BTF

Center Grove + Westfield + Eric Moore = state title every year (unless we are allowing other schools around the state combine). Enrollment is 40% of it. Coaching is 40% and socioeconomic factors are the other 20%. No one is saying that enrollment alone determines who the state champion is, but it plays a HUGE factor. I get it, it's fun to think your school somehow magically breeds better football players than anyone else, but the reality is that there are advantages afforded to some football programs that aren't available to others.

The line starts at the Illinois border and ends at Ohio................so yes.

There is a difference between 2000 & 2700. Want to know what it is? Merrillville + Calumet = Center Grove. Would a combination of those two schools had a better shot at winning 6A this year?

It looks like he might be a close second to Jaylon Smith. Both highly recruited. Kudos to him. He would be a good fit at Notre Dame or Indiana :)...........stay loyal to the state you were raised in. It's a tough decision for a kid, I get it.

What does he write in the article that is false?

Not a shocker. I think I heard one time that Indiana has the largest following of a football forum in the country? Everyone reads this forum.........Media, coaches, players, etc. They just don't post.

Because there is a heck of a lot of talent roaming the halls of Ben Davis and Warren Central..............both pretty big schools themselves.

Schools ranked 1,2,4,5 & 6 have won 20 of the last 25 state championships. All of those schools are north of 3400 students. Half of those 20 coming from schools ranked 1 & 2. Coincidence? I don't think so. Either enrollment plays a HUGE factor or kids born in those school districts are just naturally better football players. I'm going with the former.

You'd have to re-read through the whole thread. I don't remember how it got started. An Indy all star team beats a Fort Wayne all star team 80% of the time. It's a numbers game.

Five or six, but I have even begun to dig deep. As far as enrollment goes, I feel that part of a coaches responsibility is to get kids at the school to buy into the program. Carmel is twice as likely as Center Grove to find a D1 quarterback roaming the halls. Exactly the same for every other position. The chances of everything is two times. Carmel wins the state championship every year in swimming, it shouldn't be any different in football.

It's a matter of opinion. Who know if the mercy rule would come into play or not. The top Indy teams are damn good (some of the best in the country apparently). Just not good enough to compete with a school of 15,247 kids.

Absolutely. You're talking about a high school of 15,247 kids. That's basically what all of Fort Wayne equates to. With a half way decent coaching staff, they would win every single year. With a good coaching staff they win with a running clock. Fort Wayne produces it's fair share of athletes: 24 NFL players since 1980. Indianapolis has produced 2.7 times that of Fort Wayne, but the city of Indy is also 3.4 times larger. So per capita, Fort Wayne holds a slight edge. Point being...........both cities produce quality NFL players. Fort Wayne put a team together in 2016 that won the National IMG 7 on 7. That was against teams from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, and others. They finished 3rd in 2013. I'm not sure they ever finished outside the top 15 out of 50+ teams. Again, lots of talent in this little city of 300,000. I guess if I had to start with a roster I would start with two offensive linemen. Vinny Fiacable (Indiana commit) and DE Moore (offers from Texas A&M, Ohio State, Indiana, Penn State, and many more). I really don't have time to put together an entire roster and I shouldn't have too. The chances of of an Indy high school beating an All Star team from Fort Wayne is about the same as someone's suggestion that Center Grove could beat a Division III/NAIA team.................which is basically slim to none.

You don't need a roster, just use common sense.

Every single year. The best team in Indy would be mercy ruled early in the third quarter.

Good point. We should all agree on an all-in format as long as there is a seeding system that makes sense. The extra game would need to be afforded to 5A & 6A schools since they would have an extra week with the bye. That would allow the bigger schools in Fort Wayne an opportunity to play outside of their conference. Therefore, making the the Sagarin Ratings more relevant.

Your system makes too much sense. I'm all in.

All three of them?

My guess is a horizontal line going right underneath Lafayette.

Lol, so they do drop to 5a..............got it. Thanks.

Not sure of the source, but it looks like someone put some effort into it. Looks like Merrillville remains anyway due to the 2 point rule. It's too bad, they are a better fit for 5A doing battle with Snider, Dwenger, and Valpo.

Well, if Psaboy is correct, it looks like Merrillville might be 5A after all. And there is ZERO chance they choose to move up.

Looks like it.

25 https://www.ihsaa.org/Portals/0/ihsaa/documents/quick resources/Enrollments & Classifications/Enrollments 19202021.pdf

It's really a non-issue since they aren't dropping down to 5A. But Merrillville is one of those schools who will play where they are told. If they did happen to drop down to 5A, there is absolutely no way their administration would elect to play up. They don't have enough sustained tournament success to warrant doing that. If they were in 5A, they would reach semi-state at least 50% of the time and possibly state 25% of the time. Not only will they add to their trophy case, but more importantly, more revenue for their athletic department. But like DT said, it's not happening with the states 25th largest enrollment.

What's wrong with wanting a trophy as long as there is competitive balance? The 275lb kid shouldn't be able to thump his chest and proclaim greatness after pinning the 140lb kid.