPWgPhsL7-eng1-_vqyqEr&usp=sharing

They have a realignment committee that goes over the maps and assigns the tournament sites. It takes time to get the committees organized. Also, there are multiple sports to have to deal with and with the way the IHSAA now does classes, it means a completely different map for each sport (it used to be, baseball/softball/boys hoops/girls hoops/volleyball were all classified together, but now, each sport is classified separately and you have one or two schools that are, for example, 3A in boys hoops and 2A in girls hoops because of the enrollment cutoffs being different because not all schools offer girls basketball).

5A and 6A will always have, at a minimum, 32 teams. The remainder get divided among the other four classes.

Pioneer and SR both earned 2 points in 2020 and success factor points are calculated over the two years prior to the reclassification. We don't know what the IHSAA will do with Chatard, WeBo & LCC, but neither accumulated two points last year in their new class.

4A would have 64 teams in this scenario, 3A and 2A would have 63, so if Chatard drops and WeBo stays, or if WeBo drops and LCC stays, so you put the 7-team sectionals in a spot where they could absorb another team (and thankfully, WeBo/Chatard and WeBo/LCC are close enough where they could fit in each other's sectional fields. It's not like we're deciding between Angola and an Evansville school).

4A is a challenge. A few assumptions: Chatard is in 4A for *one year* and back down if they don't win a regional. Therefore, Norwell is also in 4A and it will be a 64-team class. If Chatard stays up for the full cycle, Norwell likely goes to 3A, which changes the entire map. 17: East Chicago, Highland, Gary West, Hobart, Lowell, KV, New Prairie, Plymouth 18: SB Washington, SBSJ, SB Riley, NorthWood, Wawasee, Northridge, East Noble, Angola 19: DeKalb, Leo, New Haven, FW South, FW Wayne, Columbia City, Huntington North, Norwell 20: Logansport, Western, Kokomo, Marion, Mississinewa, Jay County, Muncie Central, Frankfort 21: Pendleton Heights, Greenfield-Central, Mt. Vernon, New Palestine, New Castle, Connersville, Richmond, Beech Grove 22: Northview, Lebanon, Roncalli, Chatard, Ind. Washington, Attucks, Shortridge, Brebeuf 23: BNL, Jennings County, East Central, Edgewood, Martinsville, Mooresville, Greenwood, Shelbyville 24: Reitz, Bosse, Memorial, Central, Ev. Harrison, Boonville, Jasper, Silver Creek If no Chatard (go back to 3A), move Beech Grove into Sectional 22 If no Norwell (remain in 3A because Chatard is up for the full cycle, move East Noble into Sectional 19.

Here's my stab at 5A 9. Hammond Central, Hammond Morton, Munster, Merrillville 10: Valpo, Chesterton, Michigan City, LaPorte 11: SB Adams, Mishawaka, Concord, Goshen 12: FW Dwenger, FW North, FW Snider, Anderson 13: McCutcheon, Harrison, Plainfield, Decatur Central 14: TH North, TH South, Bloomington North, Bloomington South 15: Seymour, Columbus East, Franklin, Whiteland 16: Ev. North, Castle, Floyd Central, New Albany Again, 11 schools north of the US 30 corridor, so the question comes - which team goes north? Another option would be to send Harrison to Fort Wayne and place Anderson with McCutcheon, Plainfield & DC. In the South, you have seven pairs (EvN/Castle, Floyd/NA, Seymour/CE, Franklin/Whiteland, THN/THS, BloomN/BloomS, Plainfield/DC) for 16 spots that can be combined in a lot of different ways. This one seems to be the most sensible.

Dwenger will be in 5A (Success Factor) and Kokomo in 4A (because Dwenger bumps them down)

One thing - putting 4A South together is going to be a headache because Madison & South Dearborn both moved to 3A and you have a bunch of schools on islands (East Central, Jennings County, Silver Creek, BNL, Northview, Edgewood). The IHSAA has to figure out what it's going to do with the southeastern part of the state especially, and then can put the rest of the state together. There are 24 schools in 4A in the Region (6 teams), SB/Elkhart area (8 teams) and the Fort Wayne area (10 teams). That's three sectional fields. Sectional 20 is a challenge. You have Logansport-Kokomo-Western-Marion-Mississinewa (and likely Muncie Central) who will almost assuredly be together. Of the remaining schools, do you put two of Jay County, Frankfort or Pendleton Heights with them? - and the key to that is what you do with Connersville, East Central and Shelbyville (do you send them in with Richmond/New Castle/Mt. Vernon/New Pal/Greenfield ... if so, then where does Jennings County go? If not, JC & Frankfort likely go north, PH goes into its old sectional and Shelby likely stays in). There are 7 in SW Indiana. The issue then comes as to which "island" school do you group with them - Silver Creek, Northview or BNL? That, then, is the key to the rest of the southern 5 sectional fields and how you split them up. And one other question - is Chatard part of 4A or not? That could be another key.

With 6A, it's a matter of trying to figure out what they're going to do with Jeff & the Fort Wayne-area schools. There are 9 schools in Northern Indiana, Jeff is on an island, and then six in the Hamilton County/Zionsville cluster. The south is pretty cut-and-dried. 1: Lake Central, Portage, Crown Point, Lafayette Jeff 2: Elkhart, Penn, Warsaw, Carroll 3. Homestead, Northrop, Westfield, Noblesville 4: Carmel, Zionsville, HSE, Fishers OR 1: Lake Central, Portage, Crown Point, Elkhart 2: Penn, Warsaw, Northrop, Carroll 3: Homestead, Noblesville, HSE, Fishers 4: Westfield, Zionsville, Carmel, Lafayette Jeff 5: North Central, Lawrence Central, Lawrence North, Cathedral 6: Pike, Ben Davis, Brownsburg, Avon 7: Tech, Warren Central, Southport, Perry Meridian 8: Columbus North, Jeffersonville, Center Grove, Franklin Central

One thing the IHSAA could do, since there's one bumped-to 4A (Chatard), 3A (WeBo) and 2A (LCC) school in this situation and by my count 317 football-playing schools. Put those three in their current classes for this year, so 4A would have 64 schools and the others 63 each. If they get their two points, they stay up for next year. If they don't, they drop back down next year. Design the sectionals so they can drop back with little disruption (e.g., Chatard move into WeBo's sectional, WeBo into LCC's, create a 7-team sectional in 1A where LCC would go).

Or maybe it's because, unlike DT, they realize high school football is about education and opportunity, *not* about "competitive balance" and "making a few programs stronger." It's not "easy" to drive two towns away because your school killed your football program because of "competitive balance." And a LOT of the schools on DT's asinine contraction list are from low-SES backgrounds where kids need opportunities, positive role models and to be a part of something bigger than themselves. They can't just "go to a neighboring school" without having transportation. The true worth of a high school program is in the young men it develops and what happens between Monday and Thursday afternoons on the practice field, not so much what happens on Friday night. And great things happen at Connersville with their 34 players just as much as they happen at Center Grove with their 200. We should be talking about expanding opportunities with 8-man football for smaller schools, not getting rid of programs.

Trolls don't "pay attention." They make wild predictions and ridiculous assertions in the name of "creating content."

Once Zionsville permanently moves up to 6A (which it will likely do in the next realignment) and assuming Carmel/CG get accepted into the HCC, *half* of 6A will be the MIC and HCC. It's somewhat unavoidable to have single-conference sectional fields. That encompasses every 6A school south of Hamilton County's northern border except Tech, Southport, Perry Meridian and Columbus North (and geography dictates Southport, PM, CN and CG will likely be a sectional unless someone else in southern Indiana moves up).

682? There are 407 IHSAA members and that includes nearly every public high school in the state. While there are a few private schools who are not a member of the IHSAA (yes, LaLumiere, but they're mostly small Christian schools), that number is somewhere around 40-50, not 275.

Huntington North is a separate school - it was a consolidation of Huntington High & a number of county schools. It kept the color & mascot and so some may consider it as continuing the athletic history (a la Bloomington / South & Columbus / North), but it is a consolidated school with a different name.

As the former sports editor of the Daily Reporter, I do need to clarify ... the office is in Greenfield but it is a *county* paper. We strove (and the current editors do the same) to provide equitable coverage to all four of the county schools. At least for the last 25 years, priority coverage has gone to the best teams, not necessarily to the county-seat school. Mt. Vernon, New Palestine and Eastern Hancock get the same level of coverage as Greenfield-Central (which, at least in my time there, did upset a small handful of people in that community who expected us to be homers for their school, but was appreciated by most in the community, given the majority of the newspaper's subscriber base lives in the NP & MV school districts). They cover the majority of varsity football games from each school and their sports editor has been on hand for nearly every MV game this season (and was on site for nearly every one of NP's games during our state title runs).

I believe the mercy rule is also not in effect in the semistate, unless a rule change happened in the last couple of years.

It was originally 4 when the SF was first created prior to the 2013 season, then dropped to 3 in spring 2017 (which kept New Pal in 5A for two more years when the Dragons had won a semistate and gained 3 points in 2015). The other made in 2017 was a team that had been bumped could only drop *one* class, which immediately impacted Cathedral (which otherwise would've dropped from 6A to 4A, but instead put them in 5A). Not long after, the change was made to two points to stay up, I believe in spring 2019. That also affected Cathedral, which had two points (one regional title) in 5A the previous cycle. That kept Cathedral in 5A rather than dropping to 4A. (had it been two points in 2017, Cathedral would've remained in 6A for the 2017 & 2018 football seasons because it had won two sectional titles in 6A. That might have been the impetus for dropping the threshold).

New Pal played Decatur to a two-point game in Week 1, outgaining the Hawks by a lot and had a chance to win with a field goal attempt at the gun that was inches wide of the goalpost. So to say they're a few rungs down the totem pole wasn't borne out on the field when they actually played each other. Cathedral's a favorite, for sure, but NP compares very favorably with DC.

No. If Cathedral wins, they are up in 6A for the next two years (and New Pal drops to 4A). 2021-22 means the 2021-22 school year, not the 2021-22 football seasons. This summer will be a reclassification year with success factor points applied from the last two years.