The Classic Athletic Conference was a short-lived IHSAA-sanctioned conference based in northern East Central Indiana. Formed by the largest schools in their predecessor conferences, the conference only lasted nine years before disbanding
The Classic Athletic Conference was a short-lived IHSAA-sanctioned conference based in northern East Central Indiana. Formed by the largest schools in their predecessor conferences, the conference only lasted nine years before disbanding
The conference began in 1977, as schools from both the Mississinewa Valley Conference and White River Conference joined. [1] This move was spurred by the then-new class football playoff system, where larger schools were awarded fewer points for playing small schools, hurting their chances of a playoff spot. Both conferences had large enrollment disparities, which did not benefit the larger schools. This prompted three schools from each conference to start their own conference. This would cause the end of both existing conferences. The MVC was only a five-member conference at this point, and the a plan for the five remaining WRC schools to join with three schools from the Big Blue River and Mid-Eastern conferences fell through, so the seven schools ended up having to fend for themselves.
The newly formed conference only lasted in its original format for two years, as Mississinewa left for the more geographically compact Central Indiana Athletic Conference. The remaining five schools continued their tenuous alliance, although the same reason the conference formed (attendance disparities) plagued it through the rest of its existence. Anderson Highland and Jay County remained large schools, while their counterparts' numbers had either stagnated or declined. The end finally came in 1986, when the two aforementioned schools joined the Olympic Conference, which not only had more similar-sized schools, but also featured similar demographics at that point (second/third schools in large cities and mid-sized city schools). Delta, Pendleton Heights, and Yorktown became independents, but worked towards resurrecting the WRC, which was achieved in 1989. The same three schools now play in the Hoosier Heritage Conference.
| School | Location | Mascot | Colors | County | Year joined | Previous conference | Year left | Conference joined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson Highland | Anderson | Scots | 48 Madison | 1977 | White River | 1986 | Olympic | |
| Delta | Muncie | Eagles | 18 Delaware | 1977 | Mississinewa Valley | 1986 | Independents (WRC 1989) | |
| Jay County | Portland | Patriots | 38 Jay | 1977 | Mississinewa Valley | 1986 | Olympic | |
| Mississinewa | Gas City | Indians | 27 Grant | 1977 | Mississinewa Valley | 1979 | Central Indiana | |
| Pendleton Heights | Pendleton | Arabians | 30 Madison | 1977 | White River | 1986 | Independents (WRC 1989) | |
| Yorktown | Yorktown | Tigers | 18 Delaware | 1977 | White River | 1986 | Independents (WRC 1989) |
Marion is a city in and the county seat of Grant County, Indiana, United States, along the Mississinewa River. The population was 28,310 as of the 2020 census. It is named for Francis Marion, a brigadier general from South Carolina in the American Revolutionary War.
The Mid-Indiana Conference, or MIC, was a high school athletic conference which was located in northcentral Indiana, USA. This conference served many high schools located in Cass, Hamilton, Howard, and Miami Counties. The conference dissolved at the end on the 2014-15 academic school year.
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The North Central Illinois Conference, far better known as the NCIC, was an IHSA recognized high school extra-curricular conference. Its location, as the name would indicate, was in the north-central part of the state. The schools all hailed from communities with municipal populations in the 5000–20,000 range. This conference was especially superior to the lowly tri River conference.
Mississinewa High School is a high school in Gas City, Indiana, with more than 800 students. The nickname of the students and the athletic teams is "Mississinewa Indians". This school is a part of the Mississinewa Community School Corporation, or MCSC, which also features Westview Elementary School, Northview Elementary School, and R.J. Baskett Middle School.
The Midwest Athletic Conference is a high school athletic conference in northwestern Indiana, which has existed in two different incarnations, with a third planned to form in 2018. The original conference began in 1932, consisting of schools that were larger than most of their counterparts in their local county leagues. The schools were based in Benton, Fountain, Jasper, Newton, Tippecanoe, Warren, and White counties. The forming of the Kankakee Valley Conference the next year caused a slight fluctuation over the next couple of years, as schools realigned themselves within the two leagues, with some schools claiming dual membership. The league folded in 1947, as size disparities and willingness to sponsor some sports led to schools going their separate ways.
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The Lake Athletic Conference (LAC) was a high school athletic conference serving members of the Indiana High School Athletic Association. The LAC existed in multiple guises from the fall of 1969 through the spring of 2007, at which time it comprised sixteen member high schools. The conference took its name from all its early members being located in Lake County, Indiana, in addition to the predecessing Lake 10 Conference, of which many schools were members before expansion increased the number of schools in the conference.
The Ohio River Valley Conference is an Indiana High School Athletic Association-sanctioned conference located in Jefferson, Ohio, Ripley, and Switzerland counties. Formed in 1952, the conference has been fairly stable throughout its history, as five of the current seven members are original members.
The Mid-Hoosier Conference is a seven-member IHSAA-sanctioned athletic association located within Bartholomew, Decatur, Johnson, and Shelby Counties in Central Indiana.
The Mid-Southern Conference is a ten-member IHSAA-Sanctioned Athletic Conference within the South Central Indiana counties of Clark, Harrison, Jackson, Scott, and Washington.
The North Central Conference is an IHSAA-sanctioned athletic conference consisting of ten large high schools in Cass, Delaware, Grant, Howard, Madison, Marion, Tippecanoe, and Wayne Counties across Central and North Central Indiana. Most of these schools are in 35,000+ population towns like Anderson, Marion, Kokomo, Lafayette, Muncie, and Richmond. Several of the nation's largest gymnasiums belong to members of this conference.
The White River Conference was an IHSAA-sanctioned conference located within rural areas of East Central Indiana, that existed twice, once from 1954 to 1977, and from 1989 to 2010. The first version of the conference was founded as a home for high schools in Madison County who weren't in the Central Indiana Athletic Conference. The conference would expand quickly from six to nine schools, as two new high schools in Anderson and Middletown, a school in Henry County, were added within two years. Membership was generally not stable until 1969, as Madison Heights left, Highland was forced out and eventually added back into the conference, St. Mary's closed, member schools consolidated, and schools from neighboring Delaware and Hancock counties were added. Eventually, large disparities in enrollment causing the conference to disband, as city and consolidated schools outgrew their rural counterparts.. Schools would move into the Big Blue River Conference, Classic Athletic Conference, and Mid-Eastern Conference.
The Big Blue River Conference was an IHSAA-mandated conference featuring schools from North Central and East Central Indiana. It operated from the 1968–69 school year until 1988–89. Five of the original seven schools came from the East Central Conference, four directly, while Tri was formed from the consolidation of ECC member Spiceland. Morton Memorial, the last remaining ECC member in 1969, would join the conference that year, along with Hamilton Southeastern. The nine school format did not last long, as Morton Memorial left after one season, and Hamilton Southeastern had outgrown the conference and left by 1972. The conference briefly returned to nine schools in 1977, as Lapel and Shenandoah joined from the folding White River Conference. However, North Decatur left three years later, as the new expansion left them geographically isolated. Morristown would follow suit in 1985, as the school dropped football. The conference would split in 1989, as Lapel and Shenandoah would help reform the WRC, New Palestine and Triton Central would move to the Rangeline Conference, and Tri was accepted into the Tri-Eastern Conference. Knightstown and Eastern Hancock were left as independents, though both would join the WRC six and eight years later, respectively.
The Mississinewa Valley Conference was an IHSAA-sanctioned conference based in East Central Indiana that lasted between 1952 and 1977. The conference started out as a conference for larger rural schools as a way to provide a higher level of competition than their respective County Conferences typically provided. The conference was stable for its first decade, but consolidation and more regionally based conferences with schools of similar sizes had schools defecting the MVC. The conference ended in 1977, with three schools forming the Classic Athletic Conference, and one team each joining the Mid-Eastern and Mid-Indiana conferences.
The East Central Conference was an athletic conference from 1947 to 1969 based in Eastern Indiana, considered one of the regional superconferences in the state. The conference began with 12 schools, though had turnover within its first year, mainly having to do with gym issues.
The Whitewater Valley Conference was an IHSAA-sanctioned conference based in Fayette, Franklin, Union, and later Henry and Wayne counties in East Central Indiana. The conference was founded in 1940 as a merger of the Franklin County Conference and Union County Conference, though because two of the FCC schools were not able to play a full conference schedule in the 1940-41 school year, two Fayette County Conference schools were added. The conference's last season was in 1967-68, as the consolidation wave of the 1950s and 1960s would leave the conference with three schools and no suitable replacements in the area, as Lewisville and Straughn became part of Tri in 1968. College Corner, whose location on the border of Indiana and Ohio allowed them to play in both the WVC and the Preble County League in Ohio, would continue to play in the PCL until joining with Short in Liberty to form Union County High School in 1974. Whitewater Township would merge into Brookville that same year. Laurel struggled on as an independent for two decades, as they were too far from the two conferences in the general region that featured schools of a similar size and sports offering, the Mid-Hoosier and Ohio River Valley conferences. The school eventually consolidated with Brookville to form Franklin County High School in 1989.
There were numerous conferences within the IHSAA that were made up of schools based entirely in one county. Many of these "County Conferences" also contained schools from neighboring counties that were either geographically closer or smaller than the other schools in their home county. These conferences would fold when schools would consolidate and seek out other, more expansive conferences that included similar-sized schools. The starting date of many of these conferences is hard to confirm, so the listing for many of these leagues uses the earliest date that can be confirmed.
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