Footballking16

LOL. That “Cathedral team” finished top 20 in the country by multiple publications. Blew out the 6A runner-up. Blew out the 3A champion. Beat the Ohio big school champion. Beat the Ohio D2 runner-up. And came within about 63 seconds of replacing Center Grove in this conversation. Last years Cathedral team was better than any team the 06 Warren team by a considerable margin.

Their two move-ins have multiple power 5 offers and the senior to be was an Ohio St commit. But agree, two players aren't going to carry you at this classification of football.

CG had a B10 defensive end in Austin Booker and a DT in Curry who can go wherever he wants. I see Schott is getting B10 offers as well. May not have been as big as Warren but guessing the talent disparity wasn't all that far off.

Hard to argue that, but that CG defense is no joke either. Never gave up more than 14 points and did it playing arguably a harder schedule than the 06 Warren team. I think that CG team belongs in the conversation.

Say what you want about last years CG team but I think they belong in that conversation. Can't really comment on the 91 BD teams as I was in diapers then, but the 2020 CG team is up there with the 06 Warren team. 2020 CG team Average win 40-7 5 shutouts Never gave up more than 14 points 2006 Warren Average win 48-8 5 shutouts That Warren team definitely had more D1 talent but would argue Center Grove played a much tougher schedule. MIC in 06 still had the Terre Haute teams and North Central wasn't what they were today. It's debatable because that Warren Central team was incredible but that CG team was as well.

What about skill position players? I thought they started a few sophomores last year but my memory isn't the best.

5A North will go through one of Dwenger, Snider, or Zionsville. Cathedral heavy favorite to win 5A. Castle played Cathedral somewhat tough last year and seem to remember them starting a ton of young guys. Think they may be the biggest challenger to Cathedral.

Senseless that administrators would allow this game to happen. Think of all the potential danger @temptation🤡🤡

I think this is more of an angle tackling/pursuit drill, but point well taken, it’s completely unnecessary. Coached should be permanently banned from youth sports for life. Most will look to the kid getting steamrolled as the shock factor, but the ball carrier is the one at the greatest risk. Runs full speed with his head down and makes direct contact with the crown of his helmet. That was tough to watch.

Oklahoma has their fair share of 5* talent as well and returns pre-season Heisman favorite and potential 2022 #1 draft pick QB Spencer Rattler. Are they the #1 team? Who knows, they haven't played a game yet. But it's not egregious. If I was a betting man I wouldn't take the field betting against Alabama, Clemson, or Ohio State to win it all, but Oklahoma will run roughshod through the Big 12 and will be one of 4 teams in the playoff.

Yawn.

If Penn and Elkhart stay away from the DAC (not so sure they’re even considering it despite an ongoing a thread) a new conference of: Penn Elkhart Warsaw Snider Homestead Carroll Dwenger?? makes a ton of sense. Would instantly become the premier big class conference in Northern Indiana.

In the DAC's current state? Why would they? Because at 12 members, its not feasibly possible for each school to play each other annually. And with too many dead weight programs currently in the DAC, it eliminates potential scheduling flexibility down the road. A conference consisting of the 12 schools you mentioned doesn't prepare the best 6A teams (in the DAC) for a state title run. The caliber of opponent is severely lacking. I don't know what's so hard to understand about that? A super DAC conference hinders schools like Merrillville, Penn, and Elkhart due to lack of weekly competition.

Your entire proposal hinges on Penn and Elkhart becoming new members lol. What incentive does Penn and Elkhart have to join the DAC under your new proposal alignment? The ONLY way the DAC comes out better is IF Penn and Elkhart join. You need to get Penn and Elkhart on board. Your proposal doesn't move the needle for Penn or Ellkhart. If the DAC wants to remain loyal to its 8 existing members, then conference expansion to 12 teams really doesn't make much sense then does it?

Yes. I don't buy for one second that Valpo, Merrillville, Crown Point, and Michigan City would "struggle" fielding opponents with four open weeks. They already schedule two as is in the current DAC landscape. There would be four old DAC opponents who now have open weeks as well and a rotating scheduling of old DAC rivals/opponents would make sense in a worst case scenario. There's 250+ high schools in the Chicagoland area, would not be an extraneous task in the least. There's also a ton of Indy area schools who would be glad to schedule said schools as well.

Lol. I already went over this last night. Penn's 2021 schedule includes 6 teams that are better than any DAC team Penn stands to play under your new proposal with the exception of Elkhart and Valpo, who they already play every year anyway. Penn would only be able to keep one of: Cathedral/St. X/Mishawaka/Mishawaka Marian in your DAC expansion. All four of those programs are better than any team in Penn's new proposed DAC East alignment and under your crossover proposal would only play Merrillville every third year. Regardless of what you think, there's no way under any circumstance Penn benefits in your new DAC. None.

How? If you split up the current DAC there's going to be more open weeks in the new conference alignment. Merrillville would still be able to schedule Michigan City/Lake Central/Portage whomever as they now have open weeks as well.

There's no way you actually think expanding the DAC to more Northern schools better prepares them for better postseason results as was your original intent. Penn losing out on the opportunity to schedule both St. X and Cathedral (or likewise programs) does not better prepare them for a postseason run.

And it turns out that it is really about helping Penn (along with the rest of the 5A and 6A Northern Schools) in a quest for a state title. If we're talking about re-aligning conferences to the point it prepares them accordingly for a title run, conference expansion under this proposal makes very little sense. Take Merrillville, Valpo, Crown Point, and Michigan City, form a new six team new conference with Penn and Elkhart where you're playing five quality conference opponents in succession and it leaves you 4 open weeks. There's an open week or two to still schedule former DAC rivalries and then two to three open weeks to schedule regional powers from the Indy/Chicago/NW OH/Cincy area.

You still haven't answered how condensing schedules and subsequently limiting scheduling opportunities better prepares 5A and 6A Northern teams in a state title pursuit? Merrillville, Valpo, Penn, etc are better off playing powerhouse Chicago schools/Indy powers than they are fellow DAC opponents. Cathedral, Naperville Central, Homewood-Flossmoor are much more similar to the Carmel's, Warren's, Center Grove's of the world than they are Chesterton, Portage, La Porte.

That was no slight at Pioneer. But if you want to be in the conversation as a serious contender for a 6A title as DT put it, you need to beat schools with 250 students. Period. Chesterton hasn't won a sectional in 25+ years. They don't belong in the conversation as a legitimate threat in the North. Sorry.

He didn’t play a down last year. Highly rated recruit with some good offers out of HS, but no real way to say what impact he may have had as he literally never saw the field.

I said there was hope for Elkhart. Crown Point and Morton need to accomplish something before before joining the discussion. They aren’t in it right now. Didn’t Chesterton just lose to a 1A school? La Porte has a decent football program, but not one that’s in perennial title discussion. Valpo, Merrillville, Snider, Penn, and Homestead are the teams that belong in perennial title discussion and there’s a pretty significant gap between them and the Indy schools.

Realistically you have 4, maybe 5 on a semi-regular basis: Merrillville, Snider, Valpo, Penn, and Homestead, and you didn’t include Dwenger who is 5A due to the SF. Elkhart may get to that point but none of the other schools belong in that regular conversation. What gives those schools a better chance of making a deep post season run? Condensing their schedules and auto-locking them into 8-9 game conference slates or perhaps some flexibility to schedule Indy or out of state powers? You tell me?

Conference contraction is the only way that is going to happen. Too many 6A teams landlocked in dead weight conferences with little flexibility and in some cases no flexibility (SAC) in scheduling premier programs from the Midwest. It would make sense for the Big 4 SAC schools opting out (Dwenger, Snider, Homestead, Carroll) and joining up with Elkhart/Penn or a combination of Merrillville, Valpo, Michigan City joining up with Elkhart/Penn. A team 12 super conference of not so super teams doesn’t help anything.