itiswhatitis

Since no one commented on my other post, just for fun I looked at this week's Sags. I looked at the state rankings and NOT class rankings. In a proposal of only allowing the top 192 teams in the tournament by where they are ranked you can look at the Sags and see where everyone is listed. To use as an example, let's say there are 6 divisions with 32 teams each. In this week's rankings, Lewis Cass is ranked 32nd so they would play in Division I (the top 32 ranked teams). And before you start with the "no way a 2A team can complete with 5A and 6A teams, you have to keep class football out of the equation. It is where they are ranked not school size. If they are good enough to be ranked that high, then that is who they should play against in the tournament. Every year we hear some fans boasting how their team is so good they could beat every team in the next class above them (and occasionally 2 classes). This type of proposal would give them a chance to prove it. So get rid of the classes and just rank everyone, 1 - 320. I am not going to post all 192 teams. If you want to know where your team is, go to Harrell's and look at the sags. I only considered 6 divisions with 32 teams each. That is where the 192 teams came from It could be broken down into more divisions if they needed to. The one big problem I see is the matchups geographically and every year it would change.. With 192 teams making the tournament field (96 games) that would leave 128 schools to use as neutral sites when it became necessary. So that should help out with the long road trips. Someone would have a big job sitting down figuring out the draw and the sites every year. As I said in my other post, it would eliminate the all in (which some people want) and it would help the current 5A and 6A classes with the bye week. No more need for that and no more need for a success factor. Teams' rankings change from year to year. This year you may play in a higher division than next year and so forth. Oh and these Sags are after one tournament game. I would think with the proposed tourney field would need to be taken from the end of the season. So using this week's Sags they are off by one week, but it was fun listing 6 divisions and see who was where. Also a few surprises as to who was still in the current tournament and some of those teams who wouldn't even make the field of 192. Okay I'm done.

And I also remember, "dance with who you brought". For now, Kelly is their dance partner. If the Notre Dame fan base is satisfied with what he's done, then so be it. As far as football is concerned and the way the landscape is starting to look, Notre Dame will become a distant memory because they will get left behind. Notice I said football. And again, even though I am not a fan, I think that would be a shame if they fell into oblivion. THEY NEED TO FIND THE NEXT KNUTE!!!

Start playing the sectional title games at neutral sites (and the regionals and semi-states). Doesn't even have to be the same class of school that is hosting. That should cut out the whining about long road trips because there would be a lot less..

Well considering that Meyer is a catholic and has stated on National television that "Notre Dame is my "dream job", I'll go even further back than that (4 seasons at ND as an assistant). Did you know while he was a DB and placeholder at the University of Cincinnati, he interned one year at St X under Coach Steve Rasso? He was a DB coach for Rasso. I just found that out recently. I only bring that up because of your St. X ties. Then later in his head coaching career when Charlie Weiss was rumored to be canned at Notre Dame in 2009, Meyer's name was linked to Notre Dame while the head coach at Florida. He held a press conference and stated, "I will stay at Florida as long as they will have me". And we all know ND hired Chip Kelly. I find it amusing that Kelly is now rumored to get canned and once again Meyer's name is being tossed around as the replacement. Since he is unemployed as a head coach, I have to wonder if he will take his "dream job" if it is offered again. I'm sure he'll have some kind of game plan in place (the recruiting standards thing) BEFORE he would accept. He is dealing with some health issues or should I say, "it has been reported" so maybe he'll just keep his current job on TV as an analyst. Either way, could you agree it's time to move on from Kelly? There has been some success there, but not what I thought there would be and I'm not even an Irish fan.

Yeah let's not talk about he's one of only 3 coaches in NCAA history to win National Championships at 2 different universities. Yeah, let's just forget that bit of trivia. Let's just talk about his failures.

I do now. LOL

While it sounds "noble" to want to get more official.and you wanting "fairness", I have to ask: how is that fair? You would force the 5A and 6A teams to play an extra game only to have them turn over their revenue? Even though I support a 2A program, that doesn't sound very fair to me. I would think that any AD in their right mind wouldn't agree to that kind of "deal".

Looking at the offensive stats from last game, I have to ask: Can the Patriots pass the ball? I see they only threw 2 passes in that game and both were incomplete. I get that some teams run the ball almost exclusively, but at some point if that isn't working, are you capable of passing? I think the score will be closer than during the season. According to the Sags they are about 10 points apart. Give GS the 1.45 points for being at home and it comes down to about an 8 to 9 point game. Of course, that's all things being equal. Looks like there will be some issues with the weather Friday night. Even if it isn't raining/snowing during the game, the field will probably be wet from the previous 2 days of forecasted rain. Seen games like that where there were zero turnovers. Also seen games like that when there were 11 turnovers. Should be a really good game. I'll say the Patriots win out and move on.

And where was this reported? Let me guess: in some secret magazine that only Notre Dame Alumni can get? I don't recall seeing ANYTHING on the news that Meyer turned down Notre Dame and especially for the "reason" you state. Let me guess again: Notre Dame didn't want to report it at all. How would that look on their precious reputation if they got turned down by one of the best coaches of all time? Don't give me that "holier than thou" bs and dump it on Meyer that he's like some villain. Your "he isn't good enough for our standards" is really lame.

Thanks for all you did for Miner sports! Going to miss seeing you on the sidelines. I still remember when you, my son, and I were all right on the goal line during the Scecina semi-state game and thought Linton had scored. LOL That was one crazy night! Just one of many memories from Miner football lore. Best of luck in your newest endeavor!

One thing I've noticed about this year's Miner team is they are still in the top 50 in the state in statistical categories even though their SOS has increased. Granted they aren't scoring 50 points per game like they did against a weaker schedule. Granted they are giving up 12 points per game instead of 5 or 6 like they used to. Granted they are winning by 26 points per game instead of 40 like they used to. But as I said, their SOS is tougher now. Win or lose, I am proud of what they have accomplished this year. Other than the 2016 championship team I have to say this has been one of my favorite Miner teams in my 25 years of supporting the Miners. I really liked the 97/98 team too but I think I like this year's team a little bit better. That 97/98 team was full of Big lads. Matt Gamble still holds the season rushing record at Linton (1,730 yards). He was such a powerful runner. Watched a game one night when he dragged 4 would be tacklers for almost 20 yards and STILL scored. He was a beast on the field. He was pretty much a straight up runner (like John Riggins back in the day for the Redskins) and would just run you over.

So have you left Linton yet? Sorry to see you go TS! Have enjoyed your coverage.

There should be 32 teams in 5A and 6A. That would eliminate the need for a bye or a week 10 game.

Thought you would be. Hey go to the high school forum and check out my reply about the playoffs. Would like your opinion on it.

So subtracting the Sags gives Linton a 1.33 advantage. But if you add in the 1.45 points for home field, that makes Mater Dei a .12 point favorite. Whew! Linton is still the underdog!

I think most other teams in the league are probably jealous of the Colts right now. I was told by a Chiefs fan when Irsay hired Ballard, that we would love having Ballard running the organization and that he was upset (to put it mildly) that the Chiefs let him get away. His background it nothing but evaluating talent, evaluating talent, evaluating talent. The guy was ready to be a GM. I think the results of what he's done in 3 years is a culmination of his prior experience. He rarely (if ever) makes mistakes. It is a breath of fresh air compared to what Grigson did. Well, what Grigson didn't do - build the team. It didn't hurt that Ballard came from a good organization either (Kansas City). And this is for you Coach: he was also with Da Bears before the Chiefs. LOL So yeah, it's a great time to be a Colts fan!

Oh it's about Ohio. I've seen your posts before. But back on topic: I've yet to see a proposal that doesn't have to do with conference play or something similar. Again, I have to ask, "what about the independents?" Cathedral comes to mind. Are you going to eliminate Cathedral because they are not in a conference? Like that's gonna happen! Not in this lifetime. I also read a suggestion in this topic about having artificial districts which would pretty much eliminate any need for conferences. So much for making conference play meaningful. And wouldn't that eliminate some old rivalries? I saw a proposal a few years back that had to do with using the Sagarin ratings (or something like similar) and evaluating the 320 teams 1 - 320 regardless of class. That kind of made sense to me because teams would be closer to each other in competition. I believe it would have been done near the end of the year. Let's keep the conferences and let the rivalries remain! Rank the teams 1 - 320 and maybe THEN eliminate the teams to trim down the field. For 32 teams in each class you would need 192 teams. So in that scenario, teams 193 - 320 would not make the tournament. I know that is more than half (50%), but it would even out the 5A and 6A classes and there would be no need to propose a 10th game or any need for a bye. And you could get rid of the classes and just have divisions I - VI. So in this proposal you could have a few smaller schools actually playing in the bigger division (Division I/Division II) if their Sag rating was high enough. There would be no need for a success factor in this situation either. We know teams have up and down years. They would actually be their own success factor by their ratings changing from year to year or being too low to make the field. So teams with ratings 1 - 32 would be Division !, teams 33 - 64 would be in Division !!, and so one regardless of class. And that, would eliminate your all in and should make some people giddy. The only drawback I see is, you would probably have teams hopping around to different divisions from year to year, again, depending on your rating. As I've said, "nothing is perfect".

Not a rehash. My feelings on the topic. It's supposed to be about making Indiana High School football better. How does that happen when you force a certain percentage of the programs to qualify for the tournament? Oh wait, I know....."get better or get over it". How arrogant. I talk with folks from Ohio almost every week and have heard from many who do not like the Ohio format. Yeah, in spite of your agenda, there are those IN OHIO who do NOT like it! I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard, "I wish we had an all in format". Your only perspective is from schools like St X., the ones who will qualify EVERY year regardless. It's easy to look down your nose and tell everyone else to "be like us". After all, we MUST be like Ohio.

Coach Nowlin: I am stunned! What an amazing story. Thank you for sharing!!!

With both defenses playing well, I am thinking the team who gets to 20 will win.

Allen has a rep for recruiting. I was thinking that being bowl eligible will be a bit more ammo for him to get some better recruits. And if they win their bowl game, that should help even more. I'd love to see IU start snagging more and more 4 star recruits and some day maybe even grab a 5 star or two. If that starts happening, IU's program will be in VERY good shape. It may take a few more years, but they have to build off of this year! 3 or 4 years in a row going to bowls would do wonders for the Hoosiers' program going forward.

I never said it HAS happened, I said I could see it happening here in Indiana. That was a speculation. There are MANY smaller schools (and a few larger ones) who have had very little to no success with winning seasons let alone doing well in the tournament. It's so easy to sit on "high" and tell those programs, "Get better or get over it". It's easy to sit behind a keyboard and talk big talk especially when you are in a solid program. Spend some time in a small town with a small program who hasn't had success. See how much it means to those kids to play even ONE game in the tournament. You want to take that away from them? Sorry, but I'm not that cold hearted. And by your math you want only 84 teams in Indiana in the tournament (25%) just so we can be like Ohio? That smacks of junior high mentality. "Mom, all of the other kids have one, why can't I?" If you are so set on being like Ohio, why don't you get on the IHSAA committee and try to push your "Let's be like Ohio" dream tournament through them?

I would hope by next year they are much improved. As I said before, with a better defense, IU would be a dangerous team even against the top teams in the conference. Allen has done a pretty good job assembling this team. Hope he can continue to get some 4 star recruits. Going bowling should help that. I anticipate this year's recruiting will be even better than last year's. Success breeds success.

So did Philyor have 14 catches against Nebraska? I haven't seen a box score of the game. If so, that would be 2 games in a row with 14! He had 14 against Maryland. That's totally insane for a 2 game stretch by ANY receiver. I think IU has a great stable of receivers. All of them are good route runners, can catch the ball, and get yards after the catch. The WR's, TEs, and RB's are all great targets for either quarterback. With all of that youth, IU looks to be in good shape for the next few years. As has been mentioned, the defense needs help. If they get that figured out, IU will be a dangerous team. With a better defense, they will start approaching a top five spot in the conference. They'll still be below Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, and probably Michigan/Iowa, but the rest of the conference will be looking up at IU. I was thinking the Michigan game might be 50/50 this year but after what they just did to Notre Dame, I'll just keep quiet about that. LOL

Yes I watched that game.