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SAC going to 2 divisions


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7 minutes ago, jakone said:

What I heard they are going to have Big school division Carroll, Homestead, Dwenger, Northrop and Snider. Small division Luers Concordia, South Side, North Side, and Wayne. More to come later. 

https://outsidethehuddle.net/2022/01/06/oth-exclusive-sac-very-close-to-big-changes-for-football-beginning-in-2023/

OTH EXCLUSIVE: SAC “very close” to big changes for football beginning in 2023

There is considerable momentum and discussion ongoing that could see the Summit Athletic Conference look much different come fall of 2023. 

Per sources close to Outside the Huddle, SAC coaches and athletic directors are nearing an agreement on the adoption of a two-division format, non-conference games and a Week 9 “championship week” for football beginning in the 2023 season. 

In the plan that OTH is told is “very close” to being endorsed, the SAC will be split into two divisions – big school and small school – similar to the format currently used in the Northeast Corner Conference. 

The big school division will feature Bishop Dwenger, Carroll, Homestead, Northrop and Snider. 

The small school division will consist of Bishop Luers, Concordia Lutheran, North Side, South Side and Wayne. 

It is uncertain at this time just who would need to pass this plan to make it official, although sense says it will be the athletic directors, but it will need to have unanimous approval by the 10 member schools. 

Under the proposal, each team’s schedule will have Weeks 1 and 2 open for non-conference competition. The next six weeks will see teams play all four of their division opponents and a pair of crossover games against teams from the other division. Some of these inter-divisional games will be rotated, but others will be used to protect rivalries such as the Battle of the Bishops. 

OTH has also been told that an SAC schedule for the first six years of this new format has already been prepared, pending the plan’s adoption.

Week 9 will be “Championship Week” as the first-place teams in each division face off for the SAC Championship and the Victory Bell. The second-place teams will take each other on, and so on. 

OTH has been told that while there is near-unanimous support for this radically-changed setup for the league, it has not been greeted with universal approval from all parties, due to a few factors. 

One point that has been brought up involves the fact that schools in the small division will sacrifice a considerable amount of big-time tests by not playing the entirety of the league powerhouses. Concordia Lutheran and Bishop Luers have each benefited in the postseason from playing a tough, higher-class schedule. 

The other is a concern that suitable opponents will be difficult to find. But considering the amount of programs that would be willing to schedule SAC foes just in this region, especially a Northeast 8 Conference that also has its non-conference games in Weeks 1-2, this feels like a considerable non-factor. 

While some may love this new format and others not so much, it guarantees the ability for SAC schools to challenge themselves outside of the conference and allow areas of the state to see Fort Wayne’s best in terms of programs and talent. 

In some circles, the recent era that saw Elmhurst High School close in 2010 and Harding one year later, allowing SAC programs to step out of the region, was sensational. High-profile matchups included Snider taking on the likes of Penn and Cathedral, Bishop Dwenger challenging Cincinnati LaSalle and Bishop Luers traveling to out-of-state powerhouses like Columbus Hartley and Toledo Whitmer. 

Conversely, other SAC teams were able to find like-talented squads to play, with South Side and Arsenal Tech building a mini-rivalry and Northrop adding central Indiana teams such as Anderson and Muncie South. 

The ability to schedule out-of-conference games disappeared\ when Homestead and Carroll entered the league in 2015. 

Over the last six seasons, grumblings have only grown about the regular-season schedule within Fort Wayne growing stale, area 6A programs with the inability to compete with its compatriots due to lack of games against like-sized schools and the allure of seeing big inter-conference matchups within northeast Indiana, such as Leo vs. Bishop Dwenger, East Noble vs. Carroll or Eastside vs. Bishop Luers (in the regular season). 

While nothing is assured as of this time, this is the closest the SAC has gotten to real change that brings what many consider one of the top three leagues in the state into the present day in terms of scheduling.

Edited by Bobref
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Congratulations to BTF and all the other posters who have been pushing for this move for years.

Once again, The Gridiron Digest has helped push the needle and impact policy change for the betterment of the game.  We have influenced everything from class changes, to the success factor, the mercy rule, conference realignment, intersectional matchups, and contraction.

Tim Adams would be very proud today of the influential on line community that he created.

Nice work GID Members.  You DO indeed have a voice, it is heard at every level of football in Indiana, and it has an impact.

 

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2 hours ago, jakone said:

What I heard they are going to have Big school division Carroll, Homestead, Dwenger, Northrop and Snider. Small division Luers Concordia, South Side, North Side, and Wayne. More to come later. 

So, congrats to Luers on their annual division championship?

Feels very Big Ten East/West to me.

But no, in all honesty if it opens up the schedule to play some different teams outside of the area, it’s a good thing in my opinion.

Edited by temptation
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3 hours ago, HHF said:

Congratulations to BTF and all the other posters who have been pushing for this move for years.

Once again, The Gridiron Digest has helped push the needle and impact policy change for the betterment of the game.  We have influenced everything from class changes, to the success factor, the mercy rule, conference realignment, intersectional matchups, and contraction.

Tim Adams would be very proud today of the influential on line community that he created.

Nice work GID Members.  You DO indeed have a voice, it is heard at every level of football in Indiana, and it has an impact.

 

I couldn’t laugh at this post enough. Are you congratulating HHF on Facebook also? 

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44 minutes ago, Staxawax said:

I couldn’t laugh at this post enough. Are you congratulating HHF on Facebook also? 

Not sure why you think his post is funny. You don't think media, coaches, athletic directors, and players read this forum? I bet there are 40 readers for every poster. 

3 hours ago, HHF said:

Congratulations to BTF and all the other posters who have been pushing for this move for years.

................and music to my ears. Good move for the SAC. 

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3 hours ago, PDB26 said:

This is great. The Week 9 format seems like a bit of a miss to this outsider when you could have an additional OOC game, but that's merely a quibble. 

It's really the only way to crown a champion though. 

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26 minutes ago, BTF said:

Not sure why you think his post is funny. You don't think media, coaches, athletic directors, and players read this forum? I bet there are 40 readers for every poster. 

................and music to my ears. Good move for the SAC. 

Anytime Driven T openly strokes his own ego it is funny.

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2 minutes ago, Staxawax said:

Anytime Driven T openly strokes his own ego it is funny.

The real heroes of high school football are the players and coaches who put hours and hours of effort into this great sport. But let's not discount the voice of the fans, the ones who pump money into the athletic departments. And at the end of the day, football IS a team sport........coaches, players, and fans. The twelfth man is kind of important. It would be foolish of any league or athletic depart to not listen to the voice of the very fans who support them. Maybe the idea of a two division format originated on the GID and maybe it didn't. But you know what? Who cares. It's gained momentum. Congrats to the coaches and athletic directors for bringing this close to reality. 

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So Congrats to the Snider people who have been pushing for their way for years on this. 

Why even have a week nine championship. We all know that the champ will always come from the big school side.

So again, Snider people, congrats on your wish and many championships to come. Best best both worlds here, Eh? Now hopefully you'll feel more special now. 👌

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4 hours ago, Gridiron_Junkie said:

So Congrats to the Snider people who have been pushing for their way for years on this. 

Why even have a week nine championship. We all know that the champ will always come from the big school side.

So again, Snider people, congrats on your wish and many championships to come. Best best both worlds here, Eh? Now hopefully you'll feel more special now. 👌

This move is far more important to Carroll and Homestead than it is Snider. Those two programs have to endure 6a every single year, and this new format will prepare them for that. They deserve a championship, right? Luers has their 11 state titles thanks to a conference that prepares them for the tournament every year. Now maybe it's another programs turn to benefit. 

At the end of the day, this doesn't hurt Luers one iota. They'll still play Dwenger every year and one of the other big schools. With the two open dates, they have an opportunity to schedule programs just as good as Snider, Homestead, and Carroll. I don't think scheduling the likes of Hartley, Whitmer, or Chatard will hurt their chances of making deep runs in the tournament. 

I think the biggest winner in all this is ticket sales. Will I travel to the south end of town to see Luers take on Homestead? Highly doubtful. A team that I wouldn't normally get to witness in person like Chatard, Whitmer, or Hartley? Absolutely. Snider vs Penn, Homestead vs Carmel, Carroll vs Merrillville, and Dwenger vs Roncalli? Sign me up for those. 

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5 minutes ago, whiteshoes said:

My biggest question is how good of an opponent will get me to Luers Field?   Not a big fan of the place.

Which part are you not a fan of? If it's the seating on the visitors side, no problem, sit on the home side. 

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11 hours ago, Titan32 said:

Why would you need the championship game/week?  We don’t have it in the PAC and it works ok.  

Kinda seems like the SAC was watching how the PAC played out and liked what they observed. 
 

agreed on no championship game. There really isn’t a need for it except for the fans who want to pound their chest 

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25 minutes ago, BTF said:

Which part are you not a fan of? If it's the seating on the visitors side, no problem, sit on the home side. 

Parking, concessions, restrooms, seating and field are some of the issues.   Home side is packed and we usually sit on the visitor side, at all sites, to avoid kids.    Can't say I like anything about their facility.    I usually try to catch Luers on the road (at Carroll or Homestead) simply due to those being better facilities.   

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48 minutes ago, DumfriesYMCA said:

agreed on no championship game. There really isn’t a need for it except for the fans who want to pound their chest 

So how do you determine an SAC champion then? I'm sure when Luers kids put on their uniforms, they expect nothing less than to win the SAC championship. They have a mindset of a winner. 

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Hey fellas, 

Jumping in right quick. 

I have changed the story with updated information. Talking to sources last night, the original plan was to have a Week 9 championship week. It is now a third "crossover" week with inter-division games. 

The SAC title will be decided by the head-to-head game between the two division winners, if they indeed played during the season. If they did not, the Victory Bell will be shared between the division winners. 

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28 minutes ago, BTF said:

So how do you determine an SAC champion then? I'm sure when Luers kids put on their uniforms, they expect nothing less than to win the SAC championship. They have a mindset of a winner. 

Top Ten Ways to Determine an SAC Champion:

1. Flip a coin.

2. Cut a deck of cards.

3. Dramatically draw a name written on beechwood bark from a bowler's hat at dawn.

4. Placekicking shootout, opposite foot.

5. First team to call dibs.

6. Give it to the fifth place team on even years, seventh place team odd years.  Except leap years, then it is paper-rock-scissors between fourth and sixth.

7. Top 40 time by the starting left tackle of the respective teams.

8. Mascot fisticuffs. To the death.

9. Each team plants a tree.  In ten years time, the team whose tree has grown tallest wins.

10. The equipment managers of the top two teams appeal their cases to other conference teams (and anyone else nearby) in 10 words or less. None of the ten words may include the letter ‘E’.

 

 

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48 minutes ago, BTF said:

So how do you determine an SAC champion then? I'm sure when Luers kids put on their uniforms, they expect nothing less than to win the SAC championship. They have a mindset of a winner. 

The WIC Western Indiana Conference has a Green Division and a Gold Division

WIC Gold Division
#1 Northview (3-1)
#1 Owen Valley (3-1)
#1 Sullivan (3-1)
#4 Indian Creek (1-3)
#5 Edgewood (0-4)
WIC Green Division
#1 South Putnam (5-0)
#2 Greencastle (4-1)
#3 Brown County (2-3)
#3 North Putnam (2-3)
#3 West Vigo (2-3)
#6 Cloverdale (0-5)
Gold is 3A and 4A schools, Green is 1A and 2A schools
The conference recognizes two champions each year, as well as Coach of the Year in each division.
Schools play all others in their division to determine champion, and then schedule as many games with the opposite division as they can, some playing more cross overs than others. This should work for The SAC.  
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2 hours ago, whiteshoes said:

Parking, concessions, restrooms, seating and field are some of the issues.   Home side is packed and we usually sit on the visitor side, at all sites, to avoid kids.    Can't say I like anything about their facility.    I usually try to catch Luers on the road (at Carroll or Homestead) simply due to those being better facilities.   

Maybe Luers should steal people's tax money and build a new stadium, oh wait we are not a government school.

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2 hours ago, BTF said:

So how do you determine an SAC champion then? I'm sure when Luers kids put on their uniforms, they expect nothing less than to win the SAC championship. They have a mindset of a winner. 

It sorts itself out because usually you’ll schedule a crossover game anyways.
 

im sure luers would schedule some of the big schools of the SAC and from those matchups people will just know who the best team is. 
 

the biggest benefit from this is that it gives all schools the flexibility to schedule to their teams needs.  Schools that have historically struggled can now schedule matchups that would be better for them which can help get some momentum.
 

for the stronger teams in the conference they can use the flexibility to schedule tougher opponents to help prepare the team for the postseason more.

it’s just more of a “schedule how you see fit” kinda thing

 

At least in the PAC, it seems like all 10 teams in the conference are happy with the change and has allowed for there to be 4-5 strong teams every year instead of the 1-3 strong teams of the past 

 

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32 minutes ago, DumfriesYMCA said:

It sorts itself out because usually you’ll schedule a crossover game anyways.
 

im sure luers would schedule some of the big schools of the SAC and from those matchups people will just know who the best team is. 
 

the biggest benefit from this is that it gives all schools the flexibility to schedule to their teams needs.  Schools that have historically struggled can now schedule matchups that would be better for them which can help get some momentum.
 

for the stronger teams in the conference they can use the flexibility to schedule tougher opponents to help prepare the team for the postseason more.

it’s just more of a “schedule how you see fit” kinda thing

 

At least in the PAC, it seems like all 10 teams in the conference are happy with the change and has allowed for there to be 4-5 strong teams every year instead of the 1-3 strong teams of the past 

 

Divisional champion is equal to conference champion in the WIC setup.  Go tell Chuck Sorrell at South Putnam that his team did not technically win a championship this year.

 

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