BTF

Carroll and Homestead for sure. After Warren Central this year, there don't seem to be any Indy teams on Snider's radar for the foreseeable future.

It certainly appears that way. Winning the SAC seems to be their plateau. I'm not sure they think they can beat a team from Indy. I do commend them for amping up their schedule though. I'm always rooting for them to get over that Indy hump.

If my memory serves me correctly, I believe I looked a few months ago at who Merrillville and DC were returning for the next season. I feel like both teams return enough to be considered the teams to beat for 2024. Merrillville just seems to reload every year and are always on the cusp. I think the Pirate's program is playing at a higher level than Jeff and Warsaw right now. I like DC's coach, couple that with some returning starters, and I think they are the team out of the south. But East Central seems to reload every year too, so we'll see. I'll be honest, I'm not really sure what Warsaw brings back other than a good coach and a stout offensive game plan. The style of ball they play is dangerous, Carroll will tell you. So will Snider for that matter............they had to endure Mishawaka, who plays that same style of offense, two years in a row.

Warsaw waxed one of 6A's better teams last year. The potential is there. I personally don't see Jeff "steamrolling" them. They're a lot like Mishawaka. Bring your A game, or you're done.

My early prediction is a state title matchup between Merrillville and Decatur Central in a game that will go to the wire. I think East Central will be the biggest challenge to DC. Valpo and Warsaw will challenge Merrillville.

The Valpo/Penn series was a good one, I'm surprised they are letting it go. I think Valpo/Homestead is a hell of a matchup. They won't back down from HSE one iota if it happens to be them. Stout program Valpo is.

I think Homestead's problem is more mental than anything else. In order to beat a team from Indy, you have to have the mindset that not only are you going to beat them, you're going to beat them by multiple scores. Homestead isn't there yet.

The key to 6A success is seeing two Indy area teams during the regular season. That wasn't the case in the 80's and 90's when there were only 3-5 good teams out of Indy. Fast forward two decades and the landscape has changed, now there are 10-15 good teams from Central Indiana. Kids in Indy are no more talented than kids in any other area of the state, but I think they are a little more hardened by way of the schedule they play week in and week out. If you don't see that level of toughness during the regular season, it's like running into a brick wall in the postseason. There's one particular program that would probably argue this logic, but I think it'll work for most programs.

Makes sense.

Your estimate looks pretty accurate. They'll separate the Fort Wayne teams. My feelings aren't hurt as a fan, it just provides for some interesting matchups. What's Penn doing in 2027? Snider's contract with East Noble expires after 2026. This old rivalry needs to renew itself. Both teams have one hell of a path to go through to meet in 2024.

I saw on another thread where they are estimating the end of the month for them to be announced.

Dumb? Agree. But it did garner three pages of conversation. So I guess it served it's purpose.

The Tigers need not worry about the Penn's, Carroll's, Crown Point's or Indy schools. They'll be duking it out with Valpo and Merrillville in 5A North. Elkhart has potential, but that's about it right now.

It would make sense that the four Fort Wayne schools are clustered together for a sectional, but I think it's a little more complicated than that. The same could be said for the other regions as well. Either way, schools that are close in proximity are going to separated by sectionals in some way shape or form. From a fans perspective, I'd love to see two teams from Fort Wayne get paired up with Indy, and two paired with Elkhart area.

We're definitely on the same page when it comes to the first half of your paragraph. I'd need more information regarding the latter half..........maybe in a PM or the OOB's forum.

It's being paid for by the ticket prices that are ten times that of a high school game. That's my point. It's ok to drop $500 to take your family to a Colts or Notre Dame game, but when a small portion of your taxes go toward a turf field right down the street, some get all bent out of shape.

I think it's bad enough that the majority of football fans will drop big dollars to support a university two hours away that they have no ties with or a professional team whom they know no one personally on the team or reap any of the rewards of the teams success. Yet there's good sports in their own backyard. It's just as entertaining, costs less money, and the ticket sales are going to your LOCAL COMMUNITY. These high school kids, more than not, are the ones who'll keep the community going for decades to come. Athletics can teach a kid as much on the field as he/she'd learn in the classroom. There are other places to skimp and save money, our high schools are not one of them. Somehow it's ok to support the $3,000,000 jumbotron two hours away, but a $600,000 turf field in your own backyard is unjustified. It's bad enough that 50% of our kids come from homes where the parents are absentee. Why not give them the best high school experience that we can?

I'm not an opponent of taxes as long as the system isn't being abused. Handing money over to illegal aliens as they cross the border would be an example of abuse. Sending money overseas to Ukraine without the rest of the UN providing their fair share is just plain disrespect for taxpayers money. I wouldn't call improving your local high school facilities a "mismanagement of funds." In short, maybe if you received more of a tax cut at the federal end, you'd be less concerned at the local end.

Very rarely will I encourage someone to discontinue their fight, but this fight really isn't going anywhere. Best to move on. I'm all in for top notch high school facilities.

If the admins at Valpo had a heart, they'd switch spots with them. I mean, I'd at least give Valpo 100:1 0dds to win the whole thing. Where does Jeffersonville sit, 1,000,000:1?

Agree. It wouldn't hurt my feelings if Snider continues to join them.

You're fighting a losing battle. That's not an opinion. Might want to focus your energy elsewhere.

I would hope they don't. I think turf fields are less about common opinion and more about dollars and sense. I'll advocate for turf fields all day. I think studies show that they are more cost effective in the long run? And even if they aren't, I think it's a service to young people to give them turf instead of mud. It isn't just about high school football. You have youth football, the occasional middle school game, the band, track and field, and maybe soccer..............other countless activities as well.

I'm not sure if they do or don't. All I know is that this forum gets a hell of a lot more views than what's coming from just the members. I think the GID offers a lot of good information and insight on important topics. Enough so that I think you'd be surprised at who really views many of these threads. I'm willing to bet that 90% of all head coaches check in, at least on occasion, to see what's being discussed. If that's the case wouldn't some administrators be curious once in awhile as well? Maybe I'm giving the GID too much credit, but I doubt it.

I think administrators can be swayed, but I agree, not on this topic. There are way too many benefits to all involved.