BTF

On the subject of Dabo. You don't think he has the leadership ability to put the right men in the right places like Kelly did year in and year out. Lose a coordinator, hire a coordinator?

Lol.............thanks?

You don't think their defense would keep things interesting? They did keep the Georgia offense out of the endzone in Week 1.

Marcus Freeman has enough talent to cover up any mistakes he may make as a young head coach. Ring ND up for another ten win season in 2022. Like some of the others on this thread, I'm shocked that Buchner wasn't brought into the game. It's worked all year, why didn't they go to him this time. He brings the type of new energy that would have taken the Irish down the field. Coan would have a series or two to settle down, relax, come back in and lead ND to victory. Again, it worked all year. If it's not broke don't fix it. Not bringing Buchner in cost Notre Dame the football game.

So just lock in Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, and Ohio State and be done with it? Forget about records and head to head matchups? Let's be honest, Clemson and Ohio State at least have the athletes to make the games interesting. Not sure either one would have gotten manhandled the way Michigan and Cincinnati did.

Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, and Ohio State are automatic locks. That way we know there are four teams that can match one another talent for talent. Four at large teams. Why are all the 5-star athletes going to those four schools? Are they being offered more perks, or is it just coincidence? Is Nick Saban another John Wooden? A good guy who wants the best talent but doesn't care to know about the details of how they get it? Just speculating here.

So our bet is on the Bama/Cincy game. Look no further than Purdue/Tennessee. The Volunteers looked pretty jacked up coming out of the locker room. Not to mention 70% of the stadium that was wearing orange. So the "it means more to you than it does us" is total b---s---. Purdue even did it without seven starters. A decimated Boiler team took Tennessee's best shot and won. If both Georgia and Alabama advance, I'll reconsider. One team in the finals doesn't do it for me. Big Ten makes a case for the nation's best.

The SEC is off to a rough start in 2021 postseason. Their record stands at 1-5 while the Big Ten sits at 5-0. Purdue, with seven starters out, defeated a Tennessee team that was far more healthy. Hasn't this become a trend in recent years? I'm just going off of memory here, but it seems like the Big Ten has outperformed the SEC in recent years. At what point are we going to acknowledge that maybe the SEC is no longer the best. The Big Ten is making a case for itself. That being said. I like Michigan and Cincinnati to cover the spread. Temp?

You must watch a lot of basketball. Personally, I don't. But from what I've seen so far, I'm not sure *Homestead will even beat Snider. I have a hard time believing that the Spartans are the best team in the entire state outside of Indy. They already have a loss to Chesterton. *Homestead and Snider both lost to Fishers by the same margin, 12 points.

Lol, I've thought that for years. Meet me in the Next Level room. I'll be posting a new topic, Is the SEC Overrated, in about an hour or so.

Not surprised. Homestead is hit or miss. The girls are another story.

Score?

Not a fair fight. I always take risks and I think you are a professional handicapper on the side. That being said: Homestead/Cathedral tomorrow will be a good one. I'll take Homestead. How about Homestead's Lady Spartans traveling down to Indy to take on North Central on January 4th? I'll take the visiting team.

Dante..........he knows I'm just being playful.

Lol, almost worked dickhead 🙂. Happy Holidays!

From an outsider's perspective, that's what I've observed.

I'm just counting state championships. Snider's been there seven times, but only have credit for two. No one's studying them. I get what you are saying about Westfield, but to me, they aren't any different than any other team that has gotten there and failed. The same four teams win it every year. Sure, the Rocks might be better than three of them this year. But in any given year, one of those four teams will put together a team that will be better than anyone in the state. And enrollment has a lot to do with it.

Throw Westfield out of the equation. Many teams have made it the state finals. Carmel, Ben Davis, Warren Central (three largest schools in the state), and Center Grove (certainly not among the smaller 6a schools) are the only ones that win it.

Lol, how long ago? Educate me. No time to look it up myself.

Temp.............elaborate on your reaction. I'm not sure if you are agreeing or disagreeing. An SAC all star team would be the equivalent of a high school with an enrollment of 17,000. Game over my friend.

I would love to see Jeff and Harrison play an HCC type schedule. No doubt it would amp up their level of play. There's some pretty darn good football in Lafayette. They're just limited by their competition as you suggest.

I thought of that myself. But that would be unfair to Indianapolis. No one would want the mercy rule in play by halftime of the 6a state championship.

When I have time, I'll find the receipt. Actually, I won't. Too many threads to go through. I think it was 2019, not 2020. It's when Luke Goode was still playing football. Unfortunately, they lost their all everything offensive weapon (name is failing me) just before the playoffs started. Ended up surrendering to Carmel, not Westfield. It went something like this............."I'm actually jumping on the Homestead bandwagon." It was sometime around week 7. Who knows what that meant. Maybe it meant that they would be defeated by Carmel. What I took from it was that you thought they had a legitimate chance to get down to state and win it. Quite frankly, everyone up here in the northeast was pretty optimistic as well. Regardless. Homestead and Carroll both brought hyperbole over the last two years. Until they win regional, that's all it will ever be.

With the exception of you? I remember you stating last year that you were jumping on the Homestead bandwagon as a state title contender. I don't see you making that mistake again though. Until one of those teams wins regional, it's all just hyperbole.

Over the course of 6a's nine year existence, all state titles have been brought home by the same four teams..........Carmel, Ben Davis, Warren Central, and Center Grove. Three of those teams just happen to rank 1, 2, and 3 in terms of enrollment. It's not an equal playing field. The IHSAA knows it. The AD's know it. The coaches know it. The players know it. And the fans know it. Gone are the days of the northeast, the northwest, and the southern part of the state putting their footprint on the state title at the highest level. It's been 22 years since anyone outside of Indianapolis has brought home the hardware. That was Penn in 2000. They also did it in '97, '96, '95, and '83. Bloomington South did it in '98 & '93. Snider did it in '92. Before the year 2001, big boy state titles were common place in other areas of the state. But damn, that was over two decades ago. Things are different now, and something needs to be done. Is it a matter of the IHSAA stepping in and splitting 6a into two divisions? Or is it a matter of programs around the state stepping up their game and doing what they need to do to "get the job done." The fair thing to do would be to split into two 16 team divisions as HHF suggested in another post. Since that probably won't happen, I guess we'll have to take the "get better or get used to it approach." The SAC knows what it needs to do to amp up their level of play and get Carroll and Homestead to a 6a state title game. It's also a matter of getting Snider back there. It's pretty simple. Restructure the conference and give those three teams an opportunity to taste Central Indiana football before running into that wall when the tournament starts. Does the Region have a plan in place? What about Southern Indiana? Will they implement a plan? Or will they just settle for the status quo like the SAC does?