haliker

Clay is probably 1 mile away from the Michigan state line, and Howe has got to be pretty close to that as well. Does Howe have a football team?

From a football perspective, I agree that SB Schools as a whole are definitely one of the weaker links in the NIC. That being said, they are also some of the most competitive schools year in and year out in Basketball, Track, Swimming, Wrestling, Baseball, and even Cross Country. As a complete conference, there is little reason to see a team like New Prairie or even Mishawaka leave the NIC, (and from what I have heard many parents and boosters are not happy with the travel times and loss of rivalries). If Mishawaka had stayed, and you have the new Elkhart School, the NIC north would be as good as almost any conference top to bottom. The question is, how do Glenn, Jimtown, Clay, Washington, and Bremen consistently compete in more sports.

I have to disagree with you guys on some of the competitive aspects of the NIC. Marian, New Prairie, Penn, Mishawaka, and Bremen have all represented Northern Indiana down in the Semi State or Regional Championship games in the last 4 years. Add to that, Riley appears to be consistently winning the games they should be winning, just need to get over the hump against some of the solid programs (Marian NP Mishawaka) to take that next step. Unfortunately alot of the schools up here only make a run when they have that 25 kid senior class, and hopefully some of that starts to change. When looking at teams like Jimtown, Bremen, John Glenn I see young staffs and young teams that will begin to turn the corner in a year or two. Adams just feels like they have the numbers and cant do anything with them. Washington and Clay are another story altogether. One of the biggest omissions from your original post though is the new Elkhart school which should be LOADED with talent starting next year. So that being said, the North should be great competition between NP, Penn, and Elkhart for the next few years. Moving Marian up to the North really hurts the South part of the conference leaving only Jimtown, Riley, and Bremen as the only teams with winning records on a consistent basis next year.