Ohio Central Region defunct athletic conferences explained

This is a list of former high school athletic conferences in the Central Region of Ohio, as designated by the OHSAA. If a conference had members that span multiple regions, the conference is placed in the article of the region most of its former members hail from. Because the names of localities and their corresponding high schools do not always match and because there is often a possibility of ambiguity with respect to either the name of a locality or the name of a high school, the following table gives both in every case, with the locality name first, in plain type, and the high school name second in boldface type. The school's team nickname is given last.

Buckeye Athletic Conference

Buckeye Athletic Conference Divisions (1991-94, unless noted)
Bexley (1991-93)Bexley (1993-94)
Big WalnutGrandview Heights
Johnstown-Monroe (1993-94)Johnstown-Monroe (1991-93)
LakewoodJonathan Alder
Licking ValleyLondon
OlentangyMadison Plains (1991-93)
UticaWest Jefferson
Washington (1993-94)
Buckeye Athletic Conference Divisions (1994-2003, unless noted)
BexleyColumbus Academy (2001-03)
Big Walnut (1994-97)Fairbanks (2001-03)
LakewoodGrandview Heights
Licking Valley (1997-2003)Jonathan Alder
LondonLicking Valley (1994-97)
Miami Trace (2001-03)Madison Plains (1997-2003)
McClain (1999-2001)Utica (1994-97)
Olentagy (1994-97)Washington (1997-2003)
Utica (1997-99)West Jefferson
Washington (1994-97)
Whitehall-Yearling (2001-03)

Buckeye Central Conference

The league was created after the Buckeye Conference folded. The league was an unideal resort for member schools that had to bear extensive travel. Fremont Ross was able to gain membership in the now-defunct Great Lakes League in 1991, leaving the four schools to struggle on. Findlay eventually gained membership in the GLL as Zanesville left for the closer OVAC confederation, effectively ending competition. Lancaster and Newark would end up going from leagues struggling to retain members to joining the Ohio Capital Conference, which is the largest proper conference in the state.

Central Buckeye League

There were two versions of the CBL. The first ran from 1929 to 1966. The second version ran from 1976 to 1991, where after joining with schools from the Licking County League, it was rebranded as the Buckeye Athletic Conference (BAC).

First Version (1929-1966)

Second Version (1976-1991)

During this period, the league would play as one division from 1977 through 1980. The league would split its teams beginning in 1981. The two 6 team divisions were roughly divided by enrollment with the larger schools making up the Buckeye Division and the smaller schools forming the Central Division.After New Albany leaves the league in 1984, Olentangy will move to the Central Division with new member, London, replacing Olentangy in the Buckeye. The divisions would drop to 5 members each for the 1990-91 school year as Buckeye Valley & North Union leave.

  1. Concurrent with CBL and Darby Valley League 1976-77.
  2. Concurrent with CBL and Mid-Ohio League 1976-77.
  3. Concurrent with CBL and Mid-Buckeye League 1976-77.
  4. Concurrent with CBL and Metropolitan League 1976-77.
  5. Concurrent with CBL and Mid-Ohio League 1977-78.
Central Buckeye League Divisions 1981-91
BuckeyeCentral
BexleyColumbus Academy (boys only)
Big WalnutColumbus School for Girls (girls only)
Buckeye Valley (81-90)Grandview Heights
DublinJonathan Alder
London (84-91)North Union (81-90)
MarysvilleNew Albany (81-84)
Olentangy (81-84)Olentangy (84-91)
West Jefferson

Central Ohio League

One of the first large-school conferences in Central and East Ohio, its widespread geography led to membership instability through its lifespan.

Delaware County League

  1. Concurrent with Mid-State League 1946-49.
  2. Concurrent with Mid-Buckeye League 1948-53.
  3. Concurrent with Mid-Buckeye League 1948-50.
  4. Concurrent with Mid-Buckeye League 1950-54
  5. Concurrent with Mid-Ohio Conference 1953-63.
  6. Concurrent with Mid-Ohio Conference 1954-63.
  7. Concurrent with Mid-Ohio Conference 1956-63.

Franklin County League

Organized with the beginning of the state basketball tournament in 1922, the league membership was fairly fluid, as schools left for other regional and power leagues, and often returned again. The league was one that was directly hindered by the creation of the Ohio Capital Conference, as two of its five remaining members left for the league in 1968, and the other schools left to fill in spots in other conferences.

Knox County League

  1. Concurrent with Mid-Buckeye League 1954-55.
  2. Concurrent with Knox-Morrow League 1955-58.
  3. Concurrent with Knox-Morrow League 1955-61.

Knox-Morrow League

Formed in 1955, this league was formed by smaller schools in the two counties to solve scheduling issues with their dwindling county leagues (which all remained in). The league folded after the 1961-62 school year, as consolidation left only two schools.[1]

  1. Concurrent with KCL throughout membership.
  2. Concurrent with KCL until 1961.
  3. Concurrent with MCL throughout membership.

Marion County League

  1. Teams played concurrently in the MCL and NCC from 1962 to 1969.
MCL Divisions, pre-1931-48
Eastern Western
Caledonia Green Camp
Claridon LaRue
Kirkpatrick Meeker
Martel Morral
Pleasant New Bloomington
Waldo Prospect

Metropolitan League (Columbus Area)

This conference started as the South Suburban League in 1964, then changed names as it expanded two years later. Weakened by the beginning of the Ohio Capital Conference in 1968, the conference finally folded in 1977, with the beginning of the second Central Buckeye League.

  1. Concurrent with both ML and CBL during 1976-77.

Mid-8 League

Was the Mid-6 League 1950-58. This was another league that was weakened by the Ohio Capital Conference's creation (along with the Franklin County League and Metropolitan League), it finally folded six years later.

Mid-Ohio Conference

The Mid-Ohio Conference was founded in 1953 and remained a fairly stable league until 1977, when three teams left to join the Central Buckeye League. The league lasted as an eight-team league for much of the rest of their existence until 1990, when the four Morrow County schools left to join the newly formed Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference. Three other teams joined the North Central Conference, while the one other, Marion Catholic, remained independent for a number of years.

  1. Concurrent with Mid-Buckeye League 1953-54.
  2. Concurrent with Morrow County League until 1963.
  3. Concurrent with Delaware County League until 1963.
  4. Concurrent with Union County League until 1965.
  5. Concurrent with Central Buckeye League 1976-77.

Morrow County League

Another of the county-wide small school conferences, the MCL ended in 1963 as two of the three remaining schools went to the Mid-Ohio Conference, where the third would land a few years later.[2]

  1. Concurrent with MCL and Mid-Buckeye League 1948-54.
  2. Concurrent with MCL and Mid-Ohio Conference 1953-63.

Union County League

  1. Concurrent with Mid-State League (1945-50) for duration of that league's existence
  2. Concurrent with Mid-Buckeye League 1950-54.
  3. Concurrent with Mid-Ohio Conference 1953-65.
  4. Concurrent with Logan County League 1961-65.

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://www.crawfordcountybasketball.com/knoxmorrowleagueindex.html Knox-Morrow League
  2. http://www.crawfordcountybasketball.com/morrowcountyleagueindex.html Morrow County League

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