JACKSON, MI (WTVB) – The Interstate 8 Conference will soon be shrinking to a six team league.
The Jackson Northwest Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to head east and join the Southeastern Conference, beginning with the 2027-2028 school year. That conference consists of two divisions, with Temperance Bedford, Dexter, Ann Arbor Huron, Monroe, Ann Arbor Pioneer, Saline, and Ann Arbor Skyline in the SEC Red Division, and Adrian, Chelsea, Jackson High, Ypsilanti Lincoln, Pinckney, Tecumseh, and Ypsilanti in the White Division.
Northwest officials say they will honor all athletic contracts for the upcoming 2026-2027 school year.
There had been talk for years that Jackson Northwest and Parma Western would both move to the SEC, but Parma Western officials said this week they don’t intend to leave the Interstate 8 Conference.
Jackson Lumen Christi left the league in the 2023-2024 school year for the Detroit Catholic League.
The I-8 will now consist of Coldwater, Marshall, Battle Creek Harper Creek, Hasting, Battle Creek Pennfield, and Parma Western. The remaining six Athletic Directors have reportedly scheduled an emergency meeting for next week to discuss next steps. Following that meeting, recommendations are expected to be presented to school principals and superintendents at a later date.
It was also announced recently that Stockbridge and Hillsdale will join the Cascades Conference effective in the 2026-27 school year. Stockbridge will be making the move after just two years in the Big 8 Conference, and a member of the Greater Lansing Activities Conference before that. Hillsdale will be moving to the Cascades after longtime participation with the Lenawee County Athletic Association.
The additions come with two schools exiting the Cascades. East Jackson and Homer will join the Big 8 Conference. Homer was a former long time member of the Big 8, but left to join the Cascades Conference for just two years. East Jackson’s move comes after being one of the founding members of the Cascades Conference in 1954.
The Cascades Conference will also now realign their two divisions, making North and South rather than the current East-West.
The Big 8 next year be made up of Quincy, Concord, Springport, Reading, Vermontville Maple Valley, Bronson, Union City, East Jackson, and Homer. The Cascades will be Addison, Brooklyn Columbia Central, Hanover Horton, Vandercook Lake, Grass Lake, Michigan Center, Napoleon, Leslie, Manchester, Jonesville, Stockbridge, and Hillsdale.
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