The TVC’s biggest issue, and solution..

[Dundas]

One other thing that I didn’t put in the original post is travel time. Oak Hill will be joining the big school SOC division next season so these numbers are based off of that.

Travel Time per Google maps.
SOC Oak Hill 39.4 Minutes per trip avg.
New TVC OH 45.2 Minutes per trip avg.
That’s under 6 minutes more per trip. Not a deal breaker imo.

Now let’s look at Gallia Academy.
OVC Gallia Academy 58.4 Minutes per trip avg. (The closest trip is 45 Minutes to Fairland)
New TVC Gallia Acdmy 47.6 Minutes per trip avg. That’s knocks off almost 11 Minutes per trip. So their would definitely be a plus for Gallia in terms of travel time. Also, as in Oak Hills case, there would be MUCH more 4 lane travel as opposed to curvy two lane state routes. And in some cases, county roads.

Just another set of numbers to look at. Well all know that travel is taken into consideration. That’s VC’a excuse for not voting in Warren anyway. Lol

[Dundas]

How about Oak Hill to the current TVC Ohio and South Gallia to the SOC 1?

So I was curious as to the travel time for South Gallia because I know they are pretty far south. So I thought I’d figure their numbers to the small school SOC football only schools. The average for South Gallia in the SOC would be a staggering 66 Minutes per trip average. That’s INSANE! So I figured uptheir numbers for the CURRENT TVC Hocking division. Right now, South Gallia drives and average of 77.6 Minutes per conference game! Holy cow!! Why and how did the TVC vote a school in that is so far away from everyone and everything?!? It’s almost a 2 hour trip to Miller for crying out loud! Who thought this would be a good idea?!? Warren needs to hire the person from South Gallia that made their pitch to the TVC!

[greygoose]

South Gallia's size and location put them at odds for most divisions, ideally they'd be best fit for OVC based on location however they'd also be the smallest school in the conference. No matter what conference drive time is going to be a problem outside of the OVC. Believe you've stolen my idea on Oak Hill as I've felt for couple years now that TVC is a good fit for them based on school size, playing style and location. SOC2 they're going to find tough sledding but they've already been playing Burg and Minford so we'll see how they do. Typically anytime a conference can make scheduling and drive times easier on the league as a whole they lean towards that idea. I've always preferred to see a 3 division setup and if teams needed to fill openings they could go cross division to play teams nothing wrong with that. However, this is also a problem the TVC has created and doesn't seem to be in any hurry to fix as long as teams aren't rocking the boat it simply won't change. Good work though

[WellstonLover]

I’d like to see oak hill in the TVC. Just another close game for us and we play them a lot anyway.

[Bearupthere34]

I don't see why you don't let in Warren, most of the tvc-ohio schools play them in the majority of their sports, and the tvc hocking schools play them in some of their sports. What fear do you have? It reminds me of what 93Bulldog used to say about Athens was too scared to be in the SEOAL, and he would say " we still play the SEOAL, we are just in the TVC now" high schools have up and down years, this would be no different at warren. It only enhances the league by putting them in, eventually what I think you will see is warren gets fed up with it and will stop scheduling tvc games.

[ArmChairQB]

The Ohio needs to add one school. “Maybe Oak Hill”
The Hocking needs to drop one school “Wahamna”. It’s two divisions but in reality two separate league’s! Why cry that you have to play Fed Hock or play a “city school”? Competition only makes you stronger!

[MTSWNGRVSG]

The nine school Hocking works real good for football because it has created playoff making machine. The Hocking will always have a shot at two teams in the playoffs and most years has had three. There have actually been years that a fourth team has come close to getting in.

As for South Gallia yes it is a long trip with Miller and Waterford the longest at 82 miles. Remember this the ones doing the most traveling is South Gallia. A positive for SG is that they have good athletic facilities now. As for SG going to the SOC I, the SOC has turned them down 8 times.

The three divisions has come up many times and it was made very clear to stay two divisions in the past. Maybe now there is a change of thought?

[lugs]

although this article is impressive Dundas to say the least. splitting the TVC into so many teams and divisions will only dilute the conference. Up until the early 90's you had to go through 8 teams to win the TVC. and that trophy actually meant something when you won it. you could brag on the fact you accomplished a TVC title. But with southeastern Ohio's reality that a state championship in anything other then D7 or D6 is out of reach. at least make the TVC Championship go through more then just 4 teams. Make the Conference mean something. I would be ok with 8 teams and let it go at that. a small but effective change that keeps the integrity of the Ohio in tact. Bring in warren. Bury the Hatchet

[baseball16]

Why in the World would Oak Hill leave the SOC, where they are traveling 20 minutes to 45 minutes, to play in a league where they would be traveling 30 minutes to 1 Hr 30 Minute trips? SOC is where they will stay.

[Dundas]

Why in the World would Oak Hill leave the SOC, where they are traveling 20 minutes to 45 minutes, to play in a league where they would be traveling 30 minutes to 1 Hr 30 Minute trips? SOC is where they will stay.

If Oak Hill were to joining the TVC Ohio, they would only have 1 drive over an hour and that would be 1 hour and 6 minutes to Nelsonville-York. Their longest drive in the soc next year will be Portsmoth West at 51 Minutes. Their shorted drive will be 30 minutes to Minford. (not 20) In the TVC, they would have a 31 minute drive to Wellston and a 24 minute drive to River Valley. I laid out the distance comparisons in an earlier post. The averag added up between the two conferences comes out to just above 5 minutes more, per trip, for Oak Hill in the TVC. That’s not much at all.

[fortdawg]

Dundas, I don't think Oak Hill fits the criteria of admittance just yet.
Meigs, Wellston, Nelsonville-York, and Athens were let in because they were fleeing a league they were no longer competitive in, the SEOAL.
This meant a history of losing right before acceptance, South Gallia, River Valley, Miller, Southern, Eastern, and Waterford fit into this category.

The outlier to this argument is Wahama. I was amazed when they were accepted.
I think if Oak Hill suffers in the SOC---they will have a shot at acceptance.
Warren will never be accepted in my opinion because of strength of their program, football excluded.

[Raider6309]

I’d like to see Warren, Gallia, Oak Hill, and Fort Frye in the TVC

[noreply66]

Gallia is too happy where they are at.
Warren would be a good fit
Oak Hill too far for some. That would determine where they would go.
Fort Frye might mean the fall of the PVC

[Dundas]

Gallia is too happy where they are at.
Warren would be a good fit
Oak Hill too far for some. That would determine where they would go.
Fort Frye might mean the fall of the PVC

Oak hill is actually closer to the current TVC than warren is. I know there’s a big misconception that Oh is to far away, but they’re actually not. If you add up all the travel time to the current TVC, Oak Hill would average 45 Minutes per trip. Warren would average 56 minutes per trip. That’s a pretty large difference. Also, Oak Hills longest drive would be to NY at 66 Minutes. Warren would have 2 trips longer than that with a 77 minute drive to Wellston and a 68 minute drive to Vinton County. They would also have a 63 minute drive to River Valley. So the inclination that Oak hill is too far for some is actually not correct at all.

Also, Gallia may be happy where they are but their travel would be drastically reduced if in the TVC also.

[ArmChairQB]

The nine school Hocking works real good for football because it has created playoff making machine. The Hocking will always have a shot at two teams in the playoffs and most years has had three. There have actually been years that a fourth team has come close to getting in.

As for South Gallia yes it is a long trip with Miller and Waterford the longest at 82 miles. Remember this the ones doing the most traveling is South Gallia. A positive for SG is that they have good athletic facilities now. As for SG going to the SOC I, the SOC has turned them down 8 times.

The three divisions has come up many times and it was made very clear to stay two divisions in the past. Maybe now there is a change of thought?

Your team may make the playoffs. But unless you play at Trimble, your team would be far from playoff ready!

[GoBucks1047]

I feel like this would be the best solution for TVC, but obviously not likely to happen.

TVC
Hocking Division:
Belpre
Eastern-Meigs
Federal Hocking
Fort Frye
Miller
Southern
Trimble
Wahama [WV]
Waterford
Ohio Division:
Alexander
Gallia Academy
Meigs
Nelsonville-York
Oak Hill
River Valley
Vinton County
Wellston

I originally tried figuring out a way for 3 Divisions with Athens included, but I found travel an issue and it was tough to divide in terms of football divisions so kept it with 2 divisions and travel should be improved as the Hocking is in the central and eastern parts of the league while the Ohio is in the central and western parts of the league. I kept Athens out because of non-conference scheduling difficulties and obviously too large, but I doubt they would be kicked out of the TVC or leave it. They could reasonably be included as well, but I have a different plan for them later in this post.

As for South Gallia, I find it hard for them to get into the SOC in its current state, but if the SOC lost some members such as Eastern-Pike, Waverly, and Western to the SVC, I think I can see them being accepted in that instance. I also would be in support of an OVC/SOC merger with the OVC losing Gallia Academy and the SOC losing their 3 Pike County Schools + Oak Hill in this instance. The new merged conference would be the Southern Ohio Valley Conference (if you’re merging a conference, why not merge their names) and would look like this:

SOVC I:
Clay (No Football)
East
Green
Ironton St. Joe (No Football)
New Boston (No Football)
Notre Dame
South Gallia
South Webster (No Football)
Symmes Valley

SOVC I in terms of football may be difficult being a 5 team league, but a termporary solution could be to add Manchester for football-only to get to 6, but that may not last as the SHAC this coming year will have Manchester and Fayetteville-Perry as sponsored teams and Eastern-Brown, North Adams, Peebles, and West Union with club football teams, and should the club teams become sponsored, then the SHAC could create a football league with at least 6 of their 10 members (can see Lynchburg-Clay with football); the 4 club teams already have a league created with a double round robin conference schedule and a 2 week, 4 Team playoff). The other idea to help with late season scheduling is if the TVC-Hocking and SOVC I agreed to a scheduling agreement for Weeks 6-10 where Trimble, Federal Hocking, Eastern-Meigs, Southern, and Wahama (WV) would have their non-conference games late and the SOVC I schools wouldn’t be traveling to Washington County, OH or Miller and vise versa. I can see Southern-Notre Dame, Green-Federal Hocking, South Gallia-Wahama, Eastern (Meigs)-East, and Symmes Valley-Trimble as crossover matchups. Also good to note South Gallia travel during football season averages 64.5 minutes over the course of 2 seasons, and 67 minutes for non-football sports. I know South Webster fans wouldn’t approve and I doubt them moving down would happen, but I do it for the creation below.

SOVC II
Scioto Division:
Minford
Northwest
Portsmouth
Valley
West
Wheelersburg
Ohio Division:
Chesapeake
Dawson-Bryant
Fairland
Ironton
Rock Hill
South Point

SOVC II is my personal favorite as you see the SOC II schools merger with the OVC schools. I know SOC II is more dominant right now than the OVC in football (last season, SOC II was 5-2 vs. OVC, excluding Portsmouth, and the OVC wins were Northwest and a down Valley team), but I can see it balancing out over time, with the exception of Burg. Scheduling in SOVC II would be your 5 division games and at least 2 crossover games in football; it’s not going to be a rotation based crossover and the schools will have the flexibility to schedule their crossover games and won’t count towards conference record. A lot of teams last season played 2 games anyway so it wouldn’t make too much difference, but I’m sure Burg fans may not like it in their constant pursuit/preparation of state titles/playoff runs (did play Fairland and Ironton last season). Ironton fans might feel similar, but they can play Burg and Portsmouth for their 2 crossover games, who they always play, and can still schedule Ashland, Russell, and 1 other opponent (Waverly, Nelsonville-York, Gallia Academy, or Raceland are some options). There also may be concern about Ironton dominating their division, but I think, based on last season, Dawson-Bryant and Fairland can compete and make it fun, and Rock Hill and Chesapeake could be in the mix every so often. In other sports, it’s simple. Division twice and non-division opponents once for conference scheduling.

As for the SVC, they finally are able to expand to 12 as they appear to want to do at some point.

SVC
Division 1: (D-IV and D-V)
McClain
Piketon
Unioto
Waverly
Westfall
Zane Trace
Division 2: (D-VI)
Adena
Eastern-Pike
Huntington-Ross
Paint Valley
Southeastern
Western-Pike

I think this is reasonable in terms of divisions and travel wouldn’t be too bad. You see a league were Unioto and Waverly aren’t the big fishes and see teams more their size; Waverly also gets Piketon in their division, which is on an island enrollment-wise 30 away from the next school either way, but I think they can compete in football. It also helps Westfall and Zane Trace play more D-IV opponents. I think McClain would be a better fit in this SVC than the FAC or SBAAC in terms of competition and location. Eastern-Pike and Western enrollment is increasing and where their football programs are still young, this league will benefit them while decreasing travel while giving Adena, Huntington-Ross, and Southeastern a chance to improve their teams and compete better. Non-football should be a good league too. I can also see Circleville and Logan Elm potentially joining, but kept them out because of their ties to the MSL.

This last league will probably be the most controversial, but I think it needs to be heard out as an idea, but obviously, it likely will never happen.

FAC
East Division:
Athens
Logan
Marietta
Warren
Zanesville
West Division:
Chillicothe
Hillsboro
Jackson
Miami Trace
Washington CH

Before anyone says the travel is ridiculous, it’s spanned out too far, or it’s just another SEOAL, crossover play in all sports will be optional (encouraged, but not required). That way, teams won’t have to travel 2-3 hours one way for a game, but they can if they choose to. Also, if teams play crossover games (non-football), games longer than 80-90 minutes one way have to be played on Friday nights, Saturdays, or during a school break. With the expansion of the FAC, you can see 2 mini leagues of D-II and D-III schools in football and D-I and D-II in non-football sports where it’s difficult to have a league with schools this large in our area. Obviously, there would be concern with Hillsboro potentially leaving soon and Logan looking Columbus way. There’s also Zanesville and maybe Chillicothe, but for today, it would be a decent league (especially for the east division schools). Now would Athens leave the TVC for this league, 99% no, but I think they ought to be in a league more their size (6 of the schools are within 80 minutes) and they can still schedule Nelsonville-York, Gallia Academy, Meigs, and Alexander locally in football (don’t rule out Parkersburg South in place of a potential crossover game), and then could add most, if not all, of the current TVC Ohio schools to their schedule at least once non-football.

As usual, sorry for the long posts.

[Dundas]

Nice post Gobucks1047! Good ready. Although it’s a little different than my proposed plan (and larger lol) I agree with some of it. Thanks for posting!

[hawkeyepierce]

I think, my opinion only, is that the TVC, the whole TVC, in all sports gets better by subtracting.

At the very least drop Wahama and Waterford, that would give seven teams in each conference. In football, it would allow for four solid non-conference games. Why those two? They are on the periphery of the area.

However, I do think that Oak Hill for South Gallia is also an attractive idea. That being South Gallia is definitely on the outside of the area and would fit better in the SOC and Oak Hill would fit better in the TVC.

But, for the sake of just adding teams to make schedule aesthetically pleasing is not a good argument.

[Orange and Brown]

I think, my opinion only, is that the TVC, the whole TVC, in all sports gets better by subtracting.

At the very least drop Wahama and Waterford, that would give seven teams in each conference. In football, it would allow for four solid non-conference games. Why those two? They are on the periphery of the area.

However, I do think that Oak Hill for South Gallia is also an attractive idea. That being South Gallia is definitely on the outside of the area and would fit better in the SOC and Oak Hill would fit better in the TVC.

But, for the sake of just adding teams to make schedule aesthetically pleasing is not a good argument.

The TVC can't just "drop" teams...
It is absurd that people get on here and advocate for teams being kicked out of the TVC.
Wahama does have some scheduling conflicts and it can be frustrating but they were voted in so we just have to deal with it. If the powers that be didn't do their research then they we're stupid but they had to know this coming in.
Waterford is a great fit for the TVC.

[hawkeyepierce]

Whoa, big fella. I am not for advocating for the "removal" of, however, if they were to leave on their own. Don't replace them.

Waterford is not a great fit, if you live in Wellston or McArthur or Crown City. Just saying.