UPDATE: Potential Big 8 and LCAA news continues string of conference shake ups
UPDATE:
Major conference moves continue to shake-up the landscape of the southern Michigan football conferences.
Brooklyn Columbia Central formally voted to leave the LCAA and join the Cascades Conference, per CC A.D. Ryan Hackworth. Columbia Central has been in the LCAA since 2012 and has had five winning seasons since then. The Golden Eagles were originally a part of the SMAA conference along with Hillsdale before both moved to Lenawee County.
Columbia Central may not be the last domino to fall into the Cascades. Leslie High School, who also moved on from the SMAA and into the Greater Lansing Athletic Conference, will vote on June 22 to potentially make a move to the Cascades Conference.
In more local news, Jonesville will hold a meeting with the community to discuss their potential move to the Cascades. The meeting takes place on June 21st at 6 p.m. and was first mentioned on Jonesville Schools' Facebook page. Readers can gather more information from the Jonesville High School social media pages. A vote on conference transition could happen within the next few weeks. The move wouldn't be official until the following season. The Q&A will take place at Jonesville High School.
According to sources including Troy Tennyson of the Daily Reporter, Homer High School could potentially join Jonesville in a move to the Cascades Conference. The Big 8 and the Cascades play in their annual crossover-championship games at the end of both fall and winter sports seasons.
The news comes off the back of recent conference expansions involving the LCAA and Tri-County Conferences. As southern Michigan High School football continues to reshape it's conference lineups, keep an eye out for more updates on this evolving story. Readers can check out the first conference shakeup news below.
From the Daily Telegram
As the Tri-County Conference approaches its 50th anniversary season, one of the founding teams is weighing the prospects of leaving the league.
Madison, who was one of the six charter members of the TCC in 1973, has been invited to join the Lenawee County Athletic Association starting with the 2023-24 school year. Madison Supt. Nick Steinmetz said the school is committed to the TCC for the 2022-23 school year but is exploring its options for beyond that school year.
“We have been approached by other athletic conferences to gauge our interest in a possible transition,” Steinmetz said. “At this time, the district is weighing all of our options and how they best serve our students and community.”
Steinmetz mentioned no timeline for a final decision by the district. Madison’s school board meets Monday in its next regularly scheduled meeting. Speculation by others is a decision could be made as soon as Monday by Madison and other schools in southeast Michigan who are voting on leaving or joining conferences.
A shakeup appears to be coming – and quickly – after several years of discussion.
Madison Athletic Director Kris Isom said she has been up front with all the TCC athletic directors about a potential move. She’s talked to all the Madison coaches to gather input and report it back to school officials.
“It’s not an easy decision,” Isom said. “We’ve been in the TCC for a long time. The conference is a big part of us, but, at the same time, we have to look to the future.”
Whiteford athletic director Jason Mensing, who’s last day with Whiteford is Friday, said he understands why Madison might leave the league, based on changing enrollments and other factors. Still, he said, It’s unfortunate.
“Madison has a tremendous legacy in the TCC, and Kris Isom has been a leader of our conference for years,” Mensing said. “It would be a huge loss if they did need to move on.”
The TCC started as a six-team league with Britton, Deerfield, Madison, Summerfield, Ann Arbor St. Thomas, now Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard, and Whitmore Lake. St. Thomas left after three seasons and Whiteford and Summerfield joined in 1975. Morenci became a league member in 1981.
After more than 15 years of stability, the league started changing in the mid-1990s when Britton and Deerfield formed a co-op for some sports and eventually combined schools. Clinton became a member, then left. Whitmore Lake moved to a new conference and Erie Mason joined. In the last couple of years, Pittsford has been a league member for football, wrestling and bowling only. Starting in 2022-23, Pittsford will compete in the TCC only in bowling.
The league faces a rocky future. With Britton Deerfield and Morenci both playing 8-man football this fall, the TCC has just Erie Mason, Madison, Sand Creek, Summerfield and Whiteford remaining playing 11-man football. In a nine-week season, each TCC schools have to find five non-league opponents, which can be a daunting task. Next season, several TCC schools will play Pioneer (Ohio) North Central in football only. The league has also been in discussions with the Toledo Area Athletic Conference to play crossover games in football.
A move out of the TCC by Madison could open the door for multiple moves in the coming months as other area conferences try to expand themselves or, like the TCC, just try and stay together.
The LCAA extended its official invitation to Madison last month.
The Cascades Conference was thought to be interested in Madison as well, but ultimately extended invitations to two schools – but not Madison. Those schools are Brooklyn Columbia Central and Leslie. Decisions by those districts is expected to come as soon as this month.
“We’re looking at expanding,” said Grass Lake athletic director Brian Zalud. “We are hoping to be a 10-team conference for 2023-24 and after that, maybe up to 12. We started talking as athletic directors about growing our footprint more and that’s where we are at.”
With Columbia Central potentially leaving the LCAA, league president Steve Babbitt, former athletic director at Blissfield, said Madison seemed be a good fit to take their place in the LCAA league.
“We’d be happy to have them,” Babbitt said. “With their size and geographically they are a perfect fit.”
Babbitt said the LCAA wasn’t looking to expand but saw the situation Madison was in and reacted.
“I think its more of just reality,” he said. “The LCAA didn’t go after Madison to steal them away from the TCC. It’s just a combination of a lot of factors and we extended the invite to them.”
Although every conference is making decisions based on total membership, logistics and things such as enrollment, football is often the driving force due to the difficulty in scheduling non-league games for some schools and the playoff point system that awards more points for playing – not just beating – larger schools.
“Football seems to drive everything,” Babbitt said. “It’s a unique sport with unique situations.”
Last fall in the Cascades Conference, for example, Michigan Center went 8-1 during the regular season but was a No. 4 seed and had to go on the road in the first round of the playoffs. Another Cascades member, Napoleon, went 6-3, finished third in the conference but didn’t have enough points to qualify for the post-season.
The influx of new 8-man football teams is playing a role as well as conferences like the TCC have fewer and fewer 11-man football teams. The Southern Central Athletic Association now has 13 8-man football teams with the addition of Pittsford in 2022.
“What’s happening is exactly what we knew was coming a few years ago when the new playoff point system was announced,” one football coach said. “There are going to be some schools left out in the cold.”
Zalud said it’s not an easy process and athletic directors aren’t trying to pull the rug out from one league or another.
“We all have to work together,” he said. “It’s a delicate balance.”
Madison is the TCC’s largest school. In 2022-23, the MHSAA has Madison listed as a Class B school with an enrollment figure of 408, the first time the school has ever exceeded 400. Madison will play in the Division 2 state tournament in basketball next season for the first time.
Mensing, who is leaving Whiteford to become head football coach at Westland John Glenn, said if Madison leaves, he hopes the TCC can survive.
“We wish them well if it is the right fit,” he said. “It will certainly impact the rest of us and each school will need to look at our specific sport needs both short term and long term and hopefully the TCC can survive in some form.”
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: More conference shake-ups continue to re-shape High School Football
