Possible conference shakeup?
- Thread starter kaz36
- Start date
Really the River Cities Conference should just be phased out. Or Beatrice needs to leave.
Is Wahoo expected to go to Class B in all sports?
Is Wahoo expected to go to Class B in all sports?
Current Conferences:
Eastern Midlands Conference (8)
Bennington
Blair
Elkhorn
Gretna
Nebraska City
Norris
Plattsmouth
Waverly
Capitol Conference (8)
Arlington
Ashland-Greenwood
Douglas County West
Fort Calhoun
Platteview
Raymond Central
Syracuse
Wahoo
River Cities Conference (8)
Beatrice
Elkhorn Mt. Michael
Omaha Duchesne
Omaha Gross
Omaha Roncalli
Omaha Skutt
Ralston
South Sioux City
Eastern Midlands Conference (8)
Bennington
Blair
Elkhorn
Gretna
Nebraska City
Norris
Plattsmouth
Waverly
Capitol Conference (8)
Arlington
Ashland-Greenwood
Douglas County West
Fort Calhoun
Platteview
Raymond Central
Syracuse
Wahoo
River Cities Conference (8)
Beatrice
Elkhorn Mt. Michael
Omaha Duchesne
Omaha Gross
Omaha Roncalli
Omaha Skutt
Ralston
South Sioux City
Beatrice Sun story
Says Platteview, Wahoo, Nebraska City and Ralston have already committed.
Quotes from Beatrice make it sound like they are already far down the road to joining.
Dominoes falling watch: if this knocks Eastern Midlands down to 6 (or 7 with Elk North), does Columbus' long-time desire to join get more attention, further disabling the GNAC?
Says Platteview, Wahoo, Nebraska City and Ralston have already committed.
Quotes from Beatrice make it sound like they are already far down the road to joining.
Dominoes falling watch: if this knocks Eastern Midlands down to 6 (or 7 with Elk North), does Columbus' long-time desire to join get more attention, further disabling the GNAC?
Would be a great option for Columbus.
Possibly finally a conference home for Falls City as well.
Possibly finally a conference home for Falls City as well.
Link: http://kwbe.com/local-news/beatrice-school-board-hears-potential-new-conference-affiliation/
Nebraska City, Platteview, Ralston and Wahoo are seeking commitments from four other schools by the end of May to hopefully launch the new league in the 2020-21 school year.
They have reached out to Ashland-Greenwood, Beatrice, and Plattsmouth. Other possibilities for joining would be Blair, Crete, Douglas County West, Seward and York.
Nebraska City, Platteview, Ralston and Wahoo are seeking commitments from four other schools by the end of May to hopefully launch the new league in the 2020-21 school year.
They have reached out to Ashland-Greenwood, Beatrice, and Plattsmouth. Other possibilities for joining would be Blair, Crete, Douglas County West, Seward and York.
Yes. I was just thinking this sounds like the old Twin River Conference, but then I was worried the Twin River still exists in some way?
If Wahoo and AG leave that could cripple the Capitol Conference. They must be expecting to go to Class B sooner rather than later.
If I had power to redesign these leagues...
New Eastern Midlands: (** means new addition)
Bennington
Blair
Elkhorn
Elkhorn North
Gretna
DC West**
Columbus**
South Sioux City**
Omaha Gross**
Omaha Skutt**
Mt. Michael** (boys only)
Omaha Duchesne** (girls only)
New Conference:
North Division:
Wahoo
Plattsmouth
Platteview
Ashland-Greenwood
Ralston
South Division:
Beatrice
Waverly
Norris
Nebraska City
Falls City
If I had power to redesign these leagues...
New Eastern Midlands: (** means new addition)
Bennington
Blair
Elkhorn
Elkhorn North
Gretna
DC West**
Columbus**
South Sioux City**
Omaha Gross**
Omaha Skutt**
Mt. Michael** (boys only)
Omaha Duchesne** (girls only)
New Conference:
North Division:
Wahoo
Plattsmouth
Platteview
Ashland-Greenwood
Ralston
South Division:
Beatrice
Waverly
Norris
Nebraska City
Falls City
I can’t see York or Seward leaving the Central. The only team I could see leaving that league is Columbus Lakeview and maybe Crete.
It seems like Crete, Seward, York and Aurora should always be in the same league.
If York or Seward leaves the Central, this could send impacts throughout the state.
It seems like Crete, Seward, York and Aurora should always be in the same league.
If York or Seward leaves the Central, this could send impacts throughout the state.
Last edited:
Wahoo Classification numbers for this year (C1):
13th in Girls Hoops and Volleyball
6th in Football
1st in Boys Hoops
Ashland-Greenwood Numbers for this year (C1):
10th in Girls Hoops and Volleyball
17th in Football
12th in Boys Hoops
13th in Girls Hoops and Volleyball
6th in Football
1st in Boys Hoops
Ashland-Greenwood Numbers for this year (C1):
10th in Girls Hoops and Volleyball
17th in Football
12th in Boys Hoops
Columbus should be getting on the phone now with all members of the Eastern Midlands. They need a life line.
Is Ashland Greenwood predicting to grow at a fast pace in coming years? They seem a little small compared to the rest of those schools?
I've always thought South Sioux, Norfolk, and Columbus should be in a conference together. Maybe add in Elkhorn, Elkhorn North, Elkhorn South, Skutt, and Gretna? These are all schools that are at the top of B or low part of A. Seems odd that Elkhorn South is apart from Elkhorn and Elkhorn North. I wish that the Metro Conference would break apart to two Confernces. Just two damn large, it's basically over half of Class A.
I've always thought South Sioux, Norfolk, and Columbus should be in a conference together. Maybe add in Elkhorn, Elkhorn North, Elkhorn South, Skutt, and Gretna? These are all schools that are at the top of B or low part of A. Seems odd that Elkhorn South is apart from Elkhorn and Elkhorn North. I wish that the Metro Conference would break apart to two Confernces. Just two damn large, it's basically over half of Class A.
Last edited:
They must be. Ashland is growing like crazy. (Right in the middle of Lincoln and Omaha.) 12th biggest team in C1 Boys Hoops.
Seems like Wahoo, AG, DC West are looking 5-10 years down the road.
Makes sense. I'm guessing Bennington isn't grouped in because they are thinking theyll be Class A in 10 years or so?
The population shift to the Metro just continues.
I think Bennington wouldn’t be included because they will stay with Blair, Elkhorn, Elkhorn North, Gretna?, DC West, Catholic Schools in Omaha.
I think this shift could help a lot of things logistically. Like having Norris and Beatrice in the same conference is a no brainer.
Agreed. I’d love to see a conference that had...
Columbus
Norfolk
Columbus
Fremont
South Sioux City
Blair
Bennington
Elkhorn High
Elkhorn North
Elkhorn South
Kearney, GI and Lincoln Schools can have the Heartland Conference together.
Not sure. Probably get broken up quite a bit. Maybe Raymond Central and Syracuse join the East Central Nebraska Conference?
Fort Calhoun and Arlington to the crowded East Husker?
There could be some big fallout if these happen. Gretna is leaving the EMC after this year, but In 20-21 Elkhorn North will be entering. With the way Elkhorn is growing, who's to say that both Elkhorn and EN aren't class A in a few years. Who knows about Bennington. They are growing pretty fast and are where Elkhorn was 10 or 12 years ago. Waverly and Norris, I would assume, are growing because of their proximity to Lincoln.
If Beatrice and Ralston leave the RCC, South Sioux would be the only non parochial school left.
The Capitol would be left with Arlington, DC West, Ft Calhoun, Raymond Central and Syracuse. Might be a prime opportunity for them to pick up someone like Auburn and Falls City.
This might also be a prime time for some other conference realignment to happen. It may allow some schools to be able to join conferences closer to home or closer to their demographic. Not sure what it would look like. Someone smarter than me would have to put that together. Ha ha.
Maybe not so crowded with the consolidations that have happened or may happen: i.e. BRLD, Logan View/Scribner-Snyder, possibly someday Oakland-Craig/Tekamah-Herman..............
This brings back a thought I had during the Class A rule change that swept Columbus and North Platte back to A in order to make sure all Metro and Heartland conference teams were in A.
Should conference affiliation (maybe just in A and B) be a factor in classification. Should Heartland and Metro be declared Class A conferences, and if you join those, you move to Class A no matter what.
I think a list of Class B conferences could be made without much stretch.
Below that maybe it gets tougher, but maybe we should give more weight in our classifications to the company schools believe they can keep athletically AND the company that accepts them. Might be a way to make classification fairer.
Should conference affiliation (maybe just in A and B) be a factor in classification. Should Heartland and Metro be declared Class A conferences, and if you join those, you move to Class A no matter what.
I think a list of Class B conferences could be made without much stretch.
Below that maybe it gets tougher, but maybe we should give more weight in our classifications to the company schools believe they can keep athletically AND the company that accepts them. Might be a way to make classification fairer.
Yes, forgot about Fremont. Duh! Always thought Fremont, Columbus, SSC, and Norfolk should be grouped together, wherever they go.
Read an article online the other day with the opinion that the Metro Conference is just getting too big and either needs to break up or split into divisions. The article suggested a "Suburban Metro" and a "Classic Metro". Makeup could be as follows:
Suburban
Bellevue East
Bellevue West
Elkhorn South
Millard North
Millard South
Millard West
Omaha Creighton Prep/Omaha Marian
Papillion-LaVista
Papillion-LaVista South
Classic
Omaha Benson
Omaha Bryan
Omaha Burke
Omaha Central
Omaha North
Omaha Northwest
Omaha South
Omaha Westside
You could probably put Gretna in the Suburban Division and put Prep/Marian in the Classic Division
Suburban
Bellevue East
Bellevue West
Elkhorn South
Millard North
Millard South
Millard West
Omaha Creighton Prep/Omaha Marian
Papillion-LaVista
Papillion-LaVista South
Classic
Omaha Benson
Omaha Bryan
Omaha Burke
Omaha Central
Omaha North
Omaha Northwest
Omaha South
Omaha Westside
You could probably put Gretna in the Suburban Division and put Prep/Marian in the Classic Division
Agree 100%, looks so much better. I dont see the point of these mega high school conferences.
It wouldn’t be surprising, as they were the largest team in C1 for Boys Hoops this year.
A couple of thoughts....
-Gretna is already committed to joining the Metro for next season. They will be Class A in everything for the foreseeable future along with Elkhorn South.
-I don't get why Ralston would want to make this move? I would think the average Ralston family would rather have most of their games in Omaha against the RCC schools than paying all that money to travel and play schools you don't have very much in common with.
-If the RCC and EMC merged together, who would call the shots? In a perfect world, it would be cool if Wahoo Neumann, Norfolk Catholic, Pius, etc. were all Class B in size and there could be one mega Catholic League with Skutt, Gross, Roncalli, Elkhorn MM, etc. That will never obviously happen. I could see both Concordia Christian and Columbus joining the RCC in place of Beatrice and Ralston? A mega league probably still makes more sense, but it will be hard to get all parties on the same page one would think.
Ralston maybe want to move for competitive reasons? (just thinking out loud)
Neumann and Norfolk Catholic probably a little too undersized to be paired with Skutt, Roncalli, etc. Norfolk Catholic is in a good league now and Neumann is in a great "Catholic league" too, in the Centennial Conference.
I could see Columbus moving into the RCC. In a perfect world, they are paired up with Fremont and Norfolk in the HAC, but I don't think that'll ever happen.
Wahoo and Norfolk were both projected to be Class B next year......then the NSAA tweaked their classification criteria so Norfolk looks like they'll stay in A. Wahoo most likely will still be B next year.
For the EMC, Elkhorn North will replace Gretna who is leaving for the Metro in the 2020-21 year. With Nebraska City and Plattsmouth most likely leaving, the EMC would look to replace them with possibly DC West who is growing rapidly, Beatrice could also be an option for the EMC if they do not go to the new conference.
You could also see a scenerio where the schools looking to build this new conference merge with the existing EMC schools to form a large conference and split into divisions. Something like this:
North: Bennington, Blair, DC West, Elkhorn, Elkhorn North, Ralston, and Wahoo
South: Ashland-Greenwood, Beatrice, Nebraska City, Norris, Platteview, Plattsmouth, and Waverly
or
East: Bennington, Blair, Elkhorn North, Nebraska City, Platteview, Plattsmouth, Ralston
West: Ashland-Greenwood, Beatrice, DC West, Elkhorn, Norris, Wahoo, Waverly
Then maybe explore adding Columbus and another school to make it 16.
I think the EMC will stay with the schools they have and look to replace Plattsmouth and Nebraska City with Beatrice and possibly DC West. That would get them back to 8.
You could also see a scenerio where the schools looking to build this new conference merge with the existing EMC schools to form a large conference and split into divisions. Something like this:
North: Bennington, Blair, DC West, Elkhorn, Elkhorn North, Ralston, and Wahoo
South: Ashland-Greenwood, Beatrice, Nebraska City, Norris, Platteview, Plattsmouth, and Waverly
or
East: Bennington, Blair, Elkhorn North, Nebraska City, Platteview, Plattsmouth, Ralston
West: Ashland-Greenwood, Beatrice, DC West, Elkhorn, Norris, Wahoo, Waverly
Then maybe explore adding Columbus and another school to make it 16.
I think the EMC will stay with the schools they have and look to replace Plattsmouth and Nebraska City with Beatrice and possibly DC West. That would get them back to 8.
To me this makes the most sense from a logistics standpoint.
New Eastern Midlands: (12 teams, Mt. Micheal and Duschene count as 1)
Division A:
Bennington
Blair
Omaha Skutt
Columbus
South Sioux City
Omaha Gross
Division B:
DC West
Elkhorn High
Elkhorn North
Omaha Roncalli
Omaha Concordia
Mt. Michael** (boys only)
Omaha Duchesne** (girls only)
New Conference:
North Division:
Wahoo
Plattsmouth
Platteview
Ashland-Greenwood
Ralston
South Division:
Beatrice
Waverly
Norris
Nebraska City
Falls City
For the new league, Ralston is the largest (when looking at football classification numbers) by far.
Ralston: 421
Norris: 267
Beatrice: 266
Waverly: 237
Plattsmouth: 228
Current C1’s:
Platteview 157 (1st in C1)
Nebraska City 156 (2nd in C1)
Wahoo 136 (6th in C1)
Falls City 103 (16th in C1)
Ashland-Greenwood 101 (17th in C1)
New Eastern Midlands: (12 teams, Mt. Micheal and Duschene count as 1)
Division A:
Bennington
Blair
Omaha Skutt
Columbus
South Sioux City
Omaha Gross
Division B:
DC West
Elkhorn High
Elkhorn North
Omaha Roncalli
Omaha Concordia
Mt. Michael** (boys only)
Omaha Duchesne** (girls only)
New Conference:
North Division:
Wahoo
Plattsmouth
Platteview
Ashland-Greenwood
Ralston
South Division:
Beatrice
Waverly
Norris
Nebraska City
Falls City
For the new league, Ralston is the largest (when looking at football classification numbers) by far.
Ralston: 421
Norris: 267
Beatrice: 266
Waverly: 237
Plattsmouth: 228
Current C1’s:
Platteview 157 (1st in C1)
Nebraska City 156 (2nd in C1)
Wahoo 136 (6th in C1)
Falls City 103 (16th in C1)
Ashland-Greenwood 101 (17th in C1)
I think Beatrice, Nebraska City and Plattsmouth feel their demographics are very different from the EMC's more suburban numbers in Waverly, Elkhorn and Norris. I think that's the movement you are seeing. Ralston fits that argument as well. Platteview is more likely to return to the EMC than those, even though they are smaller.
SSC is interesting. I'm not sure the Cardinals will be interested in a conference with more south of Omaha members because of distance even though they would like the demographics better. I think, before the River Cities, that the short-lived Apollo was the only Nebraska conference SSC was ever in. Before that, they were in the Tri-State with SD and IA teams. One of the problems of Nebraska is that schools like SSC, Hastings and Scottsbluff have much in common but are not geographically compatable.
SSC is interesting. I'm not sure the Cardinals will be interested in a conference with more south of Omaha members because of distance even though they would like the demographics better. I think, before the River Cities, that the short-lived Apollo was the only Nebraska conference SSC was ever in. Before that, they were in the Tri-State with SD and IA teams. One of the problems of Nebraska is that schools like SSC, Hastings and Scottsbluff have much in common but are not geographically compatable.
Honestly you have to wonder if South Sioux would rather have their sports compete in Iowa.
Wish more schools would be proactive.
SSC was in a short lived 4 team conference in 80s-early 90s with Wayne, O'Neill, & Cedar Catholic. Don't remember the name though.
Similar threads
