Big North Conference (Michigan) Explained

The Big North Conference (BNC) is a high school athletic conference in Michigan. The conference is affiliated with the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA).

The conference contains nine of the largest high schools across Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. Among these schools, four are full-time members, two are non-football members, and three are football-only members.

History

The conference was created in 1997 after the split of Traverse City Senior High School into Central and West high schools. It combined the eight largest schools in Northern Michigan. In 2004, due to decreasing enrollment, Cheboygan and Sault Area left the conference. West Branch Ogemaw Heights joined the conference in 2011, but they left the conference after the 2015-16 school year due to decreasing enrollment as well.

In 2021, the league announced the departure of Traverse City Central and Traverse City West high schools' football programs, and those schools becoming associate members of the Saginaw Valley League.[1] However, other sports offered by those schools will continue to participate in the Big North Conference.

In 2023, it was announced that three high schools, Escanaba, Marquette, and Sault Area, would be joining the BNC as football-only members.

Member schools

Non-football members

Football-only members

SchoolMascotColorsClass (enrollment)CityCountyYear joinedPrevious league
Alpena High School[2] Wildcats1,023 (A)AlpenaAlpena1997Great Lakes Athletic Conference
Cadillac High School[3] Vikings860 (A)CadillacWexford1997North Central Conference
Escanaba High SchoolEskymos709 (B)EscanabaDelta2023Great Northern UP Conference
Gaylord High School[4] Blue Devils901 (A)GaylordOtsego1997Michigan Huron Shores Conference
Marquette Senior High School[5] Redmen1,059 (A)MarquetteMarquette2023Great Northern UP Conference
Petoskey High School[6] Northmen853 (A)PetoskeyEmmet1997Michigan Huron Shores Conference
Sault Area High SchoolBlue Devils786 (B)Sault Ste. MarieChippewa2023Great Northern UP Conference
Traverse City Central High School[7] Trojans1,382 (A)Traverse CityGrand Traverse1997Great Lakes Athletic Conference
Traverse City West Senior High School[8] Titans1,455 (A)Traverse CityGrand Traverse1997N/A (new school)

Former schools

SchoolMascotColorsClass (enrollment)CityCountyYear joinedPrevious leagueYear leftCurrent league
Cheboygan High SchoolChiefsB (602)CheboyganCheboygan1997Michigan Huron Shores Conference2004Northern Shores Conference (Northern Michigan Football League)
Ogemaw Heights High SchoolFalconsB (556)West BranchOgemaw2011Northeast Michigan Conference2016Jack Pine Conference
Sault Area High SchoolBlue DevilsA (884)Sault Ste. MarieChippewa1997Michigan Huron Shores Conference2004Straits Area Conference

Membership timeline

Full member
Football-only member
Non-football member
DateFormat = yyyyImageSize = width:850 height:auto barincrement:30Period = from:1997 till:2027TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalPlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5

Colors = id:barcolor id:line value:black id:bg value:white

PlotData= width:20 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:m

bar:1 color:green from:1997 till:end text:Alpena Senior High School (1997 - present) bar:2 color:green from:1997 till:end text:Cadillac Senior High School (1997 - present) bar:3 color:green from:1997 till:2004 text:Cheboygan Area High School (1997 - 2004) bar:4 color:powderblue from:2023 till:end text:Escanaba High School (2023 - present) bar:5 color:powderblue from:2023 till:end text:Marquette High School (2023 - present) bar:6 color:green from:1997 till:end text:Gaylord High School (1997 - present) bar:7 color:green from:2011 till:2016 text:Ogemaw Heights High School (2011 - 2016) bar:8 color:green from:1997 till:end text:Petoskey High School (1997 - present) bar:9 color:green from:1997 till:2004 text:Sault Area High School (1997 - 2004, 2023 - present) bar:9 color:powderblue from:2023 till:end text: bar:10 color:green from:1997 till:2021 text:Traverse City Central High School (1997 - present) bar:10 color:pink from:2021 till:end text: bar:11 color:green from:1997 till:2021 text:Traverse City West Senior High School (1997 - present) bar:11 color:pink from:2021 till:end text:

TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(250,30) # tabs:(0-center) text:"Big North Conference Membership History"

Football champions

From 1997 to 1999 the Big North had a A division and a B division.

YearA ChampionRecordB ChampionRecord
1997Traverse City West7–2–0 (3–0–0)Petoskey8–1–0 (3–0–0)
1998Traverse City West6–3 (3–0)Petoskey9–2 (3–0)
1999Traverse City West5–4 (3–0)Sault Ste. Marie7–3 (3–0)

Since 2000, the conference has operated with one division.

YearChampionRecord
2000Cadillac9–1 (7–0)
2001Gaylord9–1 (7–0)
2002Gaylord11–1 (7–0)
2003Traverse City West7–3 (7–0)
2004Traverse City West10–1 (5–0)
2005Gaylord6–3 (4–1)
2005Traverse City Central6–4 (4–1)
2006Traverse City West6–4 (5–0)
2007Traverse City Central5–4 (4–1)
2007Traverse City West6–4 (4–1)
2008Petoskey9–2 (4–1)
2008Traverse City West6–4 (4–1)
2009Cadillac8–2 (5–0)
2010Petoskey8–2 (4–1)
2010Traverse City West6–4 (4–1)
2011Petoskey9–2 (6–0)
2012Traverse City Central9–2 (6–0)
2013Cadillac11–1 (6–0)
2014Cadillac9–1 (6–0)
2015Traverse City Central9–1 (6–0)
2016Traverse City Central9–2 (5–0)
2017Traverse City West9–2 (5–0)
2018Traverse City West7–3 (5–0)
2019Traverse City Central8–2 (5–0)
2020Traverse City Central9–2 (5–0)
2021Traverse City Central12–2 (5–0)
2022Cadillac5–5 (3–0)
2023Gaylord11–1 (6–0)

Teams in the Final Regular Season Rankings

Year Team Division Rank
2002 !align=center style="background:navy;color:gold"Gaylord 3 3rd
2004 !align=center style="background:green;color:gold"Traverse City West 1 3rd
2008 !align=center style="background:darkblue;color:white"Petoskey 3 9th
2009 !align=center style="background:darkblue;color:yellow"Cadillac 3 7th
2009 !align=center style="background:darkblue;color:white"Petoskey 3 10th
2012 !align=center style="background:black;color:yellow"Traverse City Central 2 6th
2013 !align=center style="background:darkblue;color:yellow"Cadillac 4 3rd
2014 !align=center style="background:darkblue;color:yellow"Cadillac 4 3rd
2015 !align=center style="background:black;color:yellow"Traverse City Central 2 4th
2016 !align=center style="background:black;color:yellow"Traverse City Central 2 9th
2017 !align=center style="background:green;color:gold"Traverse City West 1 10th
2019 !align=center style="background:black;color:yellow"Traverse City Central 2 7th
2020 !align=center style="background:black;color:yellow"Traverse City Central 2 10th
2021 !align=center style="background:black;color:yellow"Traverse City Central 2 3rd
2021 !align=center style="background:darkblue;color:yellow"Cadillac 4 7th

Conference Records

Team Big North Record Pct. Conference Championship
!align=center style="background:green;color:gold"Traverse City West 104-28 .788 11
!align=center style="background:black;color:yellow"Traverse City Central 87-45 .659 8
!align=center style="background:darkblue;color:white"Petoskey 66-66 .500 5
!align=center style="background:darkblue;color:yellow"Cadillac 62-70 .470 4
!align=center style="background:navy;color:yellow"Gaylord 58-74 .439 3
!align=center style="background:darkblue;color:white"Sault Ste. Marie 16-21 .432 1
!align=center style="background:orange;color:black"Cheboygan 15-22 .405 0
!align=center style="background:brown;color:gold"Ogemaw Heights 9-21 .300 0
!align=center style="background:green;color:white"Alpena 31-101 .2350

State Championship Results

SeasonBig NorthNon-Big NorthSiteDivision
2020align=center style="background:darkblue;color:yellow"Cadillac (8-3)0Detroit Country Day (9-2)13Ford Field • Detroit, MI4
2021align=center style="background:black;color:yellow"Traverse City Central (12-2)14Warren De La Salle (13-0)41Ford Field • Detroit, MI2

Boys Basketball Champions

YearChampionRecord
1997-1998Petoskey14-0
1998-1999Traverse City Central11-3
1999-2000Traverse City West13-1
2000-2001Cadillac13-1
2001-2002Traverse City Central12-2
2002-2003Cadillac/Petoskey/Traverse City West11-3
2003-2004Cadillac/Petoskey12-2
2004-2005Traverse City Central8-2
2005-2006Traverse City West9-1
2006-2007Cadillac/Petoskey7-3
2007-2008Alpena8-2
2008-2009Cadillac/Gaylord8-2
2009-2010Petoskey10-0
2010-2011Petoskey10-0
2011-2012Petoskey11-1
2012-2013Cadillac/Petoskey/Traverse City West9-3
2013-2014Alpena11-1
2014-2015Alpena11-1
2015-2016Petoskey12-0
2016-2017Traverse City West9-1
2017-2018Petoskey9-1
2018-2019Petoskey/Traverse City Central7-3
2019-2020Cadillac/Traverse City Central8-2
2020-2021Traverse City Central9-0
2021-2022Cadillac/Traverse City Central7-3

Conference Records

Team Big North Record Pct. Conference Championship
!align=center style="background:green;color:gold"Traverse City West 175-112 .610 5
!align=center style="background:black;color:yellow"Traverse City Central 170-117 .592 7
!align=center style="background:darkblue;color:white"Petoskey 196-91 .683 11
!align=center style="background:darkblue;color:yellow"Cadillac 192-95 .669 8
!align=center style="background:navy;color:yellow"Gaylord 78-206 .275 1
!align=center style="background:darkblue;color:white"Sault Ste. Marie 11-87 .112 0
!align=center style="background:orange;color:black"Cheboygan 28-70 .286 0
!align=center style="background:brown;color:gold"Ogemaw Heights 7-53 .117 0
!align=center style="background:green;color:white"Alpena 134-158 .4693

Girls Basketball Champions

YearChampionRecord
1997Sault Ste. Marie13-1
1998Sault Ste. Marie13-0
1999Petoskey13-1
2000Sault Ste. Marie14-0
2001Cadillac13-1
2002Traverse City West12-2
2003Traverse City West14-0
2004Traverse City Central10-0
2005Traverse City West10-0
2006Alpena8-2
2007-2008Traverse City West9-1
2008-2009Traverse City Central9-1
2009-2010Petoskey/Traverse City West9-1
2010-2011Petoskey10-0
2011-2012Traverse City West10-2
2012-2013Petoskey10-1
2013-2014Cadillac11-1
2014-2015Traverse City West12-0
2015-2016Traverse City Central11-1
2016-2017Traverse City Central8-2
2017-2018Petoskey8-2
2018-2019Cadillac10-0
2019-2020Cadillac10-0
2020-2021Cadillac8-1
2021-2022Petoskey8-2
2022-2023Petoskey9-1

Conference Records

Team Big North Record Pct. Conference Championship
!align=center style="background:green;color:gold"Traverse City West 177-119 .598 7
!align=center style="background:black;color:yellow"Traverse City Central 168-130 .564 4
!align=center style="background:darkblue;color:white"Petoskey 152-146 .510 7
!align=center style="background:darkblue;color:yellow"Cadillac 180-117 .610 5
!align=center style="background:navy;color:yellow"Gaylord 110-186 .372 0
!align=center style="background:darkblue;color:white"Sault Ste. Marie 72-25 .742 3
!align=center style="background:orange;color:black"Cheboygan 47-51 .480 0
!align=center style="background:brown;color:gold"Ogemaw Heights 4-55 .068 0
!align=center style="background:green;color:white"Alpena 103-192 .3491

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2021-09-15. Saginaw Valley League adds Traverse City West, Central football programs. 2021-09-15. mlive. en.
  2. Web site: MHSAA > Schools. 2020-09-27. www.mhsaa.com.
  3. Web site: MHSAA > Schools. 2020-09-27. www.mhsaa.com.
  4. Web site: MHSAA > Schools. 2020-09-27. www.mhsaa.com.
  5. Web site: Change coming to Big North in 2023 with addition of three U.P. programs . 2023-10-24 . Petoskey News-Review . en-US.
  6. Web site: MHSAA > Schools. 2020-09-27. www.mhsaa.com.
  7. Web site: MHSAA > Schools. 2020-09-27. www.mhsaa.com.
  8. Web site: MHSAA > Schools. 2020-09-27. www.mhsaa.com.

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