crimsonace1

Purdue has a turf management major and pretty robust turf management program. They will never play on an artificial surface in any sport. They are very, very proud of their grass fields. A decade and a half ago, Bishop Chatard had one of the first turf high school baseball fields in the state - if not the first. From what I've heard - and this story may be apocryphal - the person who donated it intended for it to go to Purdue as they were building Alexander Field, but they basically said "we have a turf management major. We're going to play on grass," so that person donate it to Chatard instead.

It would be 1A getting the "extra" teams if we go above 320 in this scenario. But the reason the old 5A was split rather than going 1A/6A as the 32-team classes (given 1A/6A have the widest variance in enrollments) was because, had the 1A/6A scenario been proposed, half of the state's schools would've bumped up a class and that would've caused significant disruption to the tourney, longstanding sectional rivalries, et al (and also, would've meant a lot of traditional 2A schools become 3A, 3As become 4A, et al). There's no way a lot of schools would go for that. So, to get it actually passed, splitting 5A was what needed to happen. 5A in football is basically like 2A in basketball - there's a very narrow enrollment band from top to bottom once the success factor teams are removed (it's like 1.5:1 in both classes). When I proposed an idea to limit 4A to 64 schools, and make 1A/2A 128 schools (with the remainder in 3A) for basketball and the four-class sports ... with the rationale that 2A/3A would have a 2:1 enrollment ratio from top to bottom, and 4A/1A would be closer to 3:1 without the tiny outliers at the bottom of 1A, a bunch of small-school coaches freaked out because their sectional might include 2A teams (horror of horrors) and said "absolutely no way" because they'd have to face slightly bigger schools than they face now. When schools either decided a) it looked cool, or b) using black with dark-colored numbers made it harder to scout their teams on film.

The only uniform policing I care about is are the numbers clearly contrasting from the jersey (and that means purple-on-black or gray-on-white DO NOT COUNT. That's not enough of a contrast) so they can be seen from the stands and press box.

I'm not sure how much politics plays into it. I teach (and study) economics. Suburbanization is a reality everywhere - not just in Indiana. The biggest change in Indiana is that, 50 years ago, the state's economy was centered around large manufacturing towns like Marion, Anderson, Kokomo, Columbus, Lafayette, Muncie, Richmond, et al (basically, the North Central Conference with a few of the South Central Conference towns filtered in). Those were the communities with powerhouse athletic programs, the biggest schools, gymnasiums that colleges would be envious of, and had thriving communities. As the economy has shifted from a manufacturing-based one to a service-based one (and I know this is where people blame NAFTA, but U.S. manufacturing output is higher now than it was 30 years ago ... but jobs that used to be in Anderson and Muncie are now in Greensburg and Princeton because half as many people buy GM and Ford cars as did a generation ago, while more people are buying Hondas and Toyotas). Manufacturing has largely shifted from mid-sized Midwestern factory towns like Anderson and Flint and Youngstown to the South - Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina. As a result, jobs have shifted in Indiana to be more service-based - logistics, especially. Those are going to concentrate near large cities for a lot of reasons (transportation being one). Indy, for example, has a major FedEx hub at the airport (and also a major UPS ground terminal). Nearby is a one of CSX's largest classification yards in Avon, and three major cross-country interstates (and a fourth regional interstate) cross in the city. The area west of the airport in Plainfield has exploded as a logistics hub, and areas along I-65 and I-70 have also done so in Hendricks, Hancock, Johnson and Boone Counties. Naturally, that's going to attract jobs - both high-tech and managerial/HQ jobs and logistics work. And so people more from Anderson and Muncie to find work in the Indy area (heck, a significant number of Ball State professors live in Fishers, and a smaller but also significant number of IU profs live in the Center Grove area, thanks to easy access to both campuses from I-69, in part because for some, their spouses work in the Indy area). It's more economic reality than politics that's driving Central Indiana's growth - and especially, the growth of suburban Indianapolis.

A decade earlier, HSE was a 1A. No community has exploded quite like Fishers has. Fishers is now the fourth-largest city in Indiana (behind Indy/FW/EVV, but bigger than South Bend). Carmel is No. 5.

Reclassifying every year. Or, if a team bumps down or up a class mid-cycle due to the SF, another team replaces them. For example: New Pal moved up from 4A to 5A this year mid-cycle, and Cathedral moved down from 6A. Decatur Central replaced Cathedral, so 6A stayed at 32 teams. But New Pal moving up meant 5A had 33. The smallest 5A school would bump down in this scenario. If Cathedral does not make it to state next year, it will have a mid-cycle bump down. Assuming nobody moves up from 4A to 5A, the largest school in 4A would move up. (This would be much easier if we just reclassified every year). My rationale is to avoid the weird 3-team and 5-team sectionals we have in 5A and 6A sometimes.

Keeping the legislature from sticking its nose into the IHSAA's policies. That was 100% forced by the legislature, whose ears perked up after the Indianapolis Star's columnist only told half the story of a high-profile (and very questionable) transfer in Indy and state leaders (who are generally VERY pro school choice) threatened to get even further involved in IHSAA eligibility decisions.

Ignite (volleyball) & Freight (indoor football) Cascade's district starts just west of Plainfield, too, and that area is booming. Every time I drove to my mother-in-law's house east of Clayton, the areas around the Plainfield Elks (which is basically the district line) kept seeing new neighborhoods coming in. Lots of development coming at I-70/SR 39, too.

And nowadays, you don't have to go downtown for jobs and entertainment. Jobs are dispersed and a lot of employers are now in the suburbs. In Indy, four of the eight pro sports teams play in Hamilton County.

Balance of power in Central Indiana has been shifting to the suburbs for a while now. Cascade, Westfield, Brownsburg and New Pal are all in booming suburban areas (and a sizable number of Roncalli's students are from the Greenwood/Whiteland areas).

If Knox's enrollment takes them to 2A next year, they go to 2A. They do not "stay up" with 3 points because they were not up due to success factor. However, if Knox were to get to 6 points in 3A, they would move up to 4A. Only team bumping up without a state title is Luers.

UPDATED WITH STATE FINALS RESULTS (neither team in the 4A game will be able to move up next year). Going up: Adams Central: 2A champ last year; regional this year. Going to 3A for 2026/27 Andrean: 2A regional last year, state title this year. Will go up to 3A for 2026/27. FW Luers: 3A semistate in 2025/26. Will move up to 4A for 2026/27 South Putnam: 1A regional last year, state title this year. Will move up to 2A for 2026/27 Currently success-factored teams staying in their class: Decatur Central: 1st year in 6A; will stay up through 2027 season if they win a *regional* next year Cathedral: 1st year in 5A. Will stay in 5A through 2027 season with a semistate win in 2026. If not, will go back to 4A in 2027. New Pal: 1st year in 5A. Will stay up through 2027 season due to their state title (4 points). Will move up to 6A in 2027 with a *regional* win next year. Heritage Hills: 1st year in 4A. Has 2 points. If they win a sectional in 2026, will remain in 4A in 2027. If they win *state* next year, they'll move up to 5A. Lutheran: Staying in 2A next year (3 points during 2 years), will need to win a regional next year to stay up in 2027. Merrillville wasn't success factored, but it would've gone to 6A with a state title this year, but its loss last night will keep the Pirates in 5A. Teams going down Chatard: Back to 3A next year (1 point during 2 years in 4A) East Central: Back to 4A next year (2 points during 2 years in 5A) LCC: Back to 1A next year (1 point during 2 years in 2A) FW Snider: Back to 5A next year (0 points during 2 years in 6A)

There used to be a TON of Roncalli fans here (matter of fact, TA used to tell us the thing that really sprung the GID was the controversy over a last-minute goal-line play between East Central and Roncalli back in the day).

Not really. Because of the aforementioned issues with players not being able to meet with their parents until they leave the stadium, a lot of teams will have a celebration win or lose, just so the families can spend some time together after the game. Obviously, it's a lot more muted if it's a loss, but a State Finals appearance is worth celebrating.

No problem. I'm a Protestant, too, but half of my family is Catholic. It's an easy mistake to make. One of my broadcast partners referred to "Bishop Guerin," and given St. Theodore Guerin could not have been a bishop, I quietly let him know off-air 'it's just Guerin Catholic).

Just FYI, it's just Roncalli. I don't believe Cardinal Roncalli was ever an archbishop.

Of note, the northern teams all won the fllp in 1A-3A, and the southern teams won the flip from 4A-6A. New Pal elected to wear white, as they've worn white in each of their state championship wins, so it's become a bit of a tradition.

East Central is criminally underrated. They were absolute beasts in the trenches. New Pal also played its worst game of the year (had a bunch of drops, including two that would've been TDs, a 40-yard run called back by a hold away from the play). But, ultimately, it came down to the fact that EC couldn't consistently run the ball against NP, and no team has been able to do so this season (and in the rain, being unable to run the ball is a challenge). They've had success making teams be one-dimensional and creating turnovers. That's where the Dragons have beaten teams, is their front six on D is very good. Three Div. I DLs (Brownfield to Purdue, Walling to West Point, Hirschy is a sophomore who will pretty much go anywhere he wants), plus a deep LB corps that's played a lot of games. Oglesby has a bucketload of Big Ten/SEC offers as a junior. He and the Ranes brothers are all 3-year starters. NP's offense is good. Davis is the best QB they've had since Alex Neligh in 2014-15, and they have a ton of depth at the skill positions. But the trenches are where they have been very good. The weight room culture at New Pal is incredible and they push each other.

Since this is the 5A thread ... this is also New Pal's sixth title game since 2014.

It's always been an option. Scecina did it for a few years when they first moved down to 1A in enrollment, because 2A was where their traditional rivals were. When Muncie Burris was in the midst of its volleyball dynasty, schools (most notably Providence) would elect to move up to 3A to avoid them. I think the IHSAA nipped that in the bud by requiring any school that elected to move up in one four-class sport (VB, BBB, GBB, BA, SB) to move up in all of them for a few years (that has since been rescinded).

Football is a year-round game anymore. The teams basically practice all summer (and spring). Believe me, BHSS's players are putting in the time and work. You don't get to the semistate four straight years without that. But they've run into a buzzsaw the last couple of years in Decatur Central and one of the best teams New Palestine has ever had.

UPDATING THIS WITH SEMISTATE RESULTS (updates in bold). Of the schools currently "playing up" Decatur Central: 1st year in 6A; will stay up through 2027 season if they win a *regional* next year Heritage Hills: 1st year in 4A. Has 2 points. If they win a sectional in 2026, will remain in 4A in 2027. If they win *state* next year, they'll move up to 5A. Chatard: Back to 3A next year (1 point during 2 years in 4A) East Central: Back to 4A next year (2 points during 2 years in 5A) Cathedral: 1st year in 5A. Will stay in 5A through 2027 season with a semistate win in 2026. If not, will go back to 4A in 2027. LCC: 2nd year in 2A. Going back to 1A next year (1 point during 2 years in 2A) New Pal: 1st year in 5A. Will stay up through 2027 season due to their semistate win. FW Snider: Back to 5A next year (0 points during 2 years in 6A) Lutheran: Staying in 2A next year (3 points during 2 years), will need to win a regional next year to stay up in 2027. Other teams potentially going up/down Adams Central: 2A champ last year; 2A regional this year. Going to 3A for 2026/27 Andrean: 2A regional last year. Will go up to 3A for 2026/27 with a state title this year. Bloomington South: 5A regional last year. Will not be moving up due to semistate loss. FW Luers: 3A semistate last year. Will move up to 4A for 2026/27 due to semistate title this year. Merrillville: 5A regional last year. Will move up to 6A for 2026/27 with a state title this year. South Adams: 1A regional last year. Will not be moving up due to semistate loss. South Putnam: 1A regional last year. Will move up to 2A for 2026/27 with a state title this year.

Story and final stats (from the New Pal perspective) https://www.newpalestineathletics.com/Article/106166

Tonight's New Pal-Bloomington South game. Video: IHSAAtv.org ($) Audio: NewPalRadio.com (New Pal) WGCL (Bloomington) WVNI (Bloomington) New Palestine preview & game notes: https://www.newpalestineathletics.com/Article/104831 For Merrillville-Concord Video: IHSAAtv.org ($) Audio: RRSN (NWI) Audio: WAOR (Elkhart/Concord)

The Lawrenceburg radio station was broadcasting the game, but stopped posting updates after the third quarter. I was able to pull up the broadcast to get the final score. Hendricks County is the only one of the "donut counties" without any kind of countywide newspaper coverage since the Flyer went down (and what has existed since - like Current - only focuses on the eastern part of the county), they have zero radio stations who cover their games, and Dearborn County also doesn't have much media outside of the local radio station in Lawrenceburg. That's good to know. Last time I took my wife there (a CHS grad), there were people smoking, which was a major turn-off for both of us, so we didn't return before it closed. That it's back up, we might have to stop by when we make a visit to Hendricks County (which doesn't happen quite as frequently).