NEO Conference Realignment

Brecksville and Twinsburg are on a sport by sport basis in the American. They both are not in the American for each sport.
That's fine but the math still wouldn't work with your proposals. To make it be 8 and 8, changes to it would have to be made as I highlighted
 
Agree, I think in the next couple of years, you will see Copley, Revere, and Barberton leave the Suburban American division and Nordonia, Brecksville, and Twinsburg moving down to the American division with Medina, Brunswick, Strongsville, Wadsworth, Highland, North Royalton, Hudson, and Stow making up the National division.
I agree. It’s a natural fit for them. Strongsville, Brunswick, Medina, Wadsworth, Solon, Stow, Highland, Hudson would work fine. Competitively and Geographically. Everyone else in the American, would need a new team to join the American as well.
 
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This is a nice and logical move. Never made sense for a Rocky River school to be in an East-side conference, and conferences are moving toward all-public or all-private members, so the writing was on the wall for LW to find a good, long-term home with similarly-sized, nearby private/parochial schools. This really helps schools like Padua who traveled to Columbus last year and will again this year.
 
I agree. It’s a natural fit for them. Strongsville, Brunswick, Medina, Wadsworth, Solon, Stow, Highland, Hudson would work fine. Competitively and Geographically
Then who is added to the American with Kenston , Mayfield , Aurora , Twinsburg, Nordonia, North Royalton and Brecksville?

Mentor would make a lot of sense in that National bumping down highland or stow ( if struggling)

I know none of the fantasy guys on here would ever include Mentor because they want doom and gloom, but Brunswick isn't much different than us

Burden of travel would be on Mentor but I think they'd do it. Wadsworth and Hudson types aren't dodging types and others have been in leagues with us. We have the sports all around and to compete
 
Then who is added to the American with Kenston , Mayfield , Aurora , Twinsburg, Nordonia, North Royalton and Brecksville?

Mentor would make a lot of sense in that National bumping down highland or stow ( if struggling)

I know none of the fantasy guys on here would ever include Mentor because they want doom and gloom, but Brunswick isn't much different than us

Burden of travel would be on Mentor but I think they'd do it. Wadsworth and Hudson types aren't dodging types and others have been in leagues with us. We have the sports all around and to compete
You seriously think Hudson would be interested in bumping down Stow to line it up with Mentor and lose 9/10 times? Cmon man lol. I get it's frustrating but take it as a compliment. Solon just tucked tail out of the GCC. It's not doom and gloom it's reality
 
You seriously think Hudson would be interested in bumping down Stow to line it up with Mentor and lose 9/10 times? Cmon man lol. I get it's frustrating but take it as a compliment. Solon just tucked tail out of the GCC. It's not doom and gloom it's reality
I don't know that Medina Highland would love facing 3 huge schools in Medina, Strongsville and Brunswick if we go by that.

Brunswick being a slam dunk while Mentor isn't considered doesn't really make sense. Both are well rounded overall. Difference is Mentor doesn't underachieve in football but Brunswick has the ability to do better there sometime
 
For the longest time The original LEL worked and was very stable. My older brother went to Bedford. The LEL at the peak of its powers was a phenomenal basketball league. My brothers sophomore year Bedford and Warrensville played for state titles. Bedford vs Warrensville/Shaw used to be standing room only. You could barely hear yourself think in Warrensville small gym because it was so loud in there. RIP to the LEL 😔
RIP to the LEL. It was probably one of the best HS basketball conferences in Ohio in the 90s. I went to Heights in the early 90's...Heights went to states 4 times in 5 years in D1, Shaker was talented but couldn't get out of the Cleveland South district. Shaw had strong teams, and the west side schools had high enrollments at the time, I assume the three Parma schools all had 2K kids or more, probably 2500 at Lakewood. I believe Euclid and Mentor joined before the end of the decade.

A lot of D1 talent came out of the LEL in the 90s. In all sports...basketball, baseball, football. As a baseball guy I can think of a couple MLB guys I played against. NFL dudes obviously too from its peak.
 
Then who is added to the American with Kenston , Mayfield , Aurora , Twinsburg, Nordonia, North Royalton and Brecksville?

Mentor would make a lot of sense in that National bumping down highland or stow ( if struggling)

I know none of the fantasy guys on here would ever include Mentor because they want doom and gloom, but Brunswick isn't much different than us

Burden of travel would be on Mentor but I think they'd do it. Wadsworth and Hudson types aren't dodging types and others have been in leagues with us. We have the sports all around and to compete
Mentor would be a solid SL national team, but we all know how Ohio Leagues work. Travel is king, and I unfortunately think travel alone hurts Mentors chances. We also know that leagues tend to be a bit scared of football powerhouses and will dodge them..

While I think some of the SL might be on board, not sure Mentor would have everyone’s support though. But that is a good question on who goes to the American. Limited options.
 
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Mentor would be a solid SL national team, but we all know how Ohio Leagues work. Travel is king, and I unfortunately think travel alone hurts Mentors chances. We also know that leagues tend to be a bit scared of football powerhouses and will dodge them..

While I think some of the SL might be on board, not sure Mentor would have everyone’s support though. But that is a good question on who goes to the American. Limited options.
Travel burden would be more on Mentor. It's just one trip for many of those schools and there are already some existing travels
 
That's fine but the math still wouldn't work with your proposals. To make it be 8 and 8, changes to it would have to be made as I highlighte

Then who is added to the American with Kenston , Mayfield , Aurora , Twinsburg, Nordonia, North Royalton and Brecksville?

Mentor would make a lot of sense in that National bumping down highland or stow ( if struggling)

I know none of the fantasy guys on here would ever include Mentor because they want doom and gloom, but Brunswick isn't much different than us

Burden of travel would be on Mentor but I think they'd do it. Wadsworth and Hudson types aren't dodging types and others have been in leagues with us. We have the sports all around and to compete
Solon, No chance for Mentor. Highland will be larger than Wadsworth in a couple of years, Housing allotments going up all over the place in Highland.
 
Agree, I think in the next couple of years, you will see Copley, Revere, and Barberton leave the Suburban American division and Nordonia, Brecksville, and Twinsburg moving down to the American division with Medina, Brunswick, Strongsville, Wadsworth, Highland, North Royalton, Hudson, and Stow making up the National division.
The question for Copley, Revere and Barberton is, where would they go? I know Barberton was not happy to see Cuyahoga Falls and Kent Roosevelt, both longtime rivals, leave the SL. I would say Barberton will jump at the first good opportunity that comes along. Again though, is there a good opportunity?
 
Agree, I think in the next couple of years, you will see Copley, Revere, and Barberton leave the Suburban American division and Nordonia, Brecksville, and Twinsburg moving down to the American division with Medina, Brunswick, Strongsville, Wadsworth, Highland, North Royalton, Hudson, and Stow making up the National division.
None of this is going to happen, for multiple reasons:

- When the mass migration of schools from the original Northeast Ohio Conference occurred in 2015 (NR, Twinsburg, Hudson, Stow, Falls), it was to get away from Brunswick, Strongsville, Mentor, and Solon. Solon's enrollment and athletics came back down to Earth, so they eventually joined them, but the SL isn't touching the other 3 with a 40 foot pole.
- Copley and Revere applied to, and were rejected by, the Metro Athletic Conference. Otherwise, they have no place else to go. Barberton already has no place else to go, though they have been independent in the past.
- We haven't even seen how well the Brecksville/Twinsburg/Nordonia arrangement of floating divisions by sport will even work yet. None of these 3 will be leaving the league, but if the setup works, why rock the boat?
 
RIP to the LEL. It was probably one of the best HS basketball conferences in Ohio in the 90s. I went to Heights in the early 90's...Heights went to states 4 times in 5 years in D1, Shaker was talented but couldn't get out of the Cleveland South district. Shaw had strong teams, and the west side schools had high enrollments at the time, I assume the three Parma schools all had 2K kids or more, probably 2500 at Lakewood. I believe Euclid and Mentor joined before the end of the decade.

A lot of D1 talent came out of the LEL in the 90s. In all sports...basketball, baseball, football. As a baseball guy I can think of a couple MLB guys I played against. NFL dudes obviously too from its peak.
So many physical freaks. The first dunk I remember as kid is Chris Chambers going baseline on two kids from Parma. Shaw had two of the biggest cheat codes at WR in Sahwn Coffey and Ty Williams in their prime. I could go on and on about the LEL for days lol
 
None of this is going to happen, for multiple reasons:

- When the mass migration of schools from the original Northeast Ohio Conference occurred in 2015 (NR, Twinsburg, Hudson, Stow, Falls), it was to get away from Brunswick, Strongsville, Mentor, and Solon. Solon's enrollment and athletics came back down to Earth, so they eventually joined them, but the SL isn't touching the other 3 with a 40 foot pole.
- Copley and Revere applied to, and were rejected by, the Metro Athletic Conference. Otherwise, they have no place else to go. Barberton already has no place else to go, though they have been independent in the past.
- We haven't even seen how well the Brecksville/Twinsburg/Nordonia arrangement of floating divisions by sport will even work yet. None of these 3 will be leaving the league, but if the setup works, why rock the boat?
1. Medina is quite similar to Brunswick and Strongsville... if the SL wanted to get away from those types of schools, inviting Medina seems to contradict that.

2. Copley and Revere can also be Cleveland West Conference expansion targets once Parma consolidates and moves on, and if the league fails to get Amherst and Midview from the SWC. Good competitive and size fit, and travel wouldn't be all that much worse as well.
 
None of this is going to happen, for multiple reasons:

- When the mass migration of schools from the original Northeast Ohio Conference occurred in 2015 (NR, Twinsburg, Hudson, Stow, Falls), it was to get away from Brunswick, Strongsville, Mentor, and Solon. Solon's enrollment and athletics came back down to Earth, so they eventually joined them, but the SL isn't touching the other 3 with a 40 foot pole.
- Copley and Revere applied to, and were rejected by, the Metro Athletic Conference. Otherwise, they have no place else to go. Barberton already has no place else to go, though they have been independent in the past.
- We haven't even seen how well the Brecksville/Twinsburg/Nordonia arrangement of floating divisions by sport will even work yet. None of these 3 will be leaving the league, but if the setup works, why rock the boat?
Mentor, correct isn't getting in, travel to far. They let Medina in which is larger than Brunswick and Strongsville. Falls is gone, Twinsburg would be in the American division, NR is growing rapidly.

Look for a new league to form with Northwest, Norton, Barberton, Copley, Revere, Cloverleaf, Buckeye, and 1 other school.

Budgets for schools are going to come under pressure the next several years and travel expenses will be a large area for schools to look at.
 
Solon, No chance for Mentor. Highland will be larger than Wadsworth in a couple of years, Housing allotments going up all over the place in Highland.
Well if Solon goes down then you only have 7 in the national . Probably less about travel and more about being scared in regards to Mentor . Unfortunate but many of those schools don't like challenges

Wadsworth has many more neighborhoods going up. They both will be growing. I live in the county near both
 
Well if Solon goes down then you only have 7 in the national . Probably less about travel and more about being scared in regards to Mentor . Unfortunate but many of those schools don't like challenges

Wadsworth has many more neighborhoods going up. They both will be growing. I live in the county near both
Those neighborhoods are in Highland school district. Wadsworth City, but not Wadsworth School District.
 
Well if Solon goes down then you only have 7 in the national . Probably less about travel and more about being scared in regards to Mentor . Unfortunate but many of those schools don't like challenges

Wadsworth has many more neighborhoods going up. They both will be growing. I live in the county near both
It is. Travel is just very conviemt. Especially Solon. If the programs were good they'd still be in the GCC the administration can deny it all they want
 
While the discussion of the LEL, SL and GCC has been fun, there is kind of a big elephant in the room now...

What does the CVC do? With the departure of Lutheran West in 2027, they need to act relatively fast in getting that hole filled if they want to avoid an uneven number of football teams. What are their options?

-Does one of Mayfield, Kenston or Riverside back out of the Suburban League and GCC and try to pivot to the CVC?

-Does Mogadore reach back out and see if the CVC will take them now?

-Does the CVC maybe take their chances with another independent private school?

Personally, I am not sure what the CVC does..
 
While the discussion of the LEL, SL and GCC has been fun, there is kind of a big elephant in the room now...

What does the CVC do? With the departure of Lutheran West in 2027, they need to act relatively fast in getting that hole filled if they want to avoid an uneven number of football teams. What are their options?

-Does one of Mayfield, Kenston or Riverside back out of the Suburban League and GCC and try to pivot to the CVC?

-Does Mogadore reach back out and see if the CVC will take them now?

-Does the CVC maybe take their chances with another independent private school?

Personally, I am not sure what the CVC does..
Mayfield makes the most sense to me. They would be a more desirable plug-and-play in every way.

The politics of the CVC as a whole may say differently though.
 
At least you can recognize that adding the 2 biggest schools from the lel isn't the same as adding all the smaller lel schools like before

Mentor advocated for Shaker getting into the NOC before the GCC formed. Euclid and Heights were the 2 in it for the initial 8th spot. Those schools weren't the problem in the lel for us. The other schools were and left us playing 3-4 conference games instead of the ideal 7
I don’t think Euclid should be in GCC. They are now the automatic win for everybody in football. Basketball may improve quickly with the hiring of Rogers.
 
They beat Shaker Heights last year so I wouldn't be too sure about that. Damion Creel is the right coach to turn the Euclid program around.

As far as the rest of realignment goes, I could see Warrensville Heights possibly being in the CVC (they're close enough to schools such as a Orange, Chagrin Falls, Beachwood).

Garfield Heights and Maple Heights are more than likely gonna end up independent. Bedford could end up in the Suburban League with the likes of Kenston, Solon, Mayfield, etc.
 
Highland CHOSE to move into the bigger SL. They wanted to be in an alignment with Wadsworth and Medina.

Nordonia, Twinsburg, and Brecksville - 2 of the 3 are in the smaller SL for each sport. I presume that was a football-related compromise.

The smaller SL right now is a weird alignment. There are some schools in there because they lack an alternative, as opposed to the situation being an ideal fit. It's better to be in a league than not in a league, most notably football scheduling in weeks 6-to-10.

As we noted, the CVC has lost Lutheran West. The school profile on Lutheran West has changed, as their enrollment has increased somewhat, and they've started to prioritize basketball. When Lutheran West came into the CVC, they did so from the PAC (which is now to some extent the LC8), and were in a western-most division -- enrollment growth moved them into a division with more east suburb and further east teams, so that was a misfit. However, from a CVC side of things, Lutheran West was allowed to go independent in basketball. I think the North Coast Conference will be a better fit for them in terms of basketball, and be OK for football.

I don't think the CVC will be so hasty to add a team. They have two don't have to have a new alignment until 27-28. There may be other movers, so a re-arrangement would be more likely than a straight replacement. With all due respect, I don't see Mayfield or Riverside being a fit because both schools are just too big (I know Eastlake North & Willougbhy South are a rebuttal, but those two are less competitive in terms of all-sports than Mayfield and Riverside). Kenston - to me - would be weird because some of the schools had encouraged them to leave the league over 10 and under 15 years ago (and the demographics haven't really changed).
 
They beat Shaker Heights last year so I wouldn't be too sure about that. Damion Creel is the right coach to turn the Euclid program around.

As far as the rest of realignment goes, I could see Warrensville Heights possibly being in the CVC (they're close enough to schools such as a Orange, Chagrin Falls, Beachwood).

Garfield Heights and Maple Heights are more than likely gonna end up independent. Bedford could end up in the Suburban League with the likes of Kenston, Solon, Mayfield, etc.
The Warrensville Heights and CVC fit does actually make a good amount of sense, and I think it would be a solid fit. They could probably slot into the Metro division or something. I am sure the CVC would let them play an independent schedule in basketball as well if they want.

Bedford could end up in the SL American as many of those schools are off of 271/480/422 which all connect. (Mayfield, Solon, Twinsburg, Kenston, Nordonia, Aurora are all within 25 minutes of Bedford). Bedford would be taking a big step up in their overall non-revenue sports competition and they may have trouble keeping up at first, but maybe it could overall help improve them? The CVC could be another option for them as well. They could honestly just fit in to the division that Lutheran West is leaving and be with North, South, Chardon, Madison, West G, Hawken. All those trips would be 50 minutes or less and they fit the enrollment. All sports competition would also be quite the jump as well, but more manageable.
 
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