The Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference (also known as the SMAC or the Big 16) is a high school athletic conference in Southwestern Michigan. It is composed of Class A and B schools from the MHSAA in Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, and Van Buren counties.
Contents |
| [1]School | Mascot | Colors | County | Enrollment | Class | District Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battle Creek Central | Bearcats | Navy/Gold | Calhoun | 1,396 | A | Battle Creek Public Schools |
| Battle Creek Harper Creek | Beavers | Blue/White | Calhoun | 883 | B | Harper Creek Community Schools |
| Battle Creek Lakeview | Spartans | Purple/White | Calhoun | 1,373 | A | Lakeview School District |
| Benton Harbor | Tigers | Orange/Black | Berrien | 909 | B | Benton Harbor Area Schools |
| Coldwater | Cardinals | Red/White | Branch | 915 | B | Coldwater Community Schools |
| Richland Gull Lake | Blue Devils | Blue/White | Kalamazoo | 961 | A | Gull Lake Community Schools |
| Kalamazoo Central | Maroon Giants | Maroon/White | Kalamazoo | 1,646 | A | Kalamazoo Public Schools |
| Kalamazoo Loy Norrix | Knights | Navy/White | Kalamazoo | 1,392 | A | Kalamazoo Public Schools |
| Marshall | Redhawks | Red/Black | Calhoun | 735 | B | Marshall Public Schools |
| Mattawan | Wildcats | Navy/Gold | Van Buren | 1,147 | A | Mattawan Consolidated Schools |
| Niles | Vikings | Navy/Gold | Berrien | 968 | A | Niles Public Schools |
| Portage Central | Mustangs | Navy/Gold | Kalamazoo | 1,361 | A | Portage Public Schools |
| Portage Northern | Huskies | Brown/White | Kalamazoo | 1,276 | A | Portage Public Schools |
| St. Joseph | Bears | Navy/Maize | Berrien | 948 | B | St. Joseph Public Schools |
| Stevensville Lakeshore | Lancers | Red/White | Berrien | 941 | B | Lakeshore Public Schools |
| Sturgis | Trojans | Orange/Black | St. Joseph | 924 | B | Sturgis Public Schools |
Formation
The league was formed in 1977 (then known as the Big 8) as the schools of the now-defunct Big Seven Conference (Battle Creek Lakeview, Holland, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, Niles, Portage Central, Portage Northern, and St. Joseph) and Independent Kalamazoo Central as the original members of the conference. Portage Central won the first football title (7-0) and advanced to the Class A State Final, losing to Birmingham Brother Rice 17-7. Not everyone played all seven games in the league for football (Niles only played five and Battle Creek Lakeview and Portage Northern played six). Everyone played a full league schedule for football in 1978. Portage Central also won the first Boys Basketball league title (11-3, lost to conference foe Loy Norrix in districts). This original alignment stayed until 1984-85. There were some changes in store for the 1985-86 season. Battle Creek Lakeview and Holland left the conference to join other leagues. Lakeview rejoined the Twin Valley (which they would stay until the league folded) and Holland left to join the Ottawa-Kent Conference (currently playing in). With those schools gone, Independent Battle Creek Central and former Lake Michigan Conference member Benton Harbor. This lasted for several years (until 2000-01).
Big Changes
There was some talk in 2000 that the conference was going to expand into a super-conference. The longtime Twin Valley Athletic Association (at the time was the oldest conference in the State of Michigan) was going into peril as Albion, Hillsdale, and Parma Western wanted out of the conference due to several factors, mainly declining enrollment (Battle Creek Lakeview was a Class A and Albion was a Class C school) and performance athletically (the three above mentioned were in the bottom of the league as the bigger schools dominated the league). Independents Dowagiac and Stevensville-Lakeshore were struggling to find opponents (both schools were scheduling out-of-state opponents; Lakeshore played Rock Island, Illinois for one of their football games). And Mattawan's enrollment had outgrown the Kalamazoo Valley Athletic Association. The expansion was approved and would start for the 2001 football season. But, there were several problems about this new "super-conference". Travel, strength of programs, and tradition were some of the problems that arose. Despite the problems, the new league added on five schools from the dissolved Twin Valley (Battle Creek Harper Creek, Battle Creek Lakeview, Coldwater, Marshall, and Sturgis; which made up the East Division), Mattawan from the Kalamazoo Valley, and Independents Dowagiac and Stevensville-Lakeshore. The league was split into three divisions listed below.
| West Division | Central Division | East Division |
|---|---|---|
| Benton Harbor | Battle Creek Central | Battle Creek Harper Creek |
| Dowagiac | Kalamazoo Central | Battle Creek Lakeview |
| Niles | Kalamazoo Loy Norrix | Coldwater |
| St. Joseph | Mattawan | Marshall |
| Stevensville-Lakeshore | Portage Central | Sturgis |
| Portage Northern |
Problems and Change
Already problems arose. East-West crossovers were at least 90 minutes to two hours away (teams would get home till close to midnight on school nights), the Central Division schools were bullying on some of the smaller East/West Division schools (especially true for Dowagiac, which was the smallest school in the conference). In 2006-07, Dowagiac left the league to join the Wolverine Conference (along with Paw Paw, who also outgrew the Kalamazoo Valley). Also that year, Jackson Lumen Christi join the league for football only to make the league an even 16 teams (without Lumen Christi, one team in the league would have to go outside the conference every week). Lumen Christi played in the West Division for that season to replace Dowagiac's schedule (realigned to the East Division in 2007-08). With Dowagiac moving out of the SMAC, Mattawan moved to the West Division for the 2006-07 season to make three divisions of five teams each (didn't move to West in football until 2007-08 season). For the 2009 Football season (mainly due to cut down on travel), the league will go to two divisions as Battle Creek Central and Kalamazoo Central will move to the East Division and the remaining teams in the Central will go to the West Division.
Football (beginning in 2012)
| West Division | East Division |
|---|---|
| Benton Harbor | Battle Creek Central |
| Kalamazoo Central | Battle Creek Harper Creek |
| Mattawan | Battle Creek Lakeview |
| Niles | Coldwater |
| Portage Central | Richland Gull Lake |
| Portage Northern | Kalamazoo Loy Norrix |
| St. Joseph | Marshall |
| Stevensville-Lakeshore | Sturgis |
Other Sports
| West Division | Central Division | East Division |
|---|---|---|
| Benton Harbor | Battle Creek Central | Battle Creek Harper Creek |
| Mattawan | Kalamazoo Central | Battle Creek Lakeview |
| Niles | Kalamazoo Loy Norrix | Coldwater |
| St. Joseph | Portage Central | Marshall |
| Stevensville-Lakeshore | Portage Northern | Sturgis |