Big Northern Conference

Last updated

Big Northern Conference
Conference IHSA
Founded1991 (football), 1995 (all sports)
No. of teams10
Region Northern Illinois (Boone, DeKalb, Lee, Ogle, Whiteside, and Winnebago counties)
Big Northern Conference
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13km
8.1miles
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North Boone
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Winnebago
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Stillman Valley
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Genoa-Kingston
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Lutheran
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Rockford Christian
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Rock Falls
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Byron
Locations of Big Northern Schools

The Big Northern Conference (BNC) is an organization of ten high schools in northern Illinois. These high schools are members of the Illinois High School Association.

Contents

The high schools of the Big Northern Conference are located in the following counties: Boone, DeKalb, LaSalle, Lee, Ogle, Whiteside, and Winnebago.

History

The conference was formed in 1991 as a football-only union of the Big Eight Conference and the Mid-Northern Conference. The original 12 members consisted of six Big Eight schools (Burlington Central, Genoa-Kingston, Hampshire, Harvard, Marengo, and Richmond-Burton), five Mid-Northern schools (Byron, Forreston, Oregon, Stillman Valley, and Winnebago), and one independent school (Ottawa Marquette). Of the remaining football teams from each conference, Pecatonica played in a co-op with Winnebago, Polo and Mt. Morris joined the Upstate Illini Conference, and Huntley played an independent schedule. Pecatonica, Polo, and Mt. Morris all continued to play in the Mid-Northern in other sports, and Huntley continued to do the same in the Big Eight.

In 1995, the Big Eight and Mid Northern merged for all sports, with Ottawa Marquette remaining the only football-only member. Forreston left the conference, moving to the Upstate Illini for all sports. Of the schools from either conference who didn't participate in the football-only merger, Huntley was the only one to join the full merger in 1995, replacing Forreston in football. Pecatonica (who ended their co-op with Winnebago in football) and Polo joined the Upstate Illini in 1995, while Mt. Morris closed in 1994 and merged with Oregon.

Few more changes occurred over the next 15 years. Johnsburg replaced Ottawa Marquette for football in 1998 after joining the BNC for all other sports in 1997, Huntley left in 2003 to join the Fox Valley Conference and was replaced by Rockford Lutheran, and Johnsburg left in 2006 to join the Fox Valley and was replaced by North Boone.

The conference has had several changes since 2011 and peaked at 16 schools during the 2014–15 and 2015–16 school years. Hampshire left for the Fox Valley Conference in 2011 and was replaced by Rock Falls. Mendota joined for all sports except for football in 2011, but began playing football in the BNC in 2012 along with Rockford Christian who joined that year as a full member. In 2014, Johnsburg rejoined the conference and Dixon became a new member.

Following the 2015–16 school year, Burlington Central, Harvard, Johnsburg, Marengo, and Richmond-Burton left the BNC to join Woodstock and Woodstock North in creating the Kishwaukee River Conference. With 11 schools in the 2016–17 school year, the BNC played as one division for the first time in conference history. In football, BNC schools played against only 8 conference opponents, with the 7 largest schools also playing one game against a team in the KRC. [1]

From 1991–92 to 2005–06, the conference's two divisions for football were determined by school size, with the 6 larger schools in the BNC Red Division and the 6 smaller schools in the BNC White Division (with the exception of Ottawa Marquette, which was in the Red Division from 1991–92 to 1997–98 despite having the smallest enrollment in the BNC). Other sports also used the Red and White divisions from 1995–96 to 2000–01, but switched to East and West divisions in 2001–02 (football used East and West divisions in 2002–03 before switching back to Red and White divisions the next year). In 2006–07, the BNC permanently switched to East and West divisions for all sports until it ceased having two divisions in 2016–17.

In 2018, Rockford Christian moved to the Northeastern Athletic Conference in football while remaining in the BNC for all other sports. Having 10 teams in football made it possible for the BNC to have a full conference schedule, as there are 9 games in the regular season. [2] [3] Rockford Christian returned to the BNC for football in 2021. [4] Five games into the 2024–25 football season, Rockford Christian cancelled its football season due to low numbers. They planned to switch to eight-man football in 2025, but cancelled their season. [5]

Mendota left the conference after the 2020–2021 school year to join the Three Rivers Conference. [6] [7]

Membership

The conference's current members, as of 2025–26: [8]

SchoolTownTeam NameColorsYear JoinedEnrollment IHSA Classes 2/3/4 [nb 1] [nb 2]
Byron High School Byron Tigers  1991 (football)

1995 (all sports)

465A/1A/2A
Dixon High School Dixon Dukes/Duchesses  2014772A/2A/3A
Genoa-Kingston High School Genoa Cogs   1991 (football)

1995 (all sports)

496A/1A/2A
North Boone High School Poplar Grove Vikings  2006495A/1A/2A
Oregon High School Oregon Hawks  1991 (football)

1995 (all sports)

444A/1A/2A
Rock Falls High School Rock Falls Rockets  2011533A/1A/2A
Rockford Christian High School Rockford Royal Lions   2012200 [nb 3] [9] A/1A/2A
Rockford Lutheran High School Rockford Crusaders  2003274 [nb 4] [9] A/1A/2A
Stillman Valley High School Stillman Valley Cardinals  1991 (football)

1995 (all sports)

433A/1A/2A
Winnebago High School Winnebago Indians  1991 (football)

1995 (all sports)

429A/1A/2A

Previous Members

SchoolTownTeam NameColorsYear JoinedYear LeftTotal YearsCurrent Conference
Forreston High School Forreston Cardinals   199119954 Northwest Upstate Illini Conference
Burlington Central High School Burlington Rockets  1991 (football)

1995 (all sports)

201625 Fox Valley Conference
Hampshire High School Hampshire Whip-Purs  1991 (football)

1995 (all sports)

201120 Fox Valley Conference
Harvard High School Harvard Hornets  1991 (football)

1995 (all sports)

201625 Kishwaukee River Conference
Marengo Community High School Marengo Indians  1991 (football)

1995 (all sports)

201625 Kishwaukee River Conference
Marquette High School Ottawa Crusaders  199119987 Chicago Prairie Football League (football)

Tri-County Conference (all other sports)

Richmond-Burton Community High School Richmond Rockets  1991 (football)

1995 (all sports)

201625 Kishwaukee River Conference
Huntley High School Huntley Red Raiders   199520038 Fox Valley Conference
Johnsburg High School Johnsburg Skyhawks  1997 (non-football)

1998 (all sports)

200611 Kishwaukee River Conference
20142016
Mendota Township High School Mendota Trojans  2011 (non-football)

2012 (all sports)

202110 Three Rivers Conference

Membership timeline

From 1991–92 to 1994–95, the Mid-Northern Conference and Big Eight Conference continued to play all non-football sports in their respective pre-merger conferences, with a full merger happening at the start of the 1995–96 school year. Marengo, which was part of the Northwest Suburban Conference during the 1990–91 school year before joining the BNC for football in 1991, joined the Big Eight for all other sports. Ottawa Marquette was independent in all non-football sports during its entire time associated with the BNC. Huntley did not accompany the other Big Eight schools in the BNC football merger, playing football independently for 1991 and 1992 and in the Upstate Illini Conference for 1993 and 1994. Pecatonica from 1990–91 to 1994–95 was in a co-op with Winnebago for football, but they continued to play separately in the Mid-Northern Conference in other sports..

Big Northern Conference

Mid-Northern (1972-95)Big Eight (1980-95)BNC Football Only (1991-95)Big Northern Conference full membersBNC members (non-football)

State championships

There have been 39 total IHSA State Championships earned by members of the BNC. Additionally, there were also 8 championships won by members of the Mid-Northern Conference (1972–73 to 1994–95) and 2 championships won by members of the Big Eight Conference (1980–81 to 1994–95) before the two conferences merged.

Football

Cross country (boys)

Cross country (girls)

Golf (boys)

Soccer (boys)

Basketball (girls)

Bowling (girls)

Wrestling (boys)

Baseball

Softball

Soccer (girls)

Track and field (boys)

Track and field (girls)

Volleyball (Girls)

Chess

Scholastic Bowl

Notes

  1. The state series class which a school competes in not only depends on the school's student population, but on the sport or activity. Some activities divide schools into two classes, some into three, and others into four. The listing here is in the order of two class, three class, and four class. The more "A"s in a class, the larger the schools competing. For more information on this, see Illinois High School Association#State Series Format.
  2. Schools are not assigned a classification for football until they have qualified for the playoffs each year. A school's classification not only depends on their student population, but on the populations of the other schools who have qualified. Thus, some schools routinely move between classes.
  3. When applied with a multiplier, Rockford Christian's enrollment is treated as 330
  4. When applied with a multiplier, Rockford Lutheran's enrollment is treated as 452.10

References

  1. "High school sports: Kishwaukee River Conference ready to begin in fall". Northwest Herald. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  2. Trowbridge, Matt. "Leaving rugged Big Northern could accelerate Rockford Christian's football progress". Rockford Register Star. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  3. "Big Northern Conference's Football Impact On Kiswaukee River Conference, Illinois Has A Problem". Stateline Sports Network. June 28, 2018.
  4. "Rockford Christian faces lots of changes ahead of 2021 season". August 23, 2021.
  5. Newsroom, WIFR (August 13, 2025). "Rockford Christian to forgo 8-man football for 2025-26 season". www.wifr.com. Retrieved August 14, 2025.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  6. QConline.com
  7. StarCourier.com
  8. "Conferences and Affiliated Schools". Illinois High School Association . Retrieved June 16, 2012.
  9. 1 2 "IHSA By-Law 3.170 requires a 1.65 multiplier be applied to the enrollment of every non-boundaried school. Waivers of the 1.65 multiplier are granted to individual sport and activity programs on a yearly basis. A sport or activity program at a particular school is not eligible for an automatic waiver for the current school term if, over the course of the previous four school terms, the program (as a team) has accomplished any of the following:
    1. Won a state tournament trophy.
    2. Qualified for the state final tournament (the final weekend of play).
    3. Accumulated four points based on highest title attained each season (sectional title=2, regional title=1).
    All other sport and activity programs are granted an automatic waiver of the 1.65 multiplier."