Mid-State League offseason thread

The Dock

The Dock

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Discuss whatever your heart desires. Predictions; banter; musings; hypotheticals on teams/whatnot. Any and all things MSL, regardless the division.

Go.
 
 
Looking at the 2020 schedules and nothing else. Im not to famliar with the MSL since all its changes, here is what I think.

MSL CARDINAL DIVISION
1) Worthington Christian
2) Berne Union
3) Fisher Catholic
4) Grove City Christian
5) Fairfield Christian
6) Miller
7) Rosecrans
8) Milersport* non-conference

MSL OHIO DIVISION CHAMP
1) Cols. Academy
2) Liberty Union
3) Harvest Prep
4) Ready
5) Buckeye Valley
6) Bexley
7) Whitehall
8) Grandview Heights

MSL BUCKEYE DIVISION
1) Bloom Carroll
2) Hamilton Twp.
3) Teays Valley
4) Amanda CC
5) Logan Elm
6) Fairfield Union
7) Circleville

Again I'm not too familiar with all the leagues. In my opnion the best, most competetive conference is the Ohio. Seems like 4 teams are right among each other.
 
LCL said:
Looking at the 2020 schedules and nothing else. Im not to famliar with the MSL since all its changes, here is what I think.

MSL CARDINAL DIVISION
1) Worthington Christian
2) Berne Union
3) Fisher Catholic
4) Grove City Christian
5) Fairfield Christian
6) Miller
7) Rosecrans
8) Milersport* non-conference

MSL OHIO DIVISION CHAMP
1) Cols. Academy
2) Liberty Union
3) Harvest Prep
4) Ready
5) Buckeye Valley
6) Bexley
7) Whitehall
8) Grandview Heights

MSL BUCKEYE DIVISION
1) Bloom Carroll
2) Hamilton Twp.
3) Teays Valley
4) Amanda CC
5) Logan Elm
6) Fairfield Union
7) Circleville

Again I'm not too familiar with all the leagues. In my opnion the best, most competetive conference is the Ohio. Seems like 4 teams are right among each other.
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Good stuff.

HP, if they play D6 this year, could go far.

I forgot to note this, but, I think LU goes back to playing in the Buckeye this year. You get redemption points, though, for including Ready!
 
I think Teays Valley wins the Buckeye.- it will be a battle with Bloom. They did not play last year bc of Covid.
Teays & Bloom have ramped up their non league which is good... HT has a cupcake non-league compared to years past.
 
Hartley1 said:
I think Teays Valley wins the Buckeye.- it will be a battle with Bloom. They did not play last year bc of Covid.
Teays & Bloom have ramped up their non league which is good... HT has a cupcake non-league compared to years past.
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Wdym Teays “ramped up their non-league?” They added Ashland (good) but still play Chillicothe and Logan.

You have time to reconsider this before that guy from Olentangy drops by and calls Teays’ schedule “TOMATO CANSSSSSS”
 
LU should stay out of the Buckeye. Its a geographic fit, but not a good athletic fit. They already tried this experiment once and it was a failure.
 
LCL said:
LU should stay out of the Buckeye. Its a geographic fit, but not a good athletic fit. They already tried this experiment once and it was a failure.
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LU plays everything else in the Buckeye but football. I would be curious if/when the next MSL realignment comes around (2025-2026?) if there isn’t an intermediary division that suits them better.
 
The Dock said:
LU plays everything else in the Buckeye but football. I would be curious if/when the next MSL realignment comes around (2025-2026?) if there isn’t an intermediary division that suits them better.
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Re-aligning has happened in 2013, 2007, 2003, 1991 and 1985. The next time could happen when Teays Valley gets into a new league. When it came up in 2011 the choice was either keep three divisions or do two divisions of 9. Most schools wanted three.

Currently it is 23 teams. Technically 24 because of CSG. If two fringe schools ie Miller or Buckeye Valley leave it becomes 21. Wouldn’t cause a change. But if Teays left and took Whitehall and Hamilton Township with them that makes 20. If two more schools left then it is 18. That would be interesting. Going down to 20, 19, 18 & 17 and 16 could cause changes.

As for league champs I’m going Berne Union, Bloom and Harvest Prep.
 
So if the MSL could go with a major, major change, maybe we could see something crazy like...

OHIO CONFERENCE
Buckeye Valley
Worthington Christian
Grove City Christian
Grandview Heights

CENTRAL CONFERENCE
Cols. Academy
Harvest Prep
Bexley
Bishop Ready

CAPITAL CONFERENCE
Whitehall
Hamilton Twp
Teays Valley
Bloom Carroll

BUCKEYE CONFERENCE
Liberty Union
Amanda CC
Logan Elm
Fairfield Union

CARDINAL CONFERENCE
Circleville
Berne Union
Fairfield Christian
Fisher Catholic

EAST CONFERENCE
Bishop Rosecrans
Miller
Millersport
West Muskingum???

Would be really crazy, but would allow for more interconference games. Other conferences, like the LCL, who have problems filling out their schedules, could be suitable non-conference games. Idk 6 conferences of 4 teams would make it interesting I think.
 
mslfan20 said:
Re-aligning has happened in 2013, 2007, 2003, 1991 and 1985. The next time could happen when Teays Valley gets into a new league. When it came up in 2011 the choice was either keep three divisions or do two divisions of 9. Most schools wanted three.

Currently it is 23 teams. Technically 24 because of CSG. If two fringe schools ie Miller or Buckeye Valley leave it becomes 21. Wouldn’t cause a change. But if Teays left and took Whitehall and Hamilton Township with them that makes 20. If two more schools left then it is 18. That would be interesting. Going down to 20, 19, 18 & 17 and 16 could cause changes.

As for league champs I’m going Berne Union, Bloom and Harvest Prep.
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1991 technically was not a realignment -- it added Circleville. 2003 is the addition of the third division, the Ohio. In the 2010's 2x9 wasn't seriously discussed, I thought, because the one side was going to be Bloom, Berne, Cols. Academy, FC, Grandview, Harvest, LU, Millersport and, West Jefferson? And the other would have been Amanda, Bexley, Circleville, FU, HT, Logan, Logan Elm, Teays Valley, and Whitehall?

The only thing about the whole "is Teays leaving or not" deal is that has been discussed ever since Canal was still in the league 10 years ago. If it does happen, yeah that may shake up the MSL a little but I'll believe it when I see it.
 
LCL said:
So if the MSL could go with a major, major change, maybe we could see something crazy like...

OHIO CONFERENCE
Buckeye Valley
Worthington Christian
Grove City Christian
Grandview Heights

CENTRAL CONFERENCE
Cols. Academy
Harvest Prep
Bexley
Bishop Ready

CAPITAL CONFERENCE
Whitehall
Hamilton Twp
Teays Valley
Bloom Carroll

BUCKEYE CONFERENCE
Liberty Union
Amanda CC
Logan Elm
Fairfield Union

CARDINAL CONFERENCE
Circleville
Berne Union
Fairfield Christian
Fisher Catholic

EAST CONFERENCE
Bishop Rosecrans
Miller
Millersport
West Muskingum???

Would be really crazy, but would allow for more interconference games. Other conferences, like the LCL, who have problems filling out their schedules, could be suitable non-conference games. Idk 6 conferences of 4 teams would make it interesting I think.
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This is really radical thinking. Not necessarily bad thinking, but different.

6x4 is... well... if 6x4 was somewhat considered then it would make the most sense to just constantly relegate and realign after every year using some type of formula.

I presume the original MSL-Ohio is untouchable -- but if Whitehall left, and/or brought 2-3 of those "CAPITAL" schools with them (BC, HT and TV) then you could in theory get Grove City Christian or Harvest Prep slotted over. If Buckeye Valley went north and left, you could add both without issue.

The MSL-Buckeye... I mean, they too, would be untouchable -- but if Teays ended up forming that constantly-rumored D2/D3 football league with Logan, Licking Heights, Watkins, Whitehall, Zanesville and maybe HT or Canal then??? If Teays left, and only Teays left, the most sensible option would be to try to pull in Westfall out of the SVC. If Teays and HT left, then that would make a 6-team Buckeye. Would it just be as simple as slotting over BU and FC?

The Cardinal... they tried to add Northridge in 2014 but it had the kibosh put it to because, of all things, a quorum issue with leaguewide voting. The Cardinal may be the most likely to see a school peel off (Miller or Rosecrans) but not experience a realignment itself. But if the MSL redoing in the future only happens if Teays leaves, and whoever gets taken with them, then it could change by current members of the division getting voted over to slot over and replace a possibly-leaving member in the affected divisions.
 
LCL said:
So if the MSL could go with a major, major change, maybe we could see something crazy like...

OHIO CONFERENCE
Buckeye Valley
Worthington Christian
Grove City Christian
Grandview Heights

CENTRAL CONFERENCE
Cols. Academy
Harvest Prep
Bexley
Bishop Ready

CAPITAL CONFERENCE
Whitehall
Hamilton Twp
Teays Valley
Bloom Carroll

BUCKEYE CONFERENCE
Liberty Union
Amanda CC
Logan Elm
Fairfield Union

CARDINAL CONFERENCE
Circleville
Berne Union
Fairfield Christian
Fisher Catholic

EAST CONFERENCE
Bishop Rosecrans
Miller
Millersport
West Muskingum???

Would be really crazy, but would allow for more interconference games. Other conferences, like the LCL, who have problems filling out their schedules, could be suitable non-conference games. Idk 6 conferences of 4 teams would make it interesting I think.
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Try your hand at what you think of hypothetical 16, 18, 20 and 21 team alignments.

(Readers' note: these are all for fun... as per the usual in the off-season of message boards.)
 
This is a great idea. Can set up crossovers (2 year or 4 year) based on Previous season placing or size? Similar to OCC.

Does Teays stay in the MSL? They will be moving up to D1 in football soon... and are double/triple the size of all the schools they play. The Capital conference would be good in the OCC with Canal, Big Nut, & Franklin Hts
 
Hartley1 said:
This is a great idea. Can set up crossovers (2 year or 4 year) based on Previous season placing or size? Similar to OCC.

Does Teays stay in the MSL? They will be moving up to D1 in football soon... and are double/triple the size of all the schools they play. The Capital conference would be good in the OCC with Canal, Big Nut, & Franklin Hts
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Any scheduling system that indexes previous placing with some weight given to size and rivalries should probably be done in three or four tiers (3x8, 4x6.) JMO

Folks in the district want to not be a big fish in a small pond. It hurts their athletics, typically, in the postseason.
 
Looking at social media, Steve Evans has some excitement going at Circleville. He has won league championships at 2 different MSL schools. He was a dumpster fire at Reynoldburg but I think he fits Circleville well. Expect him to do well there.
 
Hartley1 said:
Looking at social media, Steve Evans has some excitement going at Circleville. He has won league championships at 2 different MSL schools. He was a dumpster fire at Reynoldburg but I think he fits Circleville well. Expect him to do well there.
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Numbers have been a big issue there at CV for a while. But, he is highly-respected.
 
MSL Buckeye Prediction:
1. Teays - bring back everyone.. double the size of everyone - they should win
2. Bloom - program is a consistent winner now... growing community
3. Amanda - have some good young players
4. HT - Varny has them close to being back on top... has to start recruiting a little better like they used too
5. LE - could move up farther if the basketball players continue to play
6. FU - no idea what is going on there
7. Circleville - years away from Steve having them back
 
Hartley1 said:
MSL Buckeye Prediction:
1. Teays - bring back everyone.. double the size of everyone - they should win
2. Bloom - program is a consistent winner now... growing community
3. Amanda - have some good young players
4. HT - Varny has them close to being back on top... has to start recruiting a little better like they used too
5. LE - could move up farther if the basketball players continue to play
6. FU - no idea what is going on there
7. Circleville - years away from Steve having them back
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FU could leap as high as 3/4. Their numbers doubled between 2019 and 2020. COVID saga is a hard task for a first-year coach to work through. They did finish out the season on a 3-game winning streak (I realize it wasn’t against the most impressive slate of opponents.)
 
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The Dock said:
This is really radical thinking. Not necessarily bad thinking, but different.

6x4 is... well... if 6x4 was somewhat considered then it would make the most sense to just constantly relegate and realign after every year using some type of formula.

I presume the original MSL-Ohio is untouchable -- but if Whitehall left, and/or brought 2-3 of those "CAPITAL" schools with them (BC, HT and TV) then you could in theory get Grove City Christian or Harvest Prep slotted over. If Buckeye Valley went north and left, you could add both without issue.

The MSL-Buckeye... I mean, they too, would be untouchable -- but if Teays ended up forming that constantly-rumored D2/D3 football league with Logan, Licking Heights, Watkins, Whitehall, Zanesville and maybe HT or Canal then??? If Teays left, and only Teays left, the most sensible option would be to try to pull in Westfall out of the SVC. If Teays and HT left, then that would make a 6-team Buckeye. Would it just be as simple as slotting over BU and FC?

The Cardinal... they tried to add Northridge in 2014 but it had the kibosh put it to because, of all things, a quorum issue with leaguewide voting. The Cardinal may be the most likely to see a school peel off (Miller or Rosecrans) but not experience a realignment itself. But if the MSL redoing in the future only happens if Teays leaves, and whoever gets taken with them, then it could change by current members of the division getting voted over to slot over and replace a possibly-leaving member in the affected divisions.
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The Ohio might want Bishop Ready to join for all sports if they lost a school. However the Bishop of Columbus might frown at it. In fact he could want to see a CCL small school happen.
 
Ok Dock, I had a go at creating 16, 18, and 20, 21 team conferences. These by far are the most radical to me in terms of travel and teams.

16 Team Conference


READY
BEXLEY
COLS. ACADEMY
GRANDVIEW

GROVE CHRISTIAN
WORTH CHRISTIAN
HARVEST
FISHER

LIB UNION
AMANDA CC
CIRCLEVILLE
LOGAN ELM

BERNE UNION
MILLERSPORT
FAIR CHRIST
FAIRFIELD UNION
 
18 Team Conference

READY
BEXLEY
ACADEMY
GRANDVIEW
GROVE CITY CHRISTIAN
WORTHINGTON CHRISTIAN

HARVEST
LIBERTY UNION
AMANDA CC
LOGAN ELM
CIRCLEVILLE
FAIRFIELD UNION


BERNE UNION
MILLERSPORT
FAIR CHRIST
NORTHRIDGE
UTICA
FISHER CATH.
 
20 Team Conference

WHITEHALL
BLOOM CARROLL
TEAYS VALLEY
COLS. ACADEMY
BEXLEY


READY
HARVEST
GRANDVIEW
WORTH. CHRISTIAN
GROVE CITY CHRISTIAN

AMANDA CC
LOGAN ELM
CIRCLEVILLE
FAIRFIELD UNION
LIBERTY UNION

FISHER
BERNE UNION
MILLERSPORT
FAIR CHRIST
NORTHRIDGE
 
21 Team Conference

WHITEHALL
BLOOM CARROLL
TEAYS VALLEY
LOGAN
COLS. ACADEMY
BEXLEY
READY

HARVEST
GRANDVIEW
WORTH. CHRISTIAN
GROVE CITY CHRISTIAN
FISHER
FAIR CHRIST
LAKEWOOD

LIBERTY UNION
BERNE UNION
MILLERSPORT
AMANDA CC
LOGAN ELM
CIRCLEVILLE
FAIRFIELD UNION
 
This is all dependent on kicking out Miller and Rosecrans. Buckeye Valley getting out. The LCL imploding, which will probably happen at some point, and some of the bigger schools leaving to join their own conference. Comments, criticsms are all welcome.
 
@LCL

16 teams -- A I like them, but swap FCA and Fisher.

18 teams -- A- those schools would not be interested in playing Harvest, haha. But other than that it looks good.

20 teams -- A looks good.

21 teams -- A- swap Fisher with Millersport and you get an A+.

So, what exactly is it about your "LCL imploding" (whether or not it happens) that would involve Lakewood, Northridge and Utica seeking refuge in the MSL, but not a school such as Newark Catholic? Where would NC go?
 
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