Shake up the OCC, PAC, and ECOL

[knah]

12 team conference (2 divisions)-with some cross conference games

Big
Dover, New Philly, Claymont, Orrville, Northwest, West Holmes

Little
Triway, Tuslaw, Manchester, Fairless, Tuskey Valley, Indian Valley

This could be the split for the major sports (football, basketball, etc), then everyone together for the minor ones, or the minor ones could be split by geography or rivalry.

Orrville and West Holmes finally leave the OCC, PAC finally says goodbye to CVCA and Timken, Dover, New Philly, and Claymont finally leave the ECOL

[jrccshoe]

I know these types of super conferences get talked about all the time. I like the Big Division you have, especially for football.

Unfortunately, with all the moves and shifting in conferences of late, schools have decided to "stay the course" where they are at. It's tough to get admins together for any sort of realignment that works for everyone.

Those of us from Indian Valley can recall a time of few seasons ago when IV hosted a meeting to see if any schools would be interested in a medium sized conference. IV sent feelers out to many schools and I believe 5 were actually seriously interested........but, in the end, 5 isn't enough to make it viable.

[BigTenBuckeye]

If you follow the updates from radiodavel's site, it sounds like Orrville may be getting out of the OCC soon. Not sure what their plan is but I think many would like to see them in a league with at least Wooster and maybe Triway.

[mr rocket]

Claymont Would Be A Fool To Join That League

[timbolt]

Orrville may be realizing they are becoming too small to compete with the bigger schools of the OCC.

[ECOLace]

I don't think Claymont has any interest in leaving the ECOL, it's pretty kosher for them where they are at.

[thePITman]

I, too, have heard Orrville wants out of the OCC.

I know there has been talk of Orrville & Northwest wanting to join the PAC, in which case the likely 2 schools to get voted out to make room would be CVCA and Indian Valley. The Royals because they are private and are rapidly out-growing the PAC, and the Braves because of the ridiculous travel. However, teams like Manchester and Tuslaw would NEVER vote in either Orrville or Northwest, so the talks of this happening would likely never come to fruition. (even though the two would fit in very well competitively and geographically)

As for the proposition of this "Big" and "Small" school league, it'd definitely be interesting. Orrville is smaller (fewer boys) than Fairless, Indian Valley, Triway, and Tuslaw, and only 1 student larger than Tusky Valley. But having Orrville in the other division makes it more likely for Manchester & Tuslaw to accept, since, like I said, they would never go for being in the same league (or division) as Orrville or Northwest.

I don't see this happening, though. The PAC is very good right now as it is, very competitive in all sports (except for the last few years with Timken in basketball).

[thePITman]

Let's have some fun with this. In each sport, how would you rank the proposed teams?
Here are my rankings off the top of my head (sorry, no research). These are based on my perception of program strength, not necessarily how they are doing this season.

Football
1. Dover
2a. Orrville
2b. Northwest
4. New Philadelphia
5. Manchester
6a. Tuslaw
6b. Triway
6c. Claymont
6d. West Holmes
10a. Tusky Valley
10b. Indian Valley
12. Fairless

Volleyball
1a. Orrville
1b. Triway
1c. Northwest
4a. West Holmes
4b. Tusky Valley
... ??

Boys Basketball
1. Orrville
2. Dover
3a. Triway
3b. West Holmes
5. New Philadelphia
6. Manchester
7. Claymont
8. Northwest
9. Tuslaw
10a. Fairless
10b. Tusky Valley
12. Indian Valley

Wrestling
1. Claymont
2. New Philadelphia
.. ??

Baseball
1. Indian Valley
2. Triway
3. Dover
4a. New Philadelphia
4b. West Holmes
6a. Northwest
6b. Tuslaw
8. Claymont
9a. Manchester
9b. Fairless
9c. Orrville
9d. Tusky Valley

Football would be dominated by the top 4.
Volleyball would have a very close, competitive top 5.
Boys Basketball would be top-heavy but, depending on the year, have upwards of 8 different teams fighting for it.
Wrestling would mainly be dominated by the top 2, but Triway/Dover would compete - didn't know enough to complete rankings.
Baseball would be AWESOME and extremely competitive! The 9a-9d teams are not bad at all, but the top is just very good.

[timbolt]

If Orrville and West Holmes do leave the OCC who would replace them? I would think they would love to get Shelby and possibly Marion Harding. Aslo would Wooster be interested in this league.

[jrccshoe]

Pitman, interesting info. Wrestling is the only area where I see that you are way off. Claymont should be your #1 in just about any league scenario. CVCA & IV being ousted from the PAC? Would that really be possible? IV wouldn't complain too much.......it is a beast based on travel but we like the size/competition level of the league.

What could be interesting is how the oil/gas boom affects school enrollments. With lots of out-of-state families moving into the area in the upcoming years, you could see quite a shift in enrollment figures.

[thePITman]

CVCA & IV being ousted from the PAC? Would that really be possible? IV wouldn't complain too much.......it is a beast based on travel but we like the size/competition level of the league.

I don't think anyone WANTS them gone. But if there happened to be a shake-up with members being added, if two teams were to get voted out, my guess is it'd be those two. Not that I or anyone wants those 2 gone, but that's what would happen if things got a shake-up. Please remember this is all theoretical. :) And I switched wrestling, having Claymont 1st.

[jrccshoe]

At IV the dream was to combine the ECOL and the IVC into a mega-conference that would split into Big School/Small School divisions. That way, the Braves could rekindle some old IVC rivalries and still maintain some crossover games with Claymont, Coshocton, etc. It would really boost gate receipts for most every school involved. There could be some awesome match-ups......Rosecrans/Hiland in hoops, Dover & Ridgewood in football.......alas, tis only a dream.......Pitman, good move on the Claymont thing.......they would fight you if they were anything other than #1 :)