BTF

It doesn't change anything? Unless my math is off, now there would be 3-4 teams instead of 2-3. Bottom line...............it's a great idea and one step closer to fielding a northern 6a champion. Adding Penn and Elkhart to the same conference as Valpo and Merrillville = a fight with the HCC as the second strongest conference in the state.

Probably more likely to find a cougar roaming Fort Wayne than a Panther. But then the all black uniforms wouldn't make any sense. Nah, I'll pass.

More and more you see teams named after something that relates to the community. It would be interesting to know who came up with Wolves and why. It just doesn't seem like much thought was put into it. But I'm on the outside looking in.

Jaylon Smith played on four championship teams for Bishop Luers. His senior year was the Knights last championship 9 years ago. That's quite a drought for the mighty Knights. That was also the elder Linday's last year as the head coach. Good luck to his son this year. It will be nice to see him get his first.

Potentially? Good enough to get to the state finals. The kids of course have to put in the work. They have some studs, but then again, they had some studs last year. I think the biggest difference is how young they were last year. At the end of the day I think it will be a very competitive tournament with Snider, Dwenger, Zionsville, and Valpo. No offense to any I failed to mention.

Sure. Who the heck is Tommy? Let's just say the north will be fun to watch this year.

Seventeen starters returning I believe. I'm not thrilled about Snider playing Dwenger in the sectionals. It's nice to watch them both make deep runs most years. It will certainly add an element to the rivalry though.

No idea. That's why I was hoping someone up there would jump in on this. I just feel like Valpo is Valpo. You can never count a program like that out. Maybe a couple of down years is inevitable. It happened to Snider in '19 & '20.

I'm giving Zionsville a 50/50 shot of getting out of regional. What about Valpo? I haven't heard anyone chime in on them yet. Any of the Duneland guys want to chime in?

I like Bob Knight's quote from 2003. "I would have rather listened to Saddam Hussein speak on civil rights."

I thought he already explained it. On the surface, Cathedral (1200 students), appears to be this small school that rumbles with the best of the best...........the 6A giants. But they have no boundaries. They have a metropolis of 2 million people to recruit from. So it's easy for someone to from Cathedral to say enrollment doesn't play a VERY large role in the success of a program. That being said, I have no beef with the Irish of Cathedral. Catholic kids just play at a different level for some reason. But the fact that they have no district barriers is why no one wants to hear the opinion of a Catholic regarding strength of enrollment.

Did I mention Center Grove? I don't recall mentioning Bloomington South, Snider, or Castle either.

Maybe I'm wrong, but..................Carmel, BD, WC, and Penn won their state championships when they were part of the Top 5 club (fact check me on it, I don't have time).

It's just a matter of time. You can bank on it.

But how long have they been Top 5 in the state?

Are you more likely to find a Big Ten caliber QB from a random school of 5400 or one from a school of 3100?

That could take some time. I'm just going off of memory. I'll pass on that.

Are you more likely to find a Big Ten caliber quarterback at Carmel or at Noblesville? Now remember, you have about 1150 more boys at Carmel to pick from.

Fishers, Hamilton Southeastern, and Noblesville are relatively new to the 'Largest Schools in the State' club. Carmel, Ben Davis, Warren Central, and Penn won all of their state championships when they were among the top five enrollments in the state. That's 27 state championships with Top 5 enrollments compared to 9 championships outside the Top 5. That's not enough evidence, outside of common sense alone, to persuade you? You are a football coach. You look to your right and see a group of 500 boys. You look to your left and see a group of 250. Which group are you going to choose?

You mean writing off state championship teamswith low enrollment like Snider, Castle, Bloomington South, and New Palestine? Or writing off a state championship team like Harding with an EXTREMELY high free/reduced lunch rate? Do you have any idea what 'by and large' means?

I'm just wondering if someone can actually say the words............."higher enrollment is an advantage." I realize it's fun to thump your chest and claim you are the greatest when you beat up on a team half your enrollment or you wax a team when you have no district boundaries but the other teams does. But at some point, it's ok to be humble and admit your advantages. That being said, success is clearly a combination of several factors............good coaching, enrollment, and socioeconomics all playing a significant role.

This conversation is painful to follow. Can you at least acknowledge that schools with a higher enrollment have an advantage?

I'm talking about pure northern teams. I don't consider Westfield to be north in the slightest. They are an Indy team thrown in the northern bracket. I feel like Jeff is right on the line. Sometimes I credit them for being north, sometimes I don't. It depends on the day I guess. Regarding Warsaw. Good coaches typically improve there programs every year it seems for their first 5 or 6 seasons, then there is a trail off. That's all I was basing my prediction on. I will defer to you on that one, you know way more about their program than I do.

Good for Portage. It's time for the Duneland to flex it's muscle at the 6a level. I think the future looks bright for the north. Valpo seems to be on solid ground. Merrillville is playing at a high level. It's just a matter of time for Portage. Warsaw is on the up and up. The Homestead and Carroll districts continue to grow and pump money into their facilities. And Snider may have a team over the next couple of years that could bump them back to 6a. Penn is still Penn. Not 'Geesman' Penn, but still solid.

He did have some impressive teams when he was at Portage. I remember some of his teams of the 90's. You didn't get to state without going through them. I remember Snider's 12-0 team in '94 bowing out to them.