Hoosier Hills Conference

[ptr]

3 hours ago, ptr said:

I haven't heard anything on that, but I'm not close to anyone around the football program so there is that. If true, I believe it will be starting with the 2027 season, at least in football, since the football schedules for current HHC teams are pretty much set for 2026. I would say that both South and Col. North will go ahead and play an independent schedule in football for next season, and they both still have some work to be done in filling out a schedule for next season. 

I thought I would add that Southport, the third team in CI without a conference, is all set with a full independent schedule. Being in the shadows of Indy helps a lot in putting a schedule together.

[HoopsCoach]

ADs seem to prefer conferences with 8 members, but the Hoosier Hills could benefit from expanding to 10 or 12 and using a division format for football.  Bring in Columbus North and Bloomington South.  Then add Silver Creek and Charlestown who are outgrowing the MSC, and convince Madison to return home to the Hoosier Hills where they can compete better in a division of 3A/4A schools instead of playing the 5A/6A schools as they previously did in the HHC.  Charlestown and Madison are unlikely to join, but I could see Silver Creek making the jump based upon their growth.

The divisions for football could be split between the “Metro” Division and “Central” Division (the schools between the Metro areas).  Here’s what it would look like with 12 members including 2025-26 enrollments.

Metro Division

Jeffersonville 2147

Columbus North 2098

New Albany 1755

Floyd Central 1752

Bloomington South 1714

Columbus East 1280

Central Division

Seymour 1644

Bedford-North Lawrence 1186

Jennings County 1161

Silver Creek 1009

Charlestown 918

Madison 803

If Madison and Charlestown are not interested, then shift Columbus East to the Central Division and go with 5 in each.  Everyone plays everyone in the other team sports - boys/girls basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, boys/girls soccer.  In the individual sports like wrestling, swimming, tennis, track, XC, etc., a division format could be used based upon competitive balance.  Middle school sports can go with north/south divisions and play the middle schools of the conference members closest to them to limit travel.  Some of the larger high schools have more than one middle school that feeds into the high school, while others are a single, direct feeder middle school.

Now tell me all the reasons this can’t and shouldn’t happen.

[Frozen Tundra]

2 hours ago, HoopsCoach said:

ADs seem to prefer conferences with 8 members, but the Hoosier Hills could benefit from expanding to 10 or 12 and using a division format for football.  Bring in Columbus North and Bloomington South.  Then add Silver Creek and Charlestown who are outgrowing the MSC, and convince Madison to return home to the Hoosier Hills where they can compete better in a division of 3A/4A schools instead of playing the 5A/6A schools as they previously did in the HHC.  Charlestown and Madison are unlikely to join, but I could see Silver Creek making the jump based upon their growth.

The divisions for football could be split between the “Metro” Division and “Central” Division (the schools between the Metro areas).  Here’s what it would look like with 12 members including 2025-26 enrollments.

Metro Division

Jeffersonville 2147

Columbus North 2098

New Albany 1755

Floyd Central 1752

Bloomington South 1714

Columbus East 1280

Central Division

Seymour 1644

Bedford-North Lawrence 1186

Jennings County 1161

Silver Creek 1009

Charlestown 918

Madison 803

If Madison and Charlestown are not interested, then shift Columbus East to the Central Division and go with 5 in each.  Everyone plays everyone in the other team sports - boys/girls basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, boys/girls soccer.  In the individual sports like wrestling, swimming, tennis, track, XC, etc., a division format could be used based upon competitive balance.  Middle school sports can go with north/south divisions and play the middle schools of the conference members closest to them to limit travel.  Some of the larger high schools have more than one middle school that feeds into the high school, while others are a single, direct feeder middle school.

Now tell me all the reasons this can’t and shouldn’t happen.

Problem is, Madison has zero interest in rejoining. Last I heard, Silver Creek and Charlestown have no interest in joining. And I’m still not convinced Columbus North and Bloomington South are joining in football. Knowing what I know about North, HHC football is beneath them.

[HoopsCoach]

1 hour ago, Frozen Tundra said:

Problem is, Madison has zero interest in rejoining. Last I heard, Silver Creek and Charlestown have no interest in joining. And I’m still not convinced Columbus North and Bloomington South are joining in football. Knowing what I know about North, HHC football is beneath them.

One advantage to a division format is that a team like Columbus North would only have 5 (or 4) required conference football games and they could play several non-conference opponents who compete at the level they want to face.  That is what the Eastern Indiana Conference does so East Central can play up.  North could potentially have a schedule like this:

Week 1 - Whiteland

Week 2 - Columbus East (HHC)

Week 3 - Floyd Central (HHC)

Week 4 - Roncalli

Week 5 - New Albany (HHC)

Week 6 - Jeffersonville (HHC)

Week 7 - Bloomington South (HHC)

Week 8 - East Central

Week 9 - Jasper

[Frozen Tundra]

2 hours ago, HoopsCoach said:

One advantage to a division format is that a team like Columbus North would only have 5 (or 4) required conference football games and they could play several non-conference opponents who compete at the level they want to face.  That is what the Eastern Indiana Conference does so East Central can play up.  North could potentially have a schedule like this:

Week 1 - Whiteland

Week 2 - Columbus East (HHC)

Week 3 - Floyd Central (HHC)

Week 4 - Roncalli

Week 5 - New Albany (HHC)

Week 6 - Jeffersonville (HHC)

Week 7 - Bloomington South (HHC)

Week 8 - East Central

Week 9 - Jasper

I get what you’re saying and I’m very familiar with the EIAC, East Central and the scheduling format. However, as a Columbus East grad and someone who has lived most of his life in Columbus, I would be stunned if Columbus North joined the HHC in football. Just going off  what I know. I get that they’re without a conference home but that doesn’t change anything.

Edited January 25 by Frozen Tundra

[Impartial_Observer]

I really don’t think, unless something has changed, none of the non-river HHC schools are interested in “another” conference alignment that involves Jeff and NA. You can’t afford to host them. 

[ptr]

Posted under the Conference Indiana thread by Bash Riprock:

 

[Impartial_Observer]

I can confirm:

HHC voted to expand. 
BHSS is not (as of 7:51pm 1/27/26) currently/in the process of joining the HHC. 

[boilerfan87]

2 hours ago, Impartial_Observer said:

I can confirm:

HHC voted to expand. 
BHSS is not (as of 7:51pm 1/27/26) currently/in the process of joining the HHC. 

Who could they be looking at adding? If BHSN or BHSS are not interested and neither is Columbus North, what other large schools are relatively local that would consider? Could it go west to Jasper? Otherwise, wouldn't we be getting into either Terre Haute or Indy? Terre Haute is about to have a massive school with consolidation. Plus, that is a haul from most places in the HHC. 

[Impartial_Observer]

I know nothing other than what I posted. 

[boilerfan87]

10 hours ago, Impartial_Observer said:

I know nothing other than what I posted. 

I didn't mean to imply that, sorry. Just curious about your thoughts and anyone else's for that matter. I'd think it'd be a fairly limited pool of potential candidates. 

[TheMadness1]

I’ve heard Seymour is close to narrowing down a coach for next season.  Any insiders know if things have/will progress to make the February Board Meeting?

[Impartial_Observer]

3 hours ago, boilerfan87 said:

I didn't mean to imply that, sorry. Just curious about your thoughts and anyone else's for that matter. I'd think it'd be a fairly limited pool of potential candidates. 

I think reading between the lines of my source, the situation is dynamic, hence my time stamp. 
Along those same lines, since JC has left the conference, or whatever it is they’ve done, do they still have a vote on new schools?

7 minutes ago, TheMadness1 said:

I’ve heard Seymour is close to narrowing down a coach for next season.  Any insiders know if things have/will progress to make the February Board Meeting?

It will be announced after the Feb school board meeting. I believe next Tuesday, but could be wrong on the date. I think it will be a great hire for the Owls. 

[Impartial_Observer]

14 hours ago, boilerfan87 said:

Who could they be looking at adding? If BHSN or BHSS are not interested and neither is Columbus North, what other large schools are relatively local that would consider? Could it go west to Jasper? Otherwise, wouldn't we be getting into either Terre Haute or Indy? Terre Haute is about to have a massive school with consolidation. Plus, that is a haul from most places in the HHC. 

I’ve never considered CN a candidate based on the CE/CN thing. Either of the Bloomington schools becomes a travel issue. Yea, can’t wait for that Tuesday night wintry BB trip from Bloomington to Jeff. Granted they were former conference foes in the SCC. Seymour has even continued to play BHSS in most sports since, until the last 10-15 years as athletics has fallen on hard times. I really would think if anyone, BHSS, would be the school. All I’m saying is nothing is set in stone yet. Indiana Preps has like a press release, that’s simply not factual at this time. 

[TheMadness1]

8 minutes ago, Impartial_Observer said:

I think reading between the lines of my source, the situation is dynamic, hence my time stamp. 
Along those same lines, since JC has left the conference, or whatever it is they’ve done, do they still have a vote on new schools?

It will be announced after the Feb school board meeting. I believe next Tuesday, but could be wrong on the date. I think it will be a great hire for the Owls. 

Thanks. And I agree based on what I heard on the prospective coach they were looking at.  

Not a lot of job openings currently expected at SHS as several coaches who resigned this year or last, along with an expect resignation or two have stayed on as teaching staff.  Will be interesting to see how they are able to fill in the support staff job wise and who may stay on from the prior coaching group. 

[Frozen Tundra]

47 minutes ago, Impartial_Observer said:

I’ve never considered CN a candidate based on the CE/CN thing. Either of the Bloomington schools becomes a travel issue. Yea, can’t wait for that Tuesday night wintry BB trip from Bloomington to Jeff. Granted they were former conference foes in the SCC. Seymour has even continued to play BHSS in most sports since, until the last 10-15 years as athletics has fallen on hard times. I really would think if anyone, BHSS, would be the school. All I’m saying is nothing is set in stone yet. Indiana Preps has like a press release, that’s simply not factual at this time. 

Bloomington South has played Columbus East and BNL in boys basketball every year going back to before John Harrell started keeping track of things in the 1993-1994 season.

Bloomington South has played New Albany every year since the 2009-2010 season. They’ve played Floyd Central every year since the 2014-2015 season. They played Jennings County every year from the 2014-2015 season up through last year. It was dropped this year. Not sure the last time Jeff was on the schedule but, given the fact they’ve been playing Floyd Central and New Albany annually, I don’t think adding Jeff will bother them too much.

[ptr]

Evidently, there is a lot of credence to the South to the HCC. Here's an excerpt from the high school beat writer for the Bloomington Herald-Times, and it confirms that AD JR Holmes has petitioned the HHC for membership. 

Bloomington South is on approach, let's see if the Panthers can stick the landing.

According to athletic director JR Holmes, the Panthers applied to join the Hoosier Hills Conference and in return, the league also expressed interest, leading to a meeting and a possible vote in mid-April. Membership would be in all sports starting in 2027-28.

South, Columbus North and Southport were left dry for the 2026-27 school year after Bloomington North left Conference Indiana for the Mid-State Conference and then Terre Haute North and South bolted for the Sagamore Athletic Conference.

For South, finding a league with members of similar size and mutual interest and within reasonable driving distances severely limited its options. But the Panthers already compete against many HHC members in every sport and the league's long history also likely means long-term stability if they are accepted.

The feedback Holmes has heard from coaches and athletic directors has been mostly positive, he said.

[ptr]

Any guesses as to which schools ARE NOT warm to the idea of South joining the conference. AD JR Holmes indicated that the feedback was MOSTLY positive from HHC coaches and ADs.

[southend]

43 minutes ago, ptr said:

Any guesses as to which schools ARE NOT warm to the idea of South joining the conference. AD JR Holmes indicated that the feedback was MOSTLY positive from HHC coaches and ADs.

Bedford North. 
their enrollment is shrinking. They may drop  one class next go-around. 

[Impartial_Observer]

I would guess several of the schools already play them in multiple sports. I would guess the entire conference would need to step up in Football, I think they will be a competitive addition to the HHC. 

[Frozen Tundra]

They all need to suck it up. I like the idea of having Bloomington South in the conference. Plus, with the loss of Madison and Jennings County being half-in and half-out, we need to add some members to ensure the HHC doesn’t go the route of Conference Indiana.

[Impartial_Observer]

Bring in BHSS and BHSN, drop NA and Jeff, I like it. 

[Frozen Tundra]

1 hour ago, Impartial_Observer said:

Bring in BHSS and BHSN, drop NA and Jeff, I like it. 

Nah we need them for basketball. If we’re going to suck at football we can at least dominate in basketball.

[Fkfootball]

5 hours ago, Impartial_Observer said:

I would guess several of the schools already play them in multiple sports. I would guess the entire conference would need to step up in Football, I think they will be a competitive addition to the HHC. 

I would think so. Floyd Central swept the conference pretty easily and got routed up in Bloomington. We're improving, but not on their level yet.

[TheMadness1]

I don’t necessarily mind BSouth joining, but they will quickly rise to near the top in several sports.  It would be nice to have BNorth too since they would be more mid-range in several sports, but they went elsewhere.