The Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph (BCS) League is an athletic conference for high schools in southwest Michigan. Founded in 2014 with the inaugural season of play in 2014-15, the conference aspired to grow into a Southwest Michigan "super conference" with membership extending across all MHSAA classes and organized into divisions of schools with similar enrollments. Periodic realignment of divisions allowed members to remain in competition with like-sized schools within the conference thereby avoiding the disruptive effects of conference switching due to changing enrollment. The conference had a unique scheduling philosophy that did not force members to play against conference opponents in different divisions and respected the freedom of members to schedule rivals and other willing conference opponents regardless of size or division.[1][2]
Between 2017 and 2021, the BCS experienced frequent membership changes with eight schools departing & five schools joining. A final attempt to realize its "super-conference" aspiration was attempted in 2019, when membership invitations were extended to ten schools of diverse enrollments.[3] Niles and South Haven were the only two that accepted. However, Niles departed after only a single season and South Haven exited after two seasons. When expansion proved unsuccessful, the remaining larger schools decided to leave for other conferences.[4] Beginning with the 2022-2023 season, the BCS transitioned into being a league catering to small public and private schools in southwest Michigan.
There are currently 9 member schools. The geographic footprint of the league includes Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Van Buren counties in Michigan.
Current members
School data in the table below is current for the 2023-24 season according to the MHSAA website.[5]
The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members located in Illinois, Indiana, and New York. For football, the MAC participates in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision.
Berrien County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located at the southwest corner of the state's Lower Peninsula, located on the shore of Lake Michigan and sharing a land border with Indiana. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 154,316. The county seat is St. Joseph.
The Missouri Valley Conference is the fourth-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest.
Detroit Catholic Central High School, commonly known as Catholic Central (CC), is a private, Catholic, all-male, college preparatory high school in Novi, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1928 in Detroit, Michigan by the Archdiocese of Detroit, the school is operated by the Congregation of St. Basil.
The Power Five conferences are the five most prominent athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I, the highest level of collegiate football in the nation, and are considered the most elite conferences within that tier. The Power Five conferences have provided nearly all of the participants in the College Football Playoff since its inception, and generally have larger revenue, budgets, and television viewership than other college athletic programs.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) is a service organization for high school sports in Michigan and is headquartered in East Lansing. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
The Catholic High School League (CHSL) is a school athletic conference based in Detroit, Michigan, led by director Victor Michaels. Most member schools are also members of the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), the governing body for Michigan scholastic sports, except for the five schools from Toledo, which are members of the Ohio High School Athletic Association. Unlike many similar leagues, the CHSL governs secondary, middle, and elementary sports for most of the parochial schools in the Detroit area. Most league schools are Catholic, but there are other religious denominations as well. Every school in the CHSL is a private school. In 2019, the CHSL council voted to rename the AB/ Division I/II championship to the Bishop division championship, and the CD/ Division III/IV championship to the Cardinal Division championship.
The Grand Rapids City League (GRCL) was a high school athletic league in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The GRCL originated in the spring of 1928 when seven Grand Rapids high schools competed in the first City Track Meet on May 18-19. The meet doubled as the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Class A Regional Meet. Catholic Central, Central, Creston, Davis Tech, Ottawa Hills, South and Union competed in the meet under the direction of newly appointed City League athletic director Henry Lightner. The league's final membership consisted of the four public high schools of the Grand Rapids Public Schools plus Catholic Central, West Catholic and Christian.
Portage Northern High School is a high school in Portage, Michigan. Northern High School serves 1,235 students from ninth through twelfth grades. In addition to meeting the regular education needs of students living in the PNHS attendance area, the school also houses several special education programs that address the needs of students throughout the Portage district. In addition, Northern is one of nine Michigan high schools currently authorized to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, a rigorous curriculum for grades 11 and 12 that focuses on globalism and interdisciplinary study.
Lumen Christi Catholic School is a private Roman Catholic high school located in Summit Township, just outside Jackson, Michigan, in the United States. Located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing, it was established in 1968 from the merger of St. Mary's and St. John's Catholic High Schools.
The Ottawa-Kent Conference is an athletic league located in West Michigan. Its current leader is David VanNoord. It has member schools from Allegan, Ionia, Kent, Montcalm, Muskegon, and Ottawa Counties. It has 48 member schools that partake in athletics. According to the MHSAA they have the main offices located at Grandville High School.
The Northern Michigan Soccer League is a high school boys and girls soccer league located in northern lower Michigan. The league is made up of Division 3 and 4 member high schools. There are 12 members schools that are split into an east and west division. The league is a member of the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA).
The Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference is a high school athletic conference in Southwestern Michigan. It is composed of Class A schools from the MHSAA in Berrien, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, and Van Buren counties.
The Lake Michigan Conference is an interscholastic athletic conference affiliated with the Michigan High School Athletic Association. It is located in Northern Michigan and contains eight teams that encompasses six counties: Antrim County, Charlevoix County, Crawford County, Emmet County, Grand Traverse County, and Kalkaska County.
Niles High School is a public high school located in Niles, Michigan. It is part of the Niles Community Schools district.
Buchanan High School is a comprehensive public high school located in Buchanan, Michigan, United States. The school serves grades 8-12 and is part of the Buchanan Community Schools district. The school and the community it serves is named after James Buchanan, the 15th President of the United States. Between 2012 and 2014, the school received local and national recognition for its student-led anti-bullying efforts and was named "Nicest School in America" in 2014 by Procter & Gamble as a part of its "Mean Stinks!" anti-bullying campaign. Since the class of 2017, all graduates residing within the school district are eligible for the Buchanan Promise scholarship which grants financial assistance towards the cost of attending a college, university or trade school. The amount was initially a maximum of $10,000 per graduate, but increased to a maximum of $15,000 per graduate beginning with the class of 2022.
The Wolverine "B" Conference is a high school athletic conference in southwestern Michigan. It is composed of 8 Class A and B schools from the MHSAA in Allegan, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, and Van Buren counties. Current members include: Edwardsburg, Niles, Otsego, Paw Paw, Plainwell, Sturgis, Three Rivers and Vicksburg.
Brandywine Middle/Senior High School is a public high school in Niles Charter Township, Berrien County, Michigan, United States. It is part of the Brandywine Community Schools district.
The Lakeland Conference is an athletic conference for high schools in southwest Michigan in the United States. Founded in 2022 with the inaugural season of play in 2022-2023, the conference is a reboot of the old Lakeland Athletic Conference to which it shares a similar geographic footprint, school membership and historic rivalries.
The Big "8" Conference is a MHSAA athletic conference in South Central Michigan consisting of Class B and C schools from Branch, Eaton, Hillsdale, and Jackson counties.
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