BTF

Homestead was bored to tears on that bus ride down to Indy en route to playing a 1-9 team. It showed on the field. The following week they outplayed the HCC's best team, Carmel, for a half without their best player on offense. You central Indiana guys will bring that game up for years. That's not true. Per capita, Fort Wayne puts more players in the NFL than Indy.........it's a statistical fact.

The SAC didn't have a real dominant team this year. Homestead was good. But they wouldn't qualify as a Top 30 SAC team of all time. Dwenger beats Zionsville 9 times out of 10. That game qualifies as an upset. Don't believe me? Re-watch it. Correct. But only because they have larger enrollment. The "programs" aren't better.

It's a nightmare because our political leaders think Indianapolis needs 14 interstates going in every imaginable direction out of the city. Never mind that Fort Wayne to Chicago has every bit of traffic on 30 that Indy's highways have. It's a well known fact that there is an imbalance of Indiana funds that go to Indianapolis. Pound for pound? No doubt.

Not really a new concept. Russ Isaacs encouraged his players to run track when he was leading the Panthers in the 90's. Maybe they still do.

I love the idea. The name is perfect. I won't bet on it happening in my lifetime though. Things that make too much sense don't ever come to fruition. I just can't imagine the SAC being so blind that they don't see the need for a change. It's not entirely impossible to see Snider, Homestead, or Carroll take the 6a crown one day, but it's one heck of an uphill battle. The likelihood of one of those teams winning 6a is 5%. With the creation of the Upstate 8, that number rockets to 30% in 4 years. Great post DT. If what you say doesn't make any sense, I'd love for an IHSAA administrator or an AD from the SAC come on here and explain why. I seriously think it would boost attendance. Snider fans have become bored with the mediocre competition, and it shows with the empty seats in the stands. I'm more likely to drive to Valpo or Penn then an I am South Side or Wayne. And to be honest, more South Side fans would show up if they were in a more competitive conference. On the surface, it appears that South Side stinks. Fans won't show up for a team that finishes perennially last. But I'd be willing to bet they would be a .500+ team in any conference not named MIC, HCC, SAC, or DAC.

I would love to see the Snider/Penn rivalry rejuvenated. Declining enrollment isn't doing the Panthers any favors, but the nucleus of the program remains strong. Those eight schools should take a serious look at that and make it more than just a pipe dream. I also think it would help with attendance. No one wants to see Snider take on South Side. Dwenger vs Elkhart would outdraw Dwenger vs Wayne by a mile. God knows attendance could use a boost since live streaming came into play.

And that's what they should do. The SAC in it's current form doesn't do Snider, Homestead, and Carroll any favors.

What I heard was hearsay. Not worth mentioning.

Agree. I'm ready for some NAIA!

North Side has a history of hiring guys who turn out to be good coaches, then they leave. I don't see North Side going for that. Historically, they've been competitive in the SAC. Not to mention the pasting they delivered to Snider in 2020. Also, historically, North Side probably beats Huntingtion North 80% of the time. Something has to give though with regard to the SAC. Some kind of restructure. Something could be in the works.............so I've "heard." If recruiting was as big of a problem at Snider that those on this forum make it out to be, the coaching staff over there would win the SAC every year and probably have 10+ 5a/6a championships. Do they get a transfer here and there like any other school? Absolutely. But it's not the problem people on this forum make it out to be. A wise man once told me to believe 1/3 of what you hear. Pulling the recruiting card is just an excuse for inferior programs to make excuses as to why they aren't any good. If your team stinks, the first place to look for a reason why is in the mirror. After that you can look at things such as enrollment and socioeconomics. I couldn't agree more. I've always felt, if the right coach came along, Huntington North could prosper. Maybe entrance into the SAC would do them some good. Whatever the SAC does, it needs to be something other than an "island" conference.

Wind chills in Fort Wayne on Saturday are suppose to be -20 to -40. How's it looking in Indy for Marian's home opener?

Marian's success came during years 4 and 5. For St. Francis it was years 2 and 3.

It's kind of hard to compare the NAIA to the FBS. Mainly because there is no Alabama. No one has been that dominant. There is a three way tie among the top NAIA programs over the last decade.............St. Francis, Marian, and Morningside. Go back two decades and it's Carroll, St. Francis, and Sioux Falls........in that order. Correction...............I think you have to give Marian the nod for top team of the decade.

To be fair, Valpo did hand it to the Cougars in 1999.............34-6. Also to be fair, that was only the second year of the young St. Francis football program. By year three, coach Kevin Donley had them competing on a national level.

St. Francis is 5-0 vs Division I (FCS)..............all blowouts. I'm not sure how Marian has done against higher level programs, but they are 8-7 vs St. Francis. Two solid football programs.

Come again? St. Francis beat Valpo that year 34-30. The Cougars beat Butler 56-37 the week before.

It's good quality football for sure. I remember one year, St. Francis waxed Indiana State. Beat them by a wider margin than Texas Tech did the prior week. It was 2005 I believe...............42-10.

Allen County - 379,000 Hamilton County - 338,000 Fort Wayne (city limits) - 270,000 -city limits doesn't include surrounding burbs.

That being said. Both Homestead and Carroll will have the facilities and resources to match any school in the state of Indiana. Now it's just up to the coaches to get them from being 3-star programs to a 5-star. I'm not here to criticize hard working coaches, but the reality is that neither program is in the upper 5% echelon...............which is where they need to be to be state contenders.

The Fort Wayne Metro is growing by about 2000 residents per year. Not staggering numbers, but definitely outperforming similar sized midwestern cities. With a ten-year job growth rate expected to exceed the national average, approximately 1 billion in downtown infrastructure over the next couple of years, and upwards to 50 million being dumped into FW's suburban schools Homestead and Carroll, the Summit City may not be as stagnant as you think.

You really need a link sent to you to verify that the last 25 record holders are black? C'mon

To say the least.

Hate to see you go DT. You provide good quality content on this forum. Unfortunately we live in a very sensitive world today where factual information is often misconstrued as racist.

Noted

Which part is unreal?