Bears62

Because schools with 1600 students have a much better chance of beating a school with 2100 students than a school of 2100 students does at beating a school of 3000-5200 students. Thought that was obvious

Anyone else find it it strange all the people against DT’s proposition are fans of schools like BD, CG, Cathedral and Carmel? These people act like schools like Chesterton and Lafayette Jeff are on the same playing field as Ben Davis. How hard headed and stubborn do you need to be to deny the huge population disadvantages these schools have? This is strictly about giving these 8 programs a more fair shot at a deep tourney run. That’s all. The IHSAA can’t stop the big 4 from putting the best teams on the field and passing the trophy back and forth, but they can at least do their best to balance it as best they see fit. The bullcrap response about participation trophies from Grover is so lame. Talk about being narrow-minded. We get it dude, CG can win it all with 2500 students. They are an outlier. Outliers exist. Do you get off by having schools that have good football programs that could compete with the best in 5a stuck at the bottom of 6a? Or do you just really like the number 32 for some reason? Really weird

No one is sleeping on them. They are clearly the consensus favorite. Good try

As much as I dislike how dominant the MIC is in football… i don’t want to see any of the top dogs like CG and Carmel move to the HCC. If that happens there is no longer the argument that the MIC is one of the best football conferences in the Midwest, as well as the fact that the conference will be significantly less strong. Becomes a 2 man race between Warren and Ben Davis for the foreseeable future.

Good list DT… I’m looking forward most to how Elkhart does this season. They really surprised me with how well they played against Merrillville in regionals last year. For a year 1 program they looked fantastic

I got your point just fine, that was just too stupid to ignore. Go off though FootballKing

Who the hell thinks Michigan is better than Wisconsin? Wiscy has owned them as of late. Wiscy 5-2 in last 7 meetings. And they consistently have a better record. You’re stupid.

Think Cathedral still has to be the favorite. Really hope Snider lives up the hype next season, Indiana high school football is better when they are a contender. Don’t think Valpo will be a title threat. Zionsville should be a contender again, can’t speak for Dwenger. Don’t know what New Pal is returning but will be interested to see how they do, we will find out week 1 vs Decatur Central. Coach Ralph is undoubtedly a top 3 coach, sure a lot of people have him as the best (I do).

They were “asked to leave” or just straight up booted, can’t remember which. Jeff would be pretty competitive if they rejoined, Harrison is probably a little bit better than Noblesville and Franklin Central. Can’t ever see it happening though sadly

Simply stupid would have been more appropriate. This isn’t bleacher report little guy

Oh man you got me good. So funny.

Yes, it’s so simple how did no one know? The teams who can’t get to Lucas Oil just need to work harder. Nothing else should be considered a factor. You’d have a hard time convincing me kids from schools like Merrillville or Jeff want to win any less than CG. Or that they don’t work as hard. CG has many advantages over the bottom 8 of 6a.

I mean sure I guess you’re not wrong? But definitely not the point. You are the one on here who is confused, US31 tried to dumb it down for you but I guess it didn’t work.

Exactly. Nothing more nothing less

Dude, no one is trying to stop the big 3 and CG from winning titles lol. They are the best and deserve to win. LITERALLY, the only point of dropping the bottom 8 of 6a out is because those teams at the bottom 8 are at a SERIOUS disadvantage. Nothing more, nothing less. Everyone knows the same schools are going to keep winning 6a. It’s why there has been additions of classes in the past. To make things as balanced as they can and give good football teams a chance on as level a playing field as they can. The top and bottom of 6a is far more lopsided than any other class. Not even an argument

Huh? Are you a real football coach?? You just named 3 mega schools and implied all other 6a schools can be just as good. Merrillville, Valpo and Lafayette Jeff all have great football programs. They will probably never field a team that can beat Carmel without a serious enrollment boost. Let’s not completely ignore the advantage of having thousands of more kids to choose from lol. And shrinking 6a gives the teams at the bottom (aka the schools who are at the biggest disadvantage) a fair shake in 5a. That’s all. Carmel, BD and Warren aren’t going anywhere.

1a is separated by 3000 students? Going by percentage isn’t the right metric to go by for this. The little guys have a better chance to have a special team and overcome a 200-300 student difference than a bottom 6a team having a special team and overcoming a 1500+ student difference. 20 years straight an Indy school has won the state title in Indiana’s largest class. Does it need to get to 50 before you say there’s an issue? Indy will remain superior til the end of time. Least we could do is move the bottom 8 6a schools to 5a to give them a fair shot. Which would make 5a a lot more exciting

3821 and 2054 is still pretty damn close to being 2x. And regardless, that is still a humongous difference, your window must be pretty big. That’s an entire large 5a school. I don’t see how you or anyone could say that isn’t an issue. And if you compare the true top and bottom it’s 5286 and 2054.

My apologies, I do not think 7 classes would be the right move. 24 in 6a and then the remaining 8 get moved to 5a would be ideal. Then the ihsaa could choose what to do in regard to balancing the classes if they wanted. Could move 5a to 34 schools or 36 or 40 and move others down as they see fit. We all love even numbers but having 1-2 teams out of a class have a first round sectional bye is not the end of the world and is a good trade off for a more balanced 5a and 6a.

Yes because finding a place for 8 schools would be just so incredibly difficult. Jesus

I think DT hits the nail on the head. Top 24 in enrollment move to new 7a, coupled with the success factor (possibly adjusted slightly) seems like the best answer to me. It’s easy for people to say these teams outside of Indy just “need to do better.” On the outside, sure that looks fair but people fail to talk about how big a factor geography plays into this. Kids in Indianapolis grow up differently than all the other kids in the state. They have access to the best coaches, the best competition and all the attention needed to be great. For every great athlete in Fort Wayne or The Region or Lafayette there’s 4-5 just as great Indy athletes. And I’m not just talking about big recruits, I’m talking about the kid who’s too small to be a big recruit but has been competing his whole life with the best kids in the state and has truly earned his role on the team by having to beat out not only more, but better competition than the rest of Indiana.

Just wanted to know everyone’s thoughts, never suggested a 7a be created. Tried to be neutral in the original post and bring up points for both sides. It’s the off-season.

Just asking, you don’t see a problem with Indys dominance of 6a? Not disagreeing with you

Since the creation of 6A Indiana hs football, Indy schools have won all 8 state championships. Prior to that, Indy schools had won 12 straight state titles in 5A. Is there even a plausible solution out there to balance the playing field? It would seem silly to create a “7a” that consists of roughly 16 or so of the largest Indy schools, not to mention it sounds far less exciting. But Indy’s domination has gotten to the point where you can’t help but think that maybe something should be done. Indy schools have won 20 in a row of the largest class state titles, and there is really no end in sight. Penn and Snider were 2 of the perennial powers in Indiana for decades, yet they have both seen a recent decline that they have not experienced before. Yes I know Snider won a 5A title 4-5 years ago, but they are firmly stuck in 5a and don’t really seem to be anywhere near of fielding a state champion caliber team anyways. Merrillville had a really talented team last year with a couple really good studs, yet their 2 losses last year both came in lopsided games to Chatard and Westfield (tremendous football teams who were both undoubtedly in the top 5 regardless of class). What is it going to take to see a 6a state champion out of 6a? I can honestly say I don’t think it will be anytime soon. What i want to know is do people think the creation of a “7a” ,consisting of the largest Indy schools, the answer or even something that would ever be considered? I want nothing more than for literally anyone outside of Indy to win a 6a title for the sake of parity within the state but I just don’t see anything being done about it anytime soon. Then what would you do about the large non-Indy schools who are in the top 16 in student population? Do they join 7a due to their enrollment or stay in 6a and have a very significant numbers advantage over the rest of the remaining 6a schools? It would feel wrong having Penn with 3300+ students in 6a and have Perry Meridian with 2351 students in 7a just due to their location.

You make this list for the past 3-5 years and Warren is undoubtedly near the top.