FB: Conference records versus non-conference opponents (thru Week 5)

By E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing Editor

Consensus around the state of Indiana is that, year in and year out, the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference rules Indiana high school football.

A perennial bracket-filler in the Class 5A state finals, the Warren Centrals and Carmels and Center Groves and Ben Davises of Hoosier gridiron lore own the advantage of boasting six of the state’s largest schools by enrollment.

And after the first five weeks of the ’11 season, the numbers back up that premise. The MIC currently stands 14-2, eight-hundredths of a point better than the Northern Indiana Conference and 0.075 better than the Midwest Conference – the state’s three leagues with only two losses to outsiders.

So how is that trio of powerhouses gettin’ it done? Let’s take a peek …

• MIC: Carmel, Warren Central, Ben Davis, Center Grove, Terre Haute South, and North Central (Indianapolis) all finished the non-conference part of their schedules at a perfect 2-0.
• Northern Indiana: Penn and South Bend St. Joseph’s each went 3-0 outside the league, while South Bend Washington and Mishawaka Marian are both 2-0.
• Midwest: Pioneer and Caston were both 2-0, with South Newton, West Central, Tri-County, and North White all at 1-0.

Finally, here is a rundown of each league's record against out-of-conference competition in 2011 (through Week 5), courtesy of johnharrell.net:

                                              W    L    Pct.
Metropolitan Interscholastic    14    2    .875
Northern Indiana                    13    2    .867
Midwest                                   8    2    .800
Allen County Athletic              13    4    .765
Eastern Indiana                     12    4    .750
Southern Indiana Athletic        9    3    .750
Hoosier                                   11    4    .733
Great Lakes Athletic              13    5    .722
Hoosier Heritage                   11    5    .688
Southwest Seven                  10    5    .667
Northeast Hoosier                 10    6    .625
West Central                         10    6    .625
Hoosier Heartland                 9    6    .600
Pocket Athletic                      8    6    .571
Tri-Eastern                            8    6    .571
Mid-State                              9    8    .529
Central Indiana                     8    8    .500
Duneland Athletic                 8    8    .500
Hoosier Hills                         7    7    .500
Mid-Southern                        4    4    .500
Indiana Crossroads              5    6    .455
Big Eight                               7    9    .438
Conference Indiana              7    9    .438
Mid-Indiana                           7    9    .438
Sagamore                             7    9    .438
Northern Lakes                     6    8    .429
Patoka Lake Athletic            5    7    .417
Northwest Crossroads         7    10    .412
Wabash River                      4    6    .400
Mid-Indiana Football            7    11    .389
Greater South Shore           6    10    .375
Northern State                     5    9    .357
Northwestern                      5    10    .333
Three Rivers                        5    11    .313
North Central                       4    12    .250
Indianapolis Public School   3    12    .200
Western Indiana                   3    12    .200
Summit Athletic                   1    6    .143
Hoosier Crossroads             0    0    .000
Northeast Corner                0    5    .000