OVC & SOC Merge Talk

[Sports fanatic]

Just seen on Twitter that no OVC teams are included in the new 3 divisions with 6 teams in each division. Reported by @paulboggssports.

[BuckeyeBlood]

Just seen on Twitter that no OVC teams are included in the new 3 divisions with 6 teams in each division. Reported by @paulboggssports.

Yes I seen this too. Starts next basketball season and will be for every sport Except football. He also said to stay tuned for the football front when someone said that’s what needed changed…so we shall see. The 18 schools involved are listed below. I assume we will see something like this, of course this isn’t exact. A lot of the smaller schools could be moved around.

Burg, Waverly, West, Minford, Valley, South Webster
Oak Hill, Green, ND, Symmes Valley, Northwest, Eastern
New Boston, South Gallia, East, Western, Clay, ISJ.

[fielddaddy]

hard to believe this
Coal grove is trying hard to get rid of Ironton Rock Hill isn't far behind.
You truly think Wheelersburg for the next 4-5 years is going to take a butt whipping by Ironton in football and you believe Portsmouth is in on this,
And you truly believe Gallia and Fairland looks to the extra travel now involved.
Why would either league give up their identity for a super conference it makes no sense at all.

I thought Ironton wasn’t a part of the equation at all.

I agree Wobycat.
I can't believe Ironton would be part of the equation either but I also can't believe Gallia would be up to doing all that travelling either.
From Waverly to F
Gallia is a nice ride from Minford or Portsmouth West it's a journey . can't see them being happy about it either.

[RBH23]

hard to believe this
Coal grove is trying hard to get rid of Ironton Rock Hill isn't far behind.
You truly think Wheelersburg for the next 4-5 years is going to take a butt whipping by Ironton in football and you believe Portsmouth is in on this,
And you truly believe Gallia and Fairland looks to the extra travel now involved.
Why would either league give up their identity for a super conference it makes no sense at all.

I thought the same thing but may not be much of an option. It’s been discussed over and over how unhappy some OVC schools are. Well, the SOC has some issues of their own with regards to football:

- Northwest doesn’t want to move up to SOC 2, and the other SOC 2 schools are not excited about it either.
- Valley, OH, and Minford do not want to be in SOC 2 for football.
- Waverly may be kicking the tires with another conference.

Anyway, it’s coming down to SOC 2 having just Burg, West, and Waverly (maybe). Hence why they are open to the bigger IOVC schools merging for football.

Still much to decide and many schools to try to make happy. We’ll see if it comes to fruition.

[art_vandelay]

Just seen on Twitter that no OVC teams are included in the new 3 divisions with 6 teams in each division. Reported by @paulboggssports.

Sounds like SOC laying the tracks to start selectively adding schools as opposed to a full merger with OVC. Likely outcome is the disgruntled OVC schools (Coal Grove, Rock Hill, Chesapeake, etc) end up leaving for SOC. It the only thing that makes sense because going to a 3-division SOC in every sport except football is pointless when football was the only sport that needed fixed.*

[Sonny Weaver]

My guess is they’ll add 2 football schools to what they currently have. Rock Hill and Coal Grove, gun to my head would be my guess

Would LOVE to see it be PHS & Ironton however

[Beergogglebluez]

There is no merge. It says right there no ovc team is coming. Just adding south Gallia and realigning.

[art_vandelay]

There is no merge. It says right there no ovc team is coming. Just adding south Gallia and realigning.

Right, and that by itself accomplishes nothing. Football is the problem and that doesn’t fix it.

It’s why it seems obvious SOC going to be adding certain schools, but not a full-on merge. Ironton may eventually end up independent, but not by choice.*

[RBH23]

There is no merge. It says right there no ovc team is coming. Just adding south Gallia and realigning.

Right, and that by itself accomplishes nothing. Football is the problem and that doesn’t fix it.

It’s why it seems obvious SOC going to be adding certain schools, but not a full-on merge. Ironton may eventually end up independent, but not by choice.*

The merger discussions going on only pertain to football; and Ironton would be a part of this.

That said, this is not close to being finalized; only being discussed. With so many teams involved, it’s probably a long shot to get done.

[goUK]

Hearing tonight that it’s finally happening. Merger of all sports EXCEPT football is official. Football still in the works

Heard wrong

[baseball16]

I am beginning to believe that most people on this site don't comprehend real well.

There is NO MERGE with any conference.

South Gallia was voted into the SOC 2 years ago. Basketball, Baseball, and Softball will realign into 3 divisions starting 2023-2024 season. Volleyball will start in Fall of 2024.
Divisions are
Upper
Wheelersburg
Waverly
West
SW (Opted to stay up)
Valley
Minford

Middle
Oak Hill
Western
Eastern
South Gallia (should be in Lower in my opinion)
Northwest
Symmes Valley

Lower
East
Notre Dame- (should be in Middle in my opinion)
Green
New Boston
Clay
St. Joe


This is a Done Deal.
I look for the SOC to try and add teams and expand each division. What teams? That is TBD. But I can see River Valley, Rock Hill def. being an option.

[RBH23]

I am beginning to believe that most people on this site don't comprehend real well.

There is NO MERGE with any conference.

South Gallia was voted into the SOC 2 years ago. Basketball, Baseball, and Softball will realign into 3 divisions starting 2023-2024 season. Volleyball will start in Fall of 2024.
Divisions are
Upper
Wheelersburg
Waverly
West
SW (Opted to stay up)
Valley
Minford

Middle
Oak Hill
Western
Eastern
South Gallia (should be in Lower in my opinion)
Northwest
Symmes Valley

Lower
East
Notre Dame- (should be in Middle in my opinion)
Green
New Boston
Clay
St. Joe


This is a Done Deal.
I look for the SOC to try and add teams and expand each division. What teams? That is TBD. But I can see River Valley, Rock Hill def. being an option.

You are correct. No current merger for any sport. However, they are discussing merging SOC-OVC for football only. These talks are occurring now.

At this time, it’s just being discussed. Lots to work out to make it a reality.

[bbjunky81]

There are still ongoing discussions for merging OVC and SOC for football only, that is 100% true. Whether it gets done or not is the question, but I think with it being ONLY football it could absolutely be possible.

As for the SOC, I do expect 3-6 new teams added in the future. For the top divisions they'll likely be looking/asking teams like Gallia + Jackson (I consider both unlikely to join), possibly even South Point and/or Portsmouth (it's beyond time to get Portsmouth in this league).

Middle division I would expect them to reach out to Rock Hill, Piketon, possibly River Valley, Chesapeake, or Wellston. I'd say Rock Hill is the only one with above 50% odds of joining.

Bottom (small) division I expect them to reach out to Manchester and possibly even Peebles.

[bbjunky81]

I'm not sure a 'merger' per se will occur, because not all teams would want that. But I do believe the SOC is going to continue to expand into an even bigger super conference.

More often than not these things trickle down from what colleges are doing. There's no denying colleges are shifting to super conferences. Eventually we will see that domino down into the high school level, and this is just the first step of that.

[Crab's Brother]

Just from the outside looking in....

It sure looks like the smallest of the small SOC schools got together and said "we don't want to go to South Gallia....Let's get them in the middle group. And they got that done.

I am sure Valley and Webster are very happy with how things worked out.

ND (especially on the girls side) needs to be in the middle. No way around it. Hell they would be good at the top. They have a ton of talent.

[baseball16]

Just from the outside looking in....

It sure looks like the smallest of the small SOC schools got together and said "we don't want to go to South Gallia....Let's get them in the middle group. And they got that done.

I am sure Valley and Webster are very happy with how things worked out.

ND (especially on the girls side) needs to be in the middle. No way around it. Hell they would be good at the top. They have a ton of talent.

No Doubt about it!
Notre Dame from a competitive standpoint, should be in the Middle.

[bbjunky81]

Just from the outside looking in....

It sure looks like the smallest of the small SOC schools got together and said "we don't want to go to South Gallia....Let's get them in the middle group. And they got that done.

I am sure Valley and Webster are very happy with how things worked out.

ND (especially on the girls side) needs to be in the middle. No way around it. Hell they would be good at the top. They have a ton of talent.

No Doubt about it!
Notre Dame from a competitive standpoint, should be in the Middle.

Would make a lot of sense if we could add the following schools to even it all out

Top:

Minford
Valley
South Webster
Wheelersburg
West
Waverly
Portsmouth

Middle:

Oak Hill
Northwest
Eastern
Western
Symmes
Piketon
Rock Hill

Small:

South Gallia
Notre Dame
Green
East
Clay
New Boston
St. Joe


7 team conference for each and makes way more sense geographically. As far away as South Gallia is, it makes even less sense for them to travel all the way to Western and Eastern Pike.

[baseball16]

Just from the outside looking in....

It sure looks like the smallest of the small SOC schools got together and said "we don't want to go to South Gallia....Let's get them in the middle group. And they got that done.

I am sure Valley and Webster are very happy with how things worked out.

ND (especially on the girls side) needs to be in the middle. No way around it. Hell they would be good at the top. They have a ton of talent.

No Doubt about it!
Notre Dame from a competitive standpoint, should be in the Middle.

Would make a lot of sense if we could add the following schools to even it all out

Top:

Minford
Valley
South Webster
Wheelersburg
West
Waverly
Portsmouth

Middle:

Oak Hill
Northwest
Eastern
Western
Symmes
Piketon
Rock Hill

Small:

South Gallia
Notre Dame
Green
East
Clay
New Boston
St. Joe


7 team conference for each and makes way more sense geographically. As far away as South Gallia is, it makes even less sense for them to travel all the way to Western and Eastern Pike.

There are some schools in the Small Division that do not want to go to South Gallia. That is the Reason for them in the Middle. Travel where you go once a year in a sport. Makes a lot of sense. Again, some schools not looking at the big picture for Competitive Balance, just looking out for themselves, which I guess is their choice.

[BigBoneJerome]

Why did they let South Gallia in if they don’t want to travel?

[Vegeta]

If you could get Jackson and Piketon on board, I think combining the SOC and OVC for all sports could work.

Jackson
Waverly
Gallia Academy
Ironton
Portsmouth
Wheelersburg

Portsmouth West
Minford
Valley
Fairland
South Point
Chesapeake

Oak Hill
Northwest
Piketon
Rock Hill
Dawson-Bryant
South Webster

Eastern
Western
Sciotoville Community
Clay
Notre Dame

Symmes Valley
South Gallia
Green
Glenwood
St Joseph Central