High school athletic conference
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.
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.[ 2]
Non-football members
Football-only members
Membership timeline [ edit ] Full member Football-only member Non-football member
From 1997 to 1999 the Big North had a A division and a B division.
Year A Champion Record B Champion Record 1997 Traverse City West 7–2–0 (3–0–0) Petoskey 8–1–0 (3–0–0) 1998 Traverse City West 6–3 (3–0) Petoskey 9–2 (3–0) 1999 Traverse City West 5–4 (3–0) Sault Ste. Marie 7–3 (3–0)
Since 2000, the conference has operated with one division.
Year Champion Record 2000 Cadillac 9–1 (7–0) 2001 Gaylord 9–1 (7–0) 2002 Gaylord 11–1 (7–0) 2003 Traverse City West 7–3 (7–0) 2004 Traverse City West 10–1 (5–0) 2005 Gaylord 6–3 (4–1) 2005 Traverse City Central 6–4 (4–1) 2006 Traverse City West 6–4 (5–0) 2007 Traverse City Central 5–4 (4–1) 2007 Traverse City West 6–4 (4–1) 2008 Petoskey 9–2 (4–1) 2008 Traverse City West 6–4 (4–1) 2009 Cadillac 8–2 (5–0) 2010 Petoskey 8–2 (4–1) 2010 Traverse City West 6–4 (4–1) 2011 Petoskey 9–2 (6–0) 2012 Traverse City Central 9–2 (6–0) 2013 Cadillac 11–1 (6–0) 2014 Cadillac 9–1 (6–0) 2015 Traverse City Central 9–1 (6–0) 2016 Traverse City Central 9–2 (5–0) 2017 Traverse City West 9–2 (5–0) 2018 Traverse City West 7–3 (5–0) 2019 Traverse City Central 8–2 (5–0) 2020 Traverse City Central 9–2 (5–0) 2021 Traverse City Central 12–2 (5–0) 2022 Cadillac 5–5 (3–0) 2023 Gaylord 11–1 (6–0)
Teams in the Final Regular Season Rankings [ edit ] Year Team Division Rank 2002 Gaylord 3 3rd 2004 Traverse City West 1 3rd 2008 Petoskey 3 9th 2009 Cadillac 3 7th 2009 Petoskey 3 10th 2012 Traverse City Central 2 6th 2013 Cadillac 4 3rd 2014 Cadillac 4 3rd 2015 Traverse City Central 2 4th 2016 Traverse City Central 2 9th 2017 Traverse City West 1 10th 2019 Traverse City Central 2 7th 2020 Traverse City Central 2 10th 2021 Traverse City Central 2 3rd 2021 Cadillac 4 7th
Team Big North Record Pct. Conference Championship Traverse City West 104–28 .788 11 Traverse City Central 87–45 .659 8 Petoskey 66–66 .500 5 Cadillac 62–70 .470 4 Gaylord 58–74 .439 3 Sault Ste. Marie 16–21 .432 1 Cheboygan 15–22 .405 0 Ogemaw Heights 9–21 .300 0 Alpena 31–101 .235 0
State Championship Results [ edit ] Boys Basketball Champions [ edit ] Year Champion Record 1997–98 Petoskey 14–0 1998–99 Traverse City Central 11–3 1999–00 Traverse City West 13–1 2000–01 Cadillac 13–1 2001–02 Traverse City Central 12–2 2002–03 Cadillac/Petoskey/Traverse City West 11–3 2003–04 Cadillac/Petoskey 12–2 2004–05 Traverse City Central 8–2 2005–06 Traverse City West 9–1 2006–07 Cadillac/Petoskey 7–3 2007–08 Alpena 8–2 2008–09 Cadillac/Gaylord 8–2 2009–10 Petoskey 10–0 2010–11 Petoskey 10–0 2011–12 Petoskey 11–1 2012–13 Cadillac/Petoskey/Traverse City West 9–3 2013–14 Alpena 11–1 2014–15 Alpena 11–1 2015–16 Petoskey 12–0 2016–17 Traverse City West 9–1 2017–18 Petoskey 9–1 2018–19 Petoskey/Traverse City Central 7–3 2019–20 Cadillac/Traverse City Central 8–2 2020–21 Traverse City Central 9–0 2021–22 Cadillac/Traverse City Central 7–3
Team Big North Record Pct. Conference Championship Traverse City West 175–112 .610 5 Traverse City Central 170–117 .592 7 Petoskey 196–91 .683 11 Cadillac 192–95 .669 8 Gaylord 78–206 .275 1 Sault Ste. Marie 11–87 .112 0 Cheboygan 28–70 .286 0 Ogemaw Heights 7–53 .117 0 Alpena 134–158 .469 3
Girls Basketball Champions [ edit ] Year Champion Record 1997 Sault Ste. Marie 13–1 1998 Sault Ste. Marie 13–0 1999 Petoskey 13–1 2000 Sault Ste. Marie 14–0 2001 Cadillac 13–1 2002 Traverse City West 12–2 2003 Traverse City West 14–0 2004 Traverse City Central 10–0 2005 Traverse City West 10–0 2006 Alpena 8–2 2007–08 Traverse City West 9–1 2008–09 Traverse City Central 9–1 2009–10 Petoskey/Traverse City West 9–1 2010–11 Petoskey 10–0 2011–12 Traverse City West 10–2 2012–13 Petoskey 10–1 2013–14 Cadillac 11–1 2014–15 Traverse City West 12–0 2015–16 Traverse City Central 11–1 2016–17 Traverse City Central 8–2 2017–18 Petoskey 8–2 2018–19 Cadillac 10–0 2019–20 Cadillac 10–0 2020–21 Cadillac 8–1 2021–22 Petoskey 8–2 2022–23 Petoskey 9–1
Team Big North Record Pct. Conference Championship Traverse City West 177–119 .598 7 Traverse City Central 168–130 .564 4 Petoskey 152–146 .510 7 Cadillac 180–117 .610 5 Gaylord 110–186 .372 0 Sault Ste. Marie 72–25 .742 3 Cheboygan 47–51 .480 0 Ogemaw Heights 4–55 .068 0 Alpena 103–192 .349 1
^ "Saginaw Valley League adds Traverse City West, Central football programs" . mlive . September 15, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021 . ^ a b c d "Change coming to Big North in 2023 with addition of three U.P. programs" . Petoskey News-Review . Retrieved October 24, 2023 . ^ "MHSAA > Schools" . www.mhsaa.com . Retrieved September 27, 2020 . ^ "MHSAA > Schools" . www.mhsaa.com . Retrieved September 27, 2020 . ^ "MHSAA > Schools" . www.mhsaa.com . Retrieved September 27, 2020 . ^ "MHSAA > Schools" . www.mhsaa.com . Retrieved September 27, 2020 . ^ "MHSAA > Schools" . www.mhsaa.com . Retrieved September 27, 2020 . ^ "MHSAA > Schools" . www.mhsaa.com . Retrieved September 27, 2020 .