New SW Ohio conference- Three Rivers Conference

Bless Em All

Bless Em All

Well-known member
Seeing the movement by Cross County Conference schools and four SWBL schools, talk now should shift to the development of the new leagues and the aftermath for Southwestern Buckeye League schools.

The SWBL will be left with 10 members and 9 league games in Football, which should work out for them with the remaining schools all being fairly good in all sports.

Milton-Union, Northridge (although not official yet), Preble Shawnee, and Dixie (not official yet) are leaving the SWBL to join Cross County Conf members in two separate conferences that are yet to be named. Milton and Northridge will join Miami East, Covington, Bethel, Troy Christian, Lehman Catholic and Riverside to form a conference and Shawnee, Dixie and the remaining CCC members will form a new league centered around Darke and Preble County schools.

Milton will be able to develop new rivalries with county schools reducing the drive time and expenses they are seeing belonging to the SWBL. The furthest drive for Milton will be Riverside. Northridge brings amazing facilities as well as good teams in Track and Basketball.

Covington, Miami East, Bethel are all very good in most sports and Lehman along with TC will bring fantastic sports and the private school atmosphere. Riverside, I am not familiar with this school but have been told that they are a football school with great facilities.

Stillwater Valley Conference, Southwestern Athletic Conference are a couple of names I've heard in speaking to some folks. I am hearing that the CCC name is dead.

I am sure that the SWBL schools are happy that they don't have to drive to West Milton and Northridge since most are further south. Waynesville, Madison, Carlisle will all have to drive to Brookville and Eaton but that shouldn't be as bad as West Milton.

Best of luck to everyone. I await the detractors and your comments. I was told by a serious source at MU that Milton would never leave the SWBL due to their decades of alignment with that fine conference. MU was a charter member of the SWBL and its predecessor the LWBL back as far as 1944.

I was here and watched MU leave the SWBL in 1981 for the SRC and it was a decent move. I hope the new league will be as good or better this time around. with teams like Covington, Miami East, Lehman and Troy Christian there will be no shortage of talent. Bethel is growing and Riverside is said to be very tough in many sports.

New League:Football division
Bethel (D6)
Covington (D6)
Lehman Catholic (D7)
Miami East (D5)
Milton-Union (D5)
Northridge (D4)
Troy Christian (D6)
Riverside (D7)

Former CCC Schools plus SWBL Schools;
Ansonia
Arcanum
Bradford
Tri Village
Preble Shawnee
Dixie
Miss Valley
Newton
Franklin Monroe
Tri County N
Twin Valley
National Trail

Newton and FM are non-Football members.
 
 
I am not sure this conference is much better than the CCC. They needed to land a big fish like Loramie and they didn't.

Football wise this conference will not be very good..The champion will make the playoffs, but won't be able to compete.
Miami East- Solid
Covington- Solid
Bethel- Average
Milton Union- has been down
Northridge- is rotten
Lehman- doesn't even have JH football anymore...21 kids last year and a bunch of those were seniors
Riverside- Barely got into the playoffs in the NWCC which is a bad conference
Troy Christian- doesn't even have JH football or a JV team...

this conference is set up for failure. It seems like a good idea on the surface, but what happens when Lehman and Troy Christian can't field a football team?

Basketball wise especially on the boys side is about to be rotten. Northridge is a DII school that just made the regional finals....who is going to compete with them.

Lehman
Riverside
Milton Union
Covington

Those teams have all been awful the last couple years.
Troy Christian is the second best basketball team in that conference now, Miami East has struggled the last couple years.....

I don't think this is a good fit for a conference, lots of travel, not a great conference from a sports stand point....
 
LetsGoBig said:
I am not sure this conference is much better than the CCC. They needed to land a big fish like Loramie and they didn't.

Football wise this conference will not be very good..The champion will make the playoffs, but won't be able to compete.
Miami East- Solid
Covington- Solid
Bethel- Average
Milton Union- has been down
Northridge- is rotten
Lehman- doesn't even have JH football anymore...21 kids last year and a bunch of those were seniors
Riverside- Barely got into the playoffs in the NWCC which is a bad conference
Troy Christian- doesn't even have JH football or a JV team...

this conference is set up for failure. It seems like a good idea on the surface, but what happens when Lehman and Troy Christian can't field a football team?

Basketball wise especially on the boys side is about to be rotten. Northridge is a DII school that just made the regional finals....who is going to compete with them.

Lehman
Riverside
Milton Union
Covington

Those teams have all been awful the last couple years.
Troy Christian is the second best basketball team in that conference now, Miami East has struggled the last couple years.....

I don't think this is a good fit for a conference, lots of travel, not a great conference from a sports stand point....
Click to expand...
You act like high school sports never changes. Milton was 2nd in the Buckeye Division last year in football. The talent coming up at MU is scary good. Basketball might be Milton's new sport.
Travel? Where are you from? This will be very little travel compared to what these schools are doing now.
Totally disagree on every point you made. Basketball wise, Northridge, Milton, TC, Bethel and East will be very good. Milton was in the playoffs two years ago. They have a very strong football history there. Covington, East, Lehman, Bethel should be strong. Milton for sure will be strong with their upcoming classes.
 
LetsGoBig said:
I am not sure this conference is much better than the CCC. They needed to land a big fish like Loramie and they didn't.

Football wise this conference will not be very good..The champion will make the playoffs, but won't be able to compete.
Miami East- Solid
Covington- Solid
Bethel- Average
Milton Union- has been down
Northridge- is rotten
Lehman- doesn't even have JH football anymore...21 kids last year and a bunch of those were seniors
Riverside- Barely got into the playoffs in the NWCC which is a bad conference
Troy Christian- doesn't even have JH football or a JV team...

this conference is set up for failure. It seems like a good idea on the surface, but what happens when Lehman and Troy Christian can't field a football team?

Basketball wise especially on the boys side is about to be rotten. Northridge is a DII school that just made the regional finals....who is going to compete with them.

Lehman
Riverside
Milton Union
Covington

Those teams have all been awful the last couple years.
Troy Christian is the second best basketball team in that conference now, Miami East has struggled the last couple years.....

I don't think this is a good fit for a conference, lots of travel, not a great conference from a sports stand point....
Click to expand...

I have similar sentiments as you do. At the very best, this is a pedestrian football conference that will still not see much success come playoff time.
 
I am worried about Lehman. When the base enrollments came out, they were almost down to the size of New Knoxville High School. That's a BIG problem going forward. 58 Boys 62 Girls. If they don't have JH football and a JV Team, then the students need to hold a vote. Do you want Soccer or do you want football and pick one. Definitely not big enough for both.

This is a good league. It'll be nice for all teams involved. I'd just have a few other teams on speed dial in case something happens to the football programs at Troy Christian and especially Lehman.
 
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This conference is definitely more competitive than CCC as best teams from that conf are in this and better than NWCC but will it prepare teams for run in state tourneys?
 
Things change as we all see. I would've never imagined Milton in a conference with Riverside and Bethel.
I think judging this based on today isn't fair. This will never be the MAC. PERIOD. But this will be a fun league with five Miami County schools. Rivals and similar kids. I love it being a Miami County resident. This could be very competitive.
 
HSsportfan said:
Milton “scary good” in football???? Seriously?????
Click to expand...

They do have some very good classes coming up if I recall correctly.

I know from my perspective, if Troy Christian wins a conference championship it will be a major accomplishment. if TC finishes in the Top 4 in football its a major accomplishment. TC is going to have to reset its expectations a little bit.
And since as a school they dont recruit (Or either awfull at it), they will may always be towards the bottom of the conference. Lehman historically has some good football teams. Again, if in the old CCC you swap out Bradford and Miss V with TC and Lehman in football, that is a major upgrade.
 
LetsGoBig said:
I am not sure this conference is much better than the CCC. They needed to land a big fish like Loramie and they didn't.

Football wise this conference will not be very good..The champion will make the playoffs, but won't be able to compete.
Miami East- Solid
Covington- Solid
Bethel- Average
Milton Union- has been down
Northridge- is rotten
Lehman- doesn't even have JH football anymore...21 kids last year and a bunch of those were seniors
Riverside- Barely got into the playoffs in the NWCC which is a bad conference
Troy Christian- doesn't even have JH football or a JV team...

this conference is set up for failure. It seems like a good idea on the surface, but what happens when Lehman and Troy Christian can't field a football team?

Basketball wise especially on the boys side is about to be rotten. Northridge is a DII school that just made the regional finals....who is going to compete with them.

Lehman
Riverside
Milton Union
Covington

Those teams have all been awful the last couple years.
Troy Christian is the second best basketball team in that conference now, Miami East has struggled the last couple years.....

I don't think this is a good fit for a conference, lots of travel, not a great conference from a sports stand point....
Click to expand...

Take it from the vantage point in football that TC and Lehman replaced Bradford and MissV. That is a major upgrade in football.
 
Sorry, I’m obviously not an educated man like you. But still, scary good talent and Milton do not go together!!! But best of luck in the new league. With scary good talent, they should easily win league titles and playoff games in the near future.
 
Nobody thinks this league is turning out state champion teams left and right.
I look at it this way:
Is this league tougher than the CCC was for Covington, East, and Bethel? yes
Is this league tougher than the NWCC was for Riverside and Lehman? yes
Is this league tougher than the SWBL Buckeye was for MU and Northridge? I'd call it a wash, but with far lower travel times.
Is this league tougher than the Metro Buckeye was for Troy Christian? yes,

I can't find one of these schools this doesn't help. Is it the MAC? of course not. but it's a step up for these schools.
 
dograt said:
Nobody thinks this league is turning out state champion teams left and right.
I look at it this way:
Is this league tougher than the CCC was for Covington, East, and Bethel? yes
Is this league tougher than the NWCC was for Riverside and Lehman? yes
Is this league tougher than the SWBL Buckeye was for MU and Northridge? I'd call it a wash, but with far lower travel times.
Is this league tougher than the Metro Buckeye was for Troy Christian? yes,

I can't find one of these schools this doesn't help. Is it the MAC? of course not. but it's a step up for these schools.
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And they don't need it to be. This is an improvement for pretty much all involved. I wish them all the best of luck.
 
On the make up of the league, I like all but two schools: Lehman and Riverside. Maybe they should have went with a 7 team league and not signed up Riverside .
 
Northridge looks like a team Fort Recovery should schedule. A D4 team in a D6 and D7 conference where they can get 5 wins.
 
Indiandad said:
Northridge looks like a team Fort Recovery should schedule. A D4 team in a D6 and D7 conference where they can get 5 wins.
Click to expand...

Northridge would not win a game vs any of this leagues teams the last few years. Troy Christian has played them and dominated them two of the last three times. Bethel struggled to get a win this year.

I can't imagine any school from this group would want to face the Indians unless Covington or Miami East may try it hoping to better prepare for playoff competition.

I am betting Ft Loramie stays on a few schedules as an OOC opener.

Division wise Troy Christian is deceiving as a division 6 school in football. They do not recruit to the sport and should be looked at talent wise as a Riverside or Lehman or Bethel. Certainly not at the upper end of the conference. They just lost some of the glue to their program in coach Jones so moving forward is a big question how strong they will be ?

As for conference names, I seriously doubt anything with Stillwater will be in the name. Only Covington and Milton would closely relate to such a name. RIVERSIDE, LEHMAN, TROY CHRISTIAN, MIAMI EAST, BETHEL are all much more associated with the Great Miami River. I believe Northridge has both rivers flowing through their boundary.

Geography may not even play a factor in the new name. They may opt for something like "Diversity In Sports" or DIS. This will be a much more diverse conference with public and private, rural and inner city, big and small, growing rapidly and shrinking rapidly. I hope the name reflects the diversity in some way, This conference was not forged from geographical associations as much as conference rejections from the past affiliations they had,
 
D4fan said:
As for conference names, I seriously doubt anything with Stillwater will be in the name. Only Covington and Milton would closely relate to such a name. RIVERSIDE, LEHMAN, TROY CHRISTIAN, MIAMI EAST, BETHEL are all much more associated with the Great Miami River. I believe Northridge has both rivers flowing through their boundary.

Geography may not even play a factor in the new name. They may opt for something like "Diversity In Sports" or DIS. This will be a much more diverse conference with public and private, rural and inner city, big and small, growing rapidly and shrinking rapidly. I hope the name reflects the diversity in some way, This conference was not forged from geographical associations as much as conference rejections from the past affiliations they had,
Click to expand...

I wouldnt be surprised if one of these two new conferences is named the PAC. The Premier (health) Athletic Conference. I mean they pay for everything else around here might as well sponsor a conference. Kettering will be sponsoring the other just so they dont feel left out. Would be great timing with the new Kettering Hospital being built in Troy.
 
HSsportfan said:
Sorry, I’m obviously not an educated man like you. But still, scary good talent and Milton do not go together!!! But best of luck in the new league. With scary good talent, they should easily win league titles and playoff games in the near future.
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Never said that either. But ok..
 
I have no idea what Riverside is thinking with this move. They will be the league doormat in most sports. Their football records are deceiving by playing in a terrible NWCC. Depending on who they can schedule in the non-conference, I see a future of 2-8 seasons for the Pirates in football.
 
D4fan said:
Northridge would not win a game vs any of this leagues teams the last few years. Troy Christian has played them and dominated them two of the last three times. Bethel struggled to get a win this year.
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Calpreps:

neutral field
[2018] Northridge (Dayton, OH) 21, [2018] Riverside (De Graff, OH) 17
 
neutral field
[2018] Miami East (Casstown, OH) 42, [2018] Riverside (De Graff, OH) 10
neutral field
[2018] Covington (OH) 38, [2018] Riverside (De Graff, OH) 7
neutral field
[2018] Bethel (Tipp City, OH) 28, [2018] Riverside (De Graff, OH) 21

Riverside will struggle vs the bigger schools. But they have played against many tough teams including Minster.
Riverside don't struggle vs Northridge if they stay disciplined when they play. East, Milton, Covington and Bethel will have too many athletes.
 
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BlessEmAll said:
neutral field
[2018] Miami East (Casstown, OH) 42, [2018] Riverside (De Graff, OH) 10
neutral field
[2018] Covington (OH) 38, [2018] Riverside (De Graff, OH) 7
neutral field
[2018] Bethel (Tipp City, OH) 28, [2018] Riverside (De Graff, OH) 21

Riverside will struggle vs the bigger schools. But they have played against many tough teams including Minster.
Riverside don't struggle vs Northridge if they stay disciplined when they play. East, Milton, Covington and Bethel will have too many athletes.
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They have lost seven straight years to Lehman. Northridge and Troy Christian will be the only winnable games year in and year out for them, and Troy Christian had their way with them last decade when both were in the NWCC for football. This is a terrible move for Riverside in football, not to mention most other sports.
 
I imagine the NWCC will get worse after Lehman and Riverside depart. I can see them being replaced with teams like Ridgedale and Crestline.

Riverside would fit well in the OHC footprint but this league will provide better competition for them than what they face now so its still an improvement. There's not many other places they can go to. When is this league going to be officially announced?
 
StateChampion2012 said:
I imagine the NWCC will get worse after Lehman and Riverside depart. I can see them being replaced with teams like Ridgedale and Crestline.

Riverside would fit well in the OHC footprint but this league will provide better competition for them than what they face now so its still an improvement. There's not many other places they can go to. When is this league going to be officially announced?
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Northridge needs to officially announce their departure from the SWBL, if they haven't already.
I'm sure they are working on it right now.
The league won't begin until 2021-22 season.
I see Riverside in thev same light as Dixie. They have surprised many in the SWBL over the years. Milton has had a couple of seasons that they lost to them. One that stands out is the 2012 season when Milton finished 8-2. They lost to Tipp and Dixie. Went to the State semis in the playoffs before losing to Clinton Massie.
I do think Ft Loramie would be a better fit but maybe Riverside is growing?
 
Let me backtrack a little and reword my assessment of this conference.

1. In regards of this conference being better than what each school had then yes I agree.
- Covington/Bethel/Miami East had no where to go and yes the new additions are better than what they had in the CCC. I have watched CCC football for several years and Lehman/Milton/Troy Christian and Riverside would all be in the middle of the pack. Milton would definetly be able to compete for championships on most years.
- Ansonia finished 3rd last year in football and Lehman beat them in the playoffs.

2. My sentiments about the conference were more along the line of other sports which is not the right thread for this.
- Football is what it is you almost need a league schedule to survive and this league allows all these teams to accomplish that.

3. Still not sure what Northridge was thinking basketball wise--they will win ever game by 25-30 points if they are half way decent.

4. Riverside is in for some long years in a lot of different sports. Football they might be able to get into the lower middle of the pack by beating Northridge, Troy Christian and possibly Lehman if they don't get more kids out. Outside of that their other sports arent very good....I think they would have been better off staying with the NWCC travel wasn't bad for them in that league. Maybe their administration thinks playing better competition will lead to better sports teams eventually.

If that is the case i give them credit because that is the opposite of the administrators in the CCC who run when things get tough.

From what I heard Fort Loramie will be a full independent, the new conference offered them to come, but made it for all sports or none. FL would not leave the Shelby County League. I don't blame them for that. However that does leave them with some long nights of travel for 10 game slate. I am sure trips to Indiana, West Virginia and even Kentucky will get old in a hurry.
 
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