crimsonace1

New two-year cycle begins this summer. There will be no Success Factor movement in 2023. I need to check with the IHSAA to see if the teams that got bumped but didn't win a sectional this year (like Chatard and WeBo) stay up for the next cycle or if they go back down. I don't know of a video webcast but assume there will be one. WNDE (Cathedral) and NewPalRadio.com (New Pal) are both producing audio broadcasts. I'll be doing play-by-play on the New Pal broadcast.

If New Pal wins, yes, they'll likely butt heads for two more years. If Cathedral wins, the Irish go to 6A and Dragons to 4A for the next two years.

Only available outside of the Bally Sports Indiana viewing area.

There is no national contract. It's a local contract with what is now Bally Sports Indiana. There is no connection to Fox Sports - and WXIN does not televise the games in Indianapolis. If you don't have FSI (and many of us cord-cutters don't thanks to Sinclair Broadcasting's running feud with the streaming services), you're out of luck.

That's great. The logistics of hosting a football game are significantly greater than any other sport, due to the number of people, medical staff that have to be on hand, et al. At most schools, administrators *must* be on hand to oversee it. Not only that, but you need an army of ticket takers, press box personnel, chain gang, security, et al. Basketball and other sports require a little bit smaller commitment because it's in an indoor facility or (in the case of soccer/baseball), have smaller crowds. That's a lot to ask of a school, especially if they a) have no chance of ever having a team in that game, and b) there is a possibility your school might be playing elsewhere that same night. Schools sign up to host basketball, et al, because they are guaranteed a home-court advantage if they play. They won't be granted the same in a totally neutral football world. And from the IHSAA's perspective, going fully neutral means a likely smaller crowd because it's effectively a road game for both teams.

This winter. They exist, but it's up to the host school administration to follow and enforce them. Some treat the tournament games like typical home games. Others are a lot more strict.

DC is good - Stevens is an excellent dual-threat player and they have a couple of threats to go to the house on every play - but Cathedral is otherworldly right now. That's typical. When you have a really good team that *should* win, but are facing a quality opponent, you give the opponent a lot of respect and have cautious optimism. Right now, Cathedral is at least 2-3 TDs better than anyone in 5A except maybe Valpo.

You can certify every single player in your program, but you can only dress 75 per game. That's consistent with other sports (for basketball, for example, you can only dress 12 per tournament game). When the IHSAA tournament was first created in 1973, the dress limit was 33. There is a somewhat infamous story where Phil Eskew was at a tournament game (I believe, in Mishawaka), and a fan started complaining about the 33-player limit. Eskew asked the fan, "then why doesn't a player run out of bounds and then come back in before scoring a touchdown?" The fan replies, "because that's against the rules." Eskew comes back with, "so is playing more than 33 players." I'm sure it's to create some equity but also to ensure that players who participate are certified and eligible. There is a tournament roster deadline - and yes, that prevents any move-ins or ringers from showing up after the entry list deadline, but the main reason is to ensure the players are academically eligible (you have to provide the number of classes each student is taking and passing on the entry list, as well as verify their age). You can make changes and pay a fine, but that's usually because a coach forgot to roster someone, not because a student enrolls in your school after the tournament begins. I do remember an incident a couple decades ago where a soccer team sent out a player for a penalty shootout who was not on the tournament roster - likely an oversight on a little-used player. He buried the winning goal and it wasn't discovered until after the game. The player was suspended for the next game (and I believe, the remainder of the tournament) and the coach was reprimanded, but the team was allowed to advance. Roster limits are not uncommon. The NCAA only teams in all divisions to dress 58 players in tournament games.

Yes. Southridge gained 2 points for winning a regional in 2020. Success factor points gained from 2020 and 2021 will apply to the reclassification this coming year, so yes, Southridge will be in 3A through 2023. Some schools are going to spend an extra year "up," some will go down a year earlier than originally expected (New Pal, for example, goes back to 4A next year if it doesn't win the regional this year. If there had been a full reclassification last year, NP would've been in 5A through at least 2023).

No. The success factor points gained in the last year or two will be applied to the 2022-24 reclassification. At that point, everyone's points reset to zero and a new two-year cycle begins. Southridge should remain in 3A through the 2022 and 2023 football seasons because it gained two points in 2020. COVID confuses things a lot because the IHSAA extended the classification cycle by one year but implemented success factor points.

Here's the way I understand it. 2020-21 and 2021-22 are the two-year cycle. So points earned last year and this will count toward reclassification for hte next two years. In summer 2022, all points reset to zero and a new cycle begins. The sticky wicket is LCC & Chatard. Teams that got bumped this year, I think, only accumulate SF points in their current class (so, for example, if LCC or Chatard wins a regional, they'll stay up, but they can't get the 6 points necessary to bump up to 3A/5A). I'm not sure what happens if they *don't* get the two points necessary, but I assume they'll go back to their natural enrollment classes. Curious if they win a sectional and the IHSAA decides to keep them up for the next two years saying that would be similar to winning two sectional titles in the old system. COVID has created a lot of really weird dynamics and extending the cycle by one extra year (while also bumping teams due to SF without a reclassification) is one of them. It's also led to a three-team sectional in 6A, which means someone is going to play Nov. 5 after *two* weeks off. But once we get through this year, everything should go back to normal next summer.

Yes, they will be. Get out a map of the state and it's pretty easy to tell why. Again, the IHSAA almost never splits up traditional rivals and especially schools from the same county. There is no "parochial school exemption."

New Pal is not "literally next door to Roncalli." It's a good 15-20-minute drive between the schools. And more importantly, they are in different counties. Roncalli's sectional included the two other 5A Marion County schools - Cathedral and Decatur Central. New Palestine's sectional included Greenfield-Central (a conference and county rival), plus Anderson and Muncie Central - the only two other 5A schools east of Indianapolis that didn't fit neatly into any other field. Those four schools are in contiguous counties and also currently in the same basketball sectional. You had to put four teams together and those four made perfect geographic sense. Zionsville was also moved into that sectional despite being not really a geographic fit. Understanding how the IHSAA has historically grouped sectionals going back 100 years helps. They almost *never* split up county rivals or traditional rivals unless there's an issue where there's 9 teams in one natural grouping and 7 in another (or 5/3 in 5A/6A).

They are in the same county. Generally, traditional rivals and schools within a county are grouped together in a sectional.

I remember that coming up during the 2016 Bucket game. IU was up 26-22 and had fourth down deep in its own territory in the final seconds. Rather than risk a blocked punt, they took an intentional safety on the game's final play. IU radio analyst Buck Suhr says "you can hold all you want in the end zone here because, even with the penalty, the game's over if you do. It's a safety either way."

Kokomo just announced they're looking for a game and willing to travel.

It's because of this that a team trying to take an intentional safety at the end of a game can hold in the end zone, because the foul results in a safety, which ends the game (and a declined penalty, assuming the offensive team downs the ball in its own end zone, would also end the game), correct?

Out of curiosity, is it illegal participation instead of an illegal touch because the WR is no longer considered an eligible player once he steps out of bounds without being forced and thus cannot participate in the play?

Teams are going to go through rebuilding cycles. Those who follow the program expected last year and this year might be one of them with the Class of 2020 graduating and a really small senior class this year (and there was some regression last year with a lot of new players and an unreal amount of injuries and they went 8-2), but NP has more than held its own in 5A (2 state titles and a state runner-up in six years), to the point where they've achieved the points necessary to stay up three times. Coach Ralph has lost nine games at NP and every one except the 2017 sectional loss to Zionsville has been to a ranked team (and Zionsville is always underrated because they play in a 6A conference). Nobody feels like these players are being "punished" because of the success of teams that came before. The attitude here has been "we've earned the right to play in 5A. It's a bigger challenge. It's going to make you be better. Embrace it." If NP goes back to 4A next year, it will be interesting to see some new (and familiar) teams again, but it'll also be weird because we've gotten used to the October and November path being games against Zionsville, Columbus East and Whiteland.

Eastern Hancock has picked up South Putnam, whose game with Edgewood had been canceled. Rematch of the legendary 1985 semistate game that was decided by a millimeter on a pass to the back of the end zone. TA was EH's DC in 1985. He once told me he was pastoring a small church at the time. The game came down to one play - a pass ruled out of bounds - by the slimmest of margins - that clinched the win for EH (which would go on to win the Class A title the next week). Nearly the entire team and coaching staff were in the pews that next Sunday. South Putnam went on to win the Class A title the next year.

This is actually Year 3 of the cycle - it was extended last year due to COVID screwing up enrollments but the SF points were applied and will be applied again this fall when the realignment takes place (unless the IHSAA punts another year). As I understand it, if New Palestine does not win the regional, they go back to 4A next year.

And it's filled. Lewis Cass is hosting Delta tonight. Not sure if it was someone who saw it on GID or social or some digging around on the phones, but it's a last-minute game for both teams.

Shelbyville at Delta had to be canceled due to COVID concerns. Delta posted on its Twitter feed it is looking for a game tonight or tomorrow (9/3 or 9/4). If anyone has an open week, have them contact Delta AD Tilmon Clark at tclark@delcomschools.org.

New Palestine averages 6-3, 277, but Roncalli's line is enormous.

New Palestine is $6 if you buy at the gate, $5 if you buy online in advance. We learned this week Brebeuf Jesuit is $7 online in advance and $10 at the gate (or if you buy online less than an hour before kickoff). When I started going to HSFB games as a student 30 years ago, $3 was the going rate.