Classes Still Create Hoosier Hysteria
July 27, 2017
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
This is the fourth part in a series on MHSAA tournament classification, past and present, that will be published over the next two weeks. This series originally ran in this spring's edition of MHSAA benchmarks.
Twenty years ago, Bloomington North High School won the Indiana High School Athletic Association boys basketball championship, defeating Delta 75-54 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.
The date, March 22, 1997, is at the same time revered and disdained by traditionalists in the state who saw it as the last schoolboy championship game the state would ever host.
That’s how devout the game of basketball, particularly interscholastic basketball, had become in the Hoosier state during the 87 years a state champion – one state champion, to be precise – was crowned.
Following that 1997 season, the IHSAA moved to a four-class system for its roundball tournaments, like so many of its state association counterparts had done years earlier.
It would be shocking to find more than a small percentage of current high school basketball players around the country unfamiliar with the iconic movie Hoosiers, even though the film is now more than 30 years old.
And, the storyline for that blockbuster unfolded more than 30 years prior to its release, when small-town, undermanned Milan High School defeated Muncie Central High School 32-30 in the 1954 IHSAA title game.
Perhaps it’s because of the David vs Goliath notion, or the fame of the movie that replaced Milan with the fictional Hickory and real-life star Bobby Plump with Hollywood hero Jimmy Chitwood, or the simple fact that Indiana had something other states didn’t.
Whatever the reason, plenty of opposition remains to this day to basketball classification in the state.
The fact is, the small rural schools were regularly being beaten handily by the much larger suburban and city schools as the tournament progressed each season.
Small schools also were closing at a rapid rate following the state’s School Reorganization Act in 1959, as students converged on larger, centralized county schools. From 1960 to 2000, the number of schools entering the tournament dropped from 694 to 381, and in 1997 a total of 382 schools and 4,584 athletes began competition at the Sectional level (the first level of the IHSAA Basketball Tournament).
It was at the entry level of the tournament where school administrators felt the pain of the new class system, but not necessarily for the same nostalgic reasons as the fans who either attended or boycotted the tournament.
At the Sectional round of the tournament, the IHSAA was culling just 2 percent of the revenue, with the participating schools splitting the balance. So, when Sectional attendance dropped by 14 percent in that first year of class basketball, many schools realized a financial loss. It was money they had grown to count on in prior years to help fund various aspects of the department.
Schools cumulatively received more than $900,000 from Sectional competition in 1998, but that total was down from more than $1 million in the last year of the single-class tournament.
Yet, the current format provides a great deal more opportunity and realistic chances at championship runs for schools of all enrollments.
To date, 60 additional teams have championship or runner-up trophies on display in school trophy cases around Indiana.
That was the mission in front of then-IHSAA commissioner Bob Gardner (now National Federation executive director) once the board made its decision: to give thousands more student-athletes the opportunity for once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
As any statistician knows, figures can be manipulated to tell any side of a story. Declining attendance in year one of class basketball is such a number.
The truth is tournament attendance had been on a steady downward spiral since its peak of just over 1.5 million in 1962. By the last single-class event in 1997, the total attendance was half that.
The challenge then and today, as it is for all state associations, is to find that delicate balance for those holding onto tradition, those holding onto trophies, and the number of trophies to hand out.
Editor’s Note: Stories from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette in 1998 and from a 2007 issue of Indianapolis Monthly provided facts in this article.
BOTF X: Challenges Await 9 Semifinalists from Record-Tying Field
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 10, 2022
Congratulations, “Battle of the Fans X” semifinalists, for qualifying for this year’s “Challenge Round.” In doing so, you’ve already met and overcome a pair of significant challenges as you seek to show Michigan why your student section is the state’s best.
First, you’ve managed this despite COVID-19. Not much more explanation needed there.
Second, you’ve qualified from a record-tying number of applicants to advance and earn this opportunity.
Nine student cheering sections from MHSAA member schools have been selected from the first phase of BOTF X to take part in the “Challenge Round” as they vie for this year’s championship: Howell, Midland Dow and Traverse City West from Class A; Imlay City, Spring Lake and Yale from Class B; and Buchanan, North Muskegon and Petersburg Summerfield from Class C/D.
Battle of the Fans X, organized by MHSAA staff and its 16-member Student Advisory Council, kicked off by inviting schools to submit short videos, via TikTok, of their cheering sections in action by Jan. 8. The Advisory Council has selected nine semifinalists to accomplish a list of tasks showing off their sections over the next 12 days – and the Council will then select three finalists for MHSAA visits.
This year’s winner will be announced Feb. 18 and recognized March 25 during the MHSAA Boys Basketball Semifinals at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.
Semifinalists are required to complete up to 20 BOTF challenges and submit documentation via TikTok by 11 p.m. on Jan. 22. Five mandatory challenges focus on contest criteria: positive sportsmanship, student body participation, school spirit, originality of cheers, organization of the group, student section leadership and overall fun.
The list of challenges allows semifinalists opportunities to show the unique characteristics that make their sections elite. The full list of challenges can be found on the MHSAA Website.
“With limited attendance at games last year, students have been excited to get back to fields and gyms this year to support their classmates,” said Andy Frushour, MHSAA director of brand management and advisor to the Student Advisory Council. “We know this pandemic isn’t yet over, and student sections haven’t taken their attendance for granted. Every game is special, and student sections are excited to continue participation in this contest.
“Over the next two weeks, we’ll learn a lot about what these student sections bring to every game night.”
The Student Advisory Council will select the finalists for announcement Jan. 24 on Second Half. MHSAA staff and Student Advisory Council members will visit all three finalists for home basketball games during the second half of this regular season, with coverage and video from those visits and the announcement of the winner all to be published on Second Half.
The winner will be selected by another Advisory Council vote based in part on support each section receives on the MHSAA’s social media sites. All social media postings regarding Battle of the Fans X should include the hashtag #MHSAABOTF2022. The MHSAA will share semifinalists’ challenge TikToks over the next two weeks. The MHSAA also will post from the three finalists visits on those channels.
A record-tying 27 schools applied for this year’s contest, including 14 schools for the first time to bring the total to 119 member schools that have applied for the contest at least once over its 10-year existence.
Buchanan and Traverse City West both have applied eight times and will compete in the semifinals for the fourth-straight competition. Buchanan was the BOTF champion in 2013, 2018 and 2020, and West won in 2016. North Muskegon is a semifinalist for the second time after winning the BOTF title in 2019.
Petersburg Summerfield advanced to the semis for the third-straight time, while Yale advanced past the first round for the third time (and first since 2016). Imlay City advanced for the first time after three previous attempts, and Howell, Spring Lake, and Midland Dow are all first-time applicants.
“We’re basically in the ‘Regional’ round now if you compare this competition to our other tournaments,” Frushour said. “This group of nine is just getting warmed up as they prepare to make a run at reaching the ‘state finals.’ We’re excited to see the creativity and positivity of the nine semifinalists.”
The other first-time applicants were Carsonville-Port Sanilac, Detroit Catholic Central, Freeland, Grosse Pointe North, Okemos, Plymouth Christian Academy, Portage Central, Sanford Meridian, Spring Lake, Troy and Utica Eisenhower.
Click to view all applications on TikTok.
The contest is sponsored in part by the United Dairy Industry of Michigan, which promotes Michigan's locally-produced dairy products and nutrition education. Rules plus links to past years’ coverage of the contest can be found on the MHSAA's BOTF page.
The Student Advisory Council is made up of eight seniors and eight juniors who each serve two-year terms. The Council acts as the voice of Michigan's student-athletes; it serves as a student sounding board for the MHSAA's Representative Council, assists in planning Sportsmanship Summits, Captains Clinics and other student leadership events; participates in a yearly focus group about the state of high school sports for Michigan State University's Institute for the Study of Youth Sports and assists with medal ceremonies at MHSAA championship events.
VIDEOS: Below, check out the videos from our visits to all of the first nine BOTF champions.