23andCounting

I don't agree with the asterisk. At the end of the season, OSU was, without a doubt, the best team in the country by double digits. It's hard for any team to go unscathed during the regular season. I can't stand OSU, so it's hard for me to defend them on anything, but damn, they were good. Best team money could buy, for sure. One off game can't define a team though. I'd argue Notre Dame (healthy or even unhealthy as they were) was unquestionably the second best team in the country despite losing to Northern Illinois.

Saban's not on the list because he had an embarrassment of riches that many coaches could have won with?

"A" for effort? Credit for trying? Kudos to the IHSAA, but that law will be massively abused.

Fort Wayne is a crapshoot. Carroll, Homestead, Leo, and Snider are clearly the best public programs worth transferring to. Nothing changes for Dwenger, Luers, and Concordia. North Side and Northrop seem to have the ability to recruit despite not having great programs. The big losers will be South Side and Wayne in my opinion. At the end of the day, a coach shouldn't be poaching another team's players. And if they are, they have some serious integrity issues they need to take a deep look at. Recruit hard at the middle school level, I think those kids are fair game.

Furthermore, how is DeVries resume any different than Crean's or Miller's? Hiring these guys into an elite conference is a crapshoot in my opinion. We're playing slot machines outside of names like Few, Sampson, Pearl, Pitino, Calipari, Izzo, and Self. You just hope you find a diamond in the rough. Iowa? They struck gold. McCullom's resume stands out from the pack. The Hawkeyes are a guaranteed force in my opinion. Keep the receipt on this.

A lot to unpack with this Hoosier team. Interesting that the AD of NC get's a $104,000 bonus if his team makes the tournament. Oh well, I guess he did "leave the room." If my buddy was in the room next door, I'm pretty sure he'd still have an influence on me somehow. Good to see Woodson go. Great guy, a legend with the Hoosiers, but not the guy who's going to take IU back to where they belong as one of the top programs in the country. I was really rooting for McCollum. He's won impressively during his short stint as a head coach. The way he's turned programs around is hard to ignore. Boring style of play. He'll end up at Iowa and Iowa will be a perennial Top 16 program. Kudos to him and the Hawkeyes. Prior success doesn't guarantee success in the Big Ten where you're competing against the best of the best every night. Every coach is coaching there as a result of a stellar resume at a lower level program. So DeVries has his work cut out for him. About all we can hope for is that IU has more resources than their counterparts which should be enough for DeVries to get IU back to being a mainstay in the NCAA tournament.

Even though they're projected to have their best season in five years? I think a really good coach can be successful in this environment by committing to the kids they recruited. It's hard for me not to root for a guy like that. Swinney isn't going anywhere.

I like Dabo Swinney's take on this.

Are you more likely to be a starter at Carroll or Prairie Heights?

It was just an observation from watching years of high school football. No doubt, a few good players can have a major impact on the newcomers. I think NC's coaching staff is probably their best asset? The same reason I have CP, Snider, and Carroll as the top contenders from the North.

Could be. Just a week ago 247 was showing two receivers from Northrop in their state rankings. If that's the case, the Bruins will have a very dangerous offense. Until they learn to play defense though, they can't be considered a contender.

Northrop boasts two of the top three receivers in the entire state. Could be coincidence I guess.

I don't see it as a big school/little school issue. A 2A school could be loaded at the RB position. The kid decides to transfer to a 6A school that needs help at that position. Could go either way.

I think your suspicions have merit, just not sure if it's true. But....................... Let's say a kid from Wayne High School (Southern Fort Wayne) or a kid from Heritage High School (Southern Allen County) was in competition for the QB or RB position with someone slightly better. Or maybe they're competing against the coaches son (no disrespect intended). Maybe it would makes sense for that kid to commute 20-25 minutes to a school that would ensure a starting role (Adams Central). I wouldn't be surprised if Adams Central built their entire program around kids from the local community. The coaching staff really does appear to be that good. But I also wouldn't be surprised if there was a transfer here and there. I honestly don't know, it's all speculation from where I'm sitting.

You stumped me on that one. Let's just conclude that Adams Central drawing from Southern Allen County is stretching it.

Hoagland is just a 22 minute commute to Adams Central. So yeah, I suppose they could draw a few.

Agree. Maybe a few kids at most. If a kid in Southern Allen County is unhappy at his current school, I would imagine Bishop Luers to the answer.

To be a contender in 6A I think you need at least half your starters back regardless of how many guys you have with D1 potential.

Maybe he's referring to the rural kids in Allen County. There's not much happening on the south end of Fort Wayne. Massive growth to the north. Massive amount of corn fields to the south.

They are 1-1 vs Westfield over the past two seasons with a state finals appearance. Not a bad resume.

Without looking, I believe it was Westfield last year, CP the year before that, and Carroll the year before that. I understand your position. Regardless whether or not The North gets past the HCC, they don't show very well at state. I'm not from NW Indiana, so I don't know what CP returns. But we can all agree that they return a really good coach.

I said "true" north. I never said they'd get by the HCC. Although it's happened two out of the past three years. Let's not be quick to forget that CP and Carroll are 2-1 vs the HCC the past three years (tournament.)

Two championships in 25 years at the 3A level. Wonders how much of an impact they'll have on 4A. Chatard will be a beast to contend with, but EC and New Pal are out of the way. Does East Noble trend up, sideways, or down? I think it has the potential to be an interesting class. Hard not to bet against Chatard though.

Good coach, but tough schedule.

5A: Cathedral moving down? Oh well, thought maybe New Pal or EC had a chance at this level. Guess not. 6A: No reason to believe that Buzea won't have Crown Point ready out of the true north. The northeast will be a crapshoot between three teams. I've got Carmel's over under at 5.5 in Wrights first season.