crimsonace1

ISC did it via tape delay. They sent a camera and added the commentary later. I think it wasn't available until Monday or Tuesday. The only live broadcast (at least IHSAA-approved) was our New Palestine audio webcast. We did have 800+ listeners that night, which is bonkers for a high school game. The weather and Zionsville being on fall break might have contributed to the turnout that evening, because that was one of the best games in the state.

The IHSAA will want to send as few schools north to the Region/Fort Wayne as possible. One thing that *might* bring Jeff into a pairing with Zionsville is the fact that both it and Zionsville are right on I-65 and they have often been paired in the past in other sports. I wouldn't be surprised to see Jeff sent north because it makes the northern half of the state much easier to group (it can be with the Lake County-area schools, thus creating a simple grouping of Penn and the southeastern Lake Michigan schools and then allows the three Fort Wayne-area schools to be joined by just one Hamilton County school). Lafayette sits halfway between Indy and the Region. It's going to have to travel, and the IHSAA will want to inconvenience as few teams as possible with long travel.

There wasn't a video broadcast of this year's NP-Zionsville game (or at least there wasn't a legal one - ours was the only approved broadcast by the IHSAA).

Probably poorly worded on my part, but HSE/Fishers won't be split up, neither will LC/LN. The South will not remain the same from *this* cycle (it can't - schools have changed), but it would've remained the same from my original proposal. The fact that they're neighboring townships and each are two-school districts makes it easy to pair them, like it is with Carmel-North Central (which the IHSAA has paired in basketball in the past, sending NC north) and Pike-Ben Davis and Avon-Brownsburg. Noblesville is farther north than HSE and Fishers and is also close to I-69, which is why I would anticipate they be sent to Fort Wayne. Start at the bottom and work your way up Sectional 8 is the most cut-and-dried field there is: Only 3 schools south of Marion County (CG, CE, CN) and Franklin Central is the only southside school without a natural partner, so the Flashes join them Then you pair Southport/Perry. Only question is who they go with, but Tech and Warren Central form a natural pair, so they become a foursome for 7. Brownsburg/Avon are almost always paired together, as are the westside schools Pike/BD. In the last 40 years, Pike has been more tied to BD as a rival than its other neighbors North Central or Zionsville. It's an easy sectional with 4 school districts that neighbor each other. So that's 6. Then, you get to 5. LC/LN and who do you pair with them? Either Carmel and North Central or HSE/Fishers. Given Lawrence & White River Townships border each other and both have 2-district schools, it's easy to pair them. Two major questions in the north: Does Lafayette Jeff go to the Region or get paired with Zionsville? If it's the former, that causes the fewest travel problems (only one Hamilton County school has to go to Fort Wayne), so I wouldn't be surprised to see Jeff sent north to the Region and Zionsville/Carmel/Westfield/North Central being Sectional 4. That only requires one school to be paired with the FW schools (Noblesville), and then keeps Penn with schools along the Toll Road (Chesterton/Portage/Valpo) and thus the three northeastern Indiana schools together. There are going to be travel issues in 6A north, so my first proposal mitigates as many as possible and only really sends 2 schools on long trips while also doing what the IHSAA usually does in keeping rivals together as much as possible.

New Palestine & Columbus East met in back-to-back semistates in 2013/14 and then in the sectional in 2015/16. But not sure state finalists have ever met in the sectional.

Right away, you disqualify your own comment. Pat Echeverria was the DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR ON THAT STATE FINALIST TEAM ... and then coached his own team to the State Finals a couple years later. Zionsville was likely the second-best team in 5A this year and was the only team on New Pal's schedule (including Center Grove) where the game was in doubt in the fourth quarter. If you actually watch football, Zionsville is one of the better-coached, better-prepared teams around.

Most teams are assigned based on location of the school, although sometimes there's gerrymandering (Marion & Mississinewa's buses were passing each other on the way to basketball sectionals a few years back).

I would expect 33 to be placed in 5A in advance of the Elkhart consolidation and them to be placed in a 5-team sectional. That would bring BNL up into the equation. This is what I came up with 9: LaPorte, Munster, Michigan City, SB Adams 10: Elkhart Central/Memorial, Concord, Goshen, Mishawaka, 11: Dwenger, North, Northrop, Snider 12: Anderson, Harrison, Kokomo, McCutcheon 13: Decatur Central, Plainfield, New Palestine, Whiteland 14: BNL, Bloomington N/S, Franklin 15: Castle, Ev. North, THN, THS 16: Floyd Central, Jeff, New Albany, Seymour

The North can go a bunch of different ways. One idea 1: Crown Point, Lake Central, Merrillville, Lafayette Jeff 2: Chesterton, Penn, Portage, Valpo 3: Warsaw, Carroll, Homestead, Noblesville 4: Carmel, Westfield, Zionsville, North Central 5: HSE, FIshers, LC, LN 6: Pike, Ben Davis, Avon, Brownsburg 7: Warren Central, Tech, Southport, Perry Meridian 8: Center Grove, Columbus East/North, Franklin Central The north might go a few different ways depending on what the IHSAA does with Lafayette Jeff. Someone is going to have to go north. Another 1: Crown Point, Lake Central, Merrillville, Portage 2: Chesterton, Penn, Valpo, Warsaw 3: Homestead, Carroll, Noblesville, Westfield OR Lafayette Jeff 4: Carmel, Zionsville, North Central, Westfield OR Lafayette Jeff South stays the same. Pike/BD/Avon/Brownsburg and the Sectional 8 (FC/CN/CE/CG) are pretty much locked in. HSE/Fishers and LC/LN won't be split up so it makes sense to put them in the same sectional. And WC/Tech and the Perry Township schools make much sense. I expect if any Indy-area school goes north, it will be North Central.

Pike and Zionsville aren't in the same county, nor are they in the same school district. They are rarely in the same sectional in other sports. HSE/Fishers and LC/LN or Southport/Perry Meridian are all in the same school district. They are almost never split.

Asking DT to gather facts and knowledge before lobbing incendiary comments is like asking Earth to orbit the moon.

It takes two to tango. Mike Gillin was in Pike's conference a couple decades back and had Decatur Central one of the top programs in Marion County, but there's a really good chance he's content where he is. And if you've ever watched Ech's offense, he runs a really good spread scheme that maximizes the passing game (but also handles the run) and is incredibly difficult to defend. He's also significantly younger and relates very well to players and can get people out of the hallways and onto the field. He also knows the school and the football culture and has been a part of a Pike team that has played for a state championship.

Anybody who knows anything about football knows Coach Ech can flat-out coach. He's a Pike graduate and former DC for a state runner-up team at Pike and knows the school and the community. He took Eastern Hancock to the State Finals and then had a lot of success at Zionsville despite being the smallest school in one of the top conferences in the state. He does a tremendous job developing players and his teams are very difficult to play against. Had an incredibly good New Pal not beaten them in the sectional this year (which was a one-score game on multiple occasions in the second half), I'm pretty convinced Zionsville would've been playing in Lucas Oil this year. As a Pike alum, I'm excited to see Coach Echeverria at the helm. Probably Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney. Anything else is settling.

Looking at the numbers, assuming Wood Memorial, Hammond Noll and Lighthouse East are planning on fielding teams at some point in the cycle, I anticipate right at 320 schools. Also, Elkhart Central/Memorial will merge after 2019-20, so I would anticipate 33 schools in 5A and them to be placed in a 5-team sectional for one year. You're close. Minimum of 32 in 5A. Then work back 1-4A with a maximum of 64. If there are fewer than 320 schools, the smallest classes fill up first (e.g., 4A would have 63 schools, then 3A, then 2A, then 1A, and then cut again from 4A if there's still a remaining bye). If there are more than 320 schools, 5A gets the overflow.