Northwest Indiana Top 10

[NWI10]

What does Northwest Indiana football look like this coming year?

 

Crown Point is the 6A runner up and brings back a nice chunk of talent. 

 

Will the Lowell, Merrillville, Hobart, and Andrean's of the world be solid?

[BLACKGOLD2007]

I think that it may fall something like this:

1- CP

2- Merrillville

3- Valpo

4- New Prairie

5- Hanover Central

6- Hobart

7- Michigan City

8- Andrean

9-Gary West

10- Boone Grove 

That actually gets tough once you get past the top 3 or 4. 

[BTF]

Clarify Northwest. Northwest quadrant of the state? Far Northwest, excluding SB/Mishawaka/Elkhart?

[Komets2727]

3 hours ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

I think that it may fall something like this:

1- CP

2- Merrillville

3- Valpo

4- New Prairie

5- Hanover Central

6- Hobart

7- Michigan City

8- Andrean

9-Gary West

10- Boone Grove 

That actually gets tough once you get past the top 3 or 4. 

Where is Penn? Got to be first or second…

[Gipper]

17 hours ago, Komets2727 said:

Where is Penn? Got to be first or second…

They're EDT--you can have them.  BUT, CP did beat them last year...

[Komets2727]

14 minutes ago, Gipper said:

They're EDT--you can have them.  BUT, CP did beat them last year...

CP did best them last year, but they should at least be 2nd

[BLACKGOLD2007]

20 hours ago, Komets2727 said:

Where is Penn? Got to be first or second…

I felt weird adding them in this group, since Penn is almost dead center in the state. If they were in the DAC, I would have thrown them in at 2. 

2 hours ago, Gipper said:

They're EDT--you can have them.  BUT, CP did beat them last year...

That game was wild, and Penn coughed it away multiple times. CP got the job done, but Penn did a Tanya Harding job on themselves. 

On 7/31/2024 at 3:09 PM, BTF said:

Clarify Northwest. Northwest quadrant of the state? Far Northwest, excluding SB/Mishawaka/Elkhart?

I took it as the region. 

[Gipper]

57 minutes ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

I felt weird adding them in this group, since Penn is almost dead center in the state. If they were in the DAC, I would have thrown them in at 2. 

That game was wild, and Penn coughed it away multiple times. CP got the job done, but Penn did a Tanya Harding job on themselves. 

I took it as the region. 

it's not.

 

[BLACKGOLD2007]

On 7/31/2024 at 3:09 PM, BTF said:

Clarify Northwest. Northwest quadrant of the state? Far Northwest, excluding SB/Mishawaka/Elkhart?

If it is just the region what is your top 10?

[BTF]

1 hour ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

If it is just the region what is your top 10?

That's a tough one for me since I haven't researched it thoroughly. I think the Top 3 is easy. I don't know enough about the others to make an educated guess. New Prairie is a solid contender, but I think it's a crapshoot after that. 

1.  Crown Point - lead by a state champion head coach. Entering year 4 and his teams have gotten better each year. No reason to bet that he won't keep the momentum going. He's more than likely in that "hungry for a state title" phase. That can make program dangerous if the commitment is there. The commitment seems to be there. 

2.  Merrillville - I feel like they had a team last year that was young enough to consider this year a possible uptick. I'll have to defer to someone in the region on that. I do know that I immediately called a DC/Merrillville 2024 matchup up shortly after Thanksgiving weekend last year. Merrillville has good coaching. The only thing stopping them from a 5A title is Decatur Central, or maybe Snider if they get bumped down. Either way, Brad Seiss is on a collision course with a state title within the next few years. I was getting ready to move onto #3 when I realized that I may have offended some Warsaw fans. I have their program slightly under Merrillville. Stay tuned. 

3.  Valparaiso - This program is good every year. They are good on the downtick and very good on the uptick. Most years they seem to be an athlete or two away from hoisting the trophy. My guess is that they have community investment in this football team. You can't be good every year, regardless of the coach, like they are otherwise. 

 

  

[temptation]

3 minutes ago, BTF said:

That's a tough one for me since I haven't researched it thoroughly. I think the Top 3 is easy. I don't know enough about the others to make an educated guess. New Prairie is a solid contender, but I think it's a crapshoot after that. 

1.  Crown Point - lead by a state champion head coach. Entering year 4 and his teams have gotten better each year. No reason to bet that he won't keep the momentum going. He's more than likely in that "hungry for a state title" phase. That can make program dangerous if the commitment is there. The commitment seems to be there. 

2.  Merrillville - I feel like they had a team last year that was young enough to consider this year a possible uptick. I'll have to defer to someone in the region on that. I do know that I immediately called a DC/Merrillville 2024 matchup up shortly after Thanksgiving weekend last year. Merrillville has good coaching. The only thing stopping them from a 5A title is Decatur Central, or maybe Snider if they get bumped down. Either way, Brad Seiss is on a collision course with a state title within the next few years. I was getting ready to move onto #3 when I realized that I may have offended some Warsaw fans. I have their program slightly under Merrillville. Stay tuned. 

3.  Valparaiso - This program is good every year. They are good on the downtick and very good on the uptick. Most years they seem to be an athlete or two away from hoisting the trophy. My guess is that they have community investment in this football team. You can't be good every year, regardless of the coach, like they are otherwise. 

 

  

Don't consider Warsaw "NW Indiana" though.

I think the criteria should be the central time zone.

[BLACKGOLD2007]

1 hour ago, temptation said:

Don't consider Warsaw "NW Indiana" though.

I think the criteria should be the central time zone.

Warsaw is EST.  the dividing line is St. Joe county and LaPorte county at the top of the state....as you go south, I assume if 31 goes through your county it is EST.

 

[BTF]

2 hours ago, temptation said:

Don't consider Warsaw "NW Indiana" though.

I think the criteria should be the central time zone.

I feel like Warsaw is right there in the middle with Penn. Northcentral Indiana maybe warrants a poll. 

[Gipper]

2 hours ago, temptation said:

Don't consider Warsaw "NW Indiana" though.

I think the criteria should be the central time zone.

you'd be right.

 

[Gipper]

On 7/31/2024 at 5:37 PM, Komets2727 said:

Where is Penn? Got to be first or second…

First Interloper maybe😁

[US31]

Warsaw is almost 30 miles EAST of US 31....They routinely play FW area schools in all sports....

How are they possibly relavent to anything that is labeled North WESTern Indiana!??!?!

 

[BTF]

1 hour ago, US31 said:

Warsaw is almost 30 miles EAST of US 31....They routinely play FW area schools in all sports....

How are they possibly relavent to anything that is labeled North WESTern Indiana!??!?!

 

Isn't that what I was saying? You gave me a thumbs down. Warsaw sports is part of the Fort Wayne coverage area, so I guess one could label them NE Indiana. If one wants to get technical and throw central out the window, Warsaw shifts to the east (easily), Elkhart shifts to the east, SB/Mishawaka shift to the west. 

[BLACKGOLD2007]

Elkhart and Penn are fluid they can go East or West. Elkhart high is like a mile from the St. Joe county line which is like 7 miles east of Penn. Warsaw is an easy 45 minute drive from Elkhart high school...if you speed down the back roads. 

If we did a poll of True North teams that line is pretty much Ohio to Illinois and Fort Wayne to Michigan state line.

That I think is a very interesting poll.

1- Snider

2- CP

3- Carroll

4- Penn

5- Merrillville

6- Valpo

7- Warsaw

8- Mishawaka

9- New Prairie 

10- Elkhart (on potential)

 

[BTF]

2 hours ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

Elkhart and Penn are fluid they can go East or West. Elkhart high is like a mile from the St. Joe county line which is like 7 miles east of Penn. Warsaw is an easy 45 minute drive from Elkhart high school...if you speed down the back roads. 

If we did a poll of True North teams that line is pretty much Ohio to Illinois and Fort Wayne to Michigan state line.

That I think is a very interesting poll.

1- Snider

2- CP

3- Carroll

4- Penn

5- Merrillville

6- Valpo

7- Warsaw

8- Mishawaka

9- New Prairie 

10- Elkhart (on potential)

 

I think your Top 4 could fall in any order. Next three are a crapshoot, as are the following three. Not sure I could create a better poll than that though. I'd probably stick Homestead at #8 and drop Elkhart out. 

[Komets2727]

4 hours ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

Elkhart and Penn are fluid they can go East or West. Elkhart high is like a mile from the St. Joe county line which is like 7 miles east of Penn. Warsaw is an easy 45 minute drive from Elkhart high school...if you speed down the back roads. 

If we did a poll of True North teams that line is pretty much Ohio to Illinois and Fort Wayne to Michigan state line.

That I think is a very interesting poll.

1- Snider

2- CP

3- Carroll

4- Penn

5- Merrillville

6- Valpo

7- Warsaw

8- Mishawaka

9- New Prairie 

10- Elkhart (on potential)

 

Love the thought here:

1. Carroll

2. Snider

3. Penn

4. Crown Point

5. Warsaw

6. Mishawaka

7. Valparaiso

8. Homestead

9. New Prairie

10. Merrillville 

[BTF]

50 minutes ago, Komets2727 said:

Love the thought here:

1. Carroll

2. Snider

3. Penn

4. Crown Point

5. Warsaw

6. Mishawaka

7. Valparaiso

8. Homestead

9. New Prairie

10. Merrillville 

Why Crown Point at #4?

[Komets2727]

6 minutes ago, BTF said:

Why Crown Point at #4?

Penn should have beaten CP last year and gave the game away. Just think Penn is better as the 2024 season starts.

Would have thought I would have been questioned on everything else in my rankings…

Edited August 2, 2024 by Komets2727

[BTF]

15 minutes ago, Komets2727 said:

Penn should have beaten CP last year and gave the game away. Just think Penn is better as the 2024 season starts.

Would have thought I would have been questioned on everything else in my rankings…

Nope, that was the only one that stood out to me. Not saying you're wrong. Like I originally stated, 1-4 is a crapshoot. 

[temptation]

23 minutes ago, Komets2727 said:

Penn should have beaten CP last year and gave the game away. Just think Penn is better as the 2024 season starts.

Would have thought I would have been questioned on everything else in my rankings…

Never seen a more contradictory poster in my short time on this website.

”Warren is like Notre Dame…all offseason hype and undeserving of a high ranking.”

”College and high school football are completely different animals.”

”Rankings should be based on what happened last year.”

”I am ranking team A ahead of team B because they “should have” beaten them.”

LOFL.

Edited August 2, 2024 by temptation

[Komets2727]

13 minutes ago, temptation said:

Never seen a more contradictory poster in my short time on this website.

”Warren is like Notre Dame…all offseason hype and undeserving of a high ranking.”

”College and high school football are completely different animals.”

”Rankings should be based on what happened last year.”

”I am ranking team A ahead of team B because they “should have” beaten them.”

LOFL.

If you are going to quote me, then do it right. I said Notre Dame is ranked high every year despite results and recruiting every year, Warren’s reference was for last year only as Warren has been a great team for a long time, last year was awful for them hence my rant about why they are being ranked so high

College and high school are completely different, I clearly explained why

Rankings as far as Warren’s record last year, especially being 0-7 against .500 or above teams is relevant and you know it

I do believe Penn is better than CP hence my ranking