PAC's now current configuration as of 2020-21 season. The Yellow Squares are Large School Division Members, The White Squares are the Small School Division members.
The Pocket Athletic Conference (PAC) is a high school athletic conference in Southwestern Indiana with its headquarters at Forest Park. It is the largest athletic conference in the state of Indiana with 13 member schools.[1] The conference is composed primarily of Class 3A schools, with a few 2A and one 1A. Schools are currently located in Daviess, Dubois, Gibson, Perry, Pike, Posey, Spencer, and Warrick counties.
History
The Pocket Athletic Conference was established in 1938 with nine founding schools: Cannelton, Chrisney, Lynnville, Mount Vernon, Owensville, Petersburg, Poseyville, Rockport, and Tell City. Seven of the nine original schools remain members in some form today. Cannelton left in 1971 and is now an independent. Mount Vernon left in 1959 to join the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference then a member of the Big Eight Conference before returning to the conference in 2020. With the exception of Washington and Pike Central, all members are located within counties along the western end of the Interstate 64 corridor within Indiana, but those two members are also both along the southern end of the Interstate 69 corridor within Indiana.
Gibson Southern left the PAC in 1979 when the Big Eight Conference was formed, only to return in 1994. In 2000, Wood Memorial left the PAC and is now a member of the Blue Chip Conference. Tell City, which had left in 1953, rejoined in 2001, also came back from the Big Eight Conference but also from the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference. In 2007, Forest Park, located in Ferdinand, officially joined the PAC from the Blue Chip Conference increasing the number of members back to the original nine.
The conference expanded to thirteen members in 2020, as they accepted former members Boonville and Mount Vernon, as well as Princeton, whose component school, Mount Olympus, was a member from 1939 to 1965, and complete newcomer Washington, all from the now extinct Big Eight Conference. In all, the PAC will inherit six of the original Big Eight members with the other two joining the SIAC.[2]
Football Divisions
With 13 teams in the conference, it is not possible for all football teams to play one another (9 game season). Thus, the PAC is split into two divisions for football only.[3]
Forest Park, Southridge and Tecumseh have four state titles in both boys and girls basketball. Forest Park and Gibson Southern add three more state runner-up titles and a girls state title to the pool to make seven appearances at the state finals, not counting Tecumseh's appearance in the Tournament of Champions. Forest Park, Gibson Southern, North Posey, Southridge, and Tecumseh have all been ranked within the last eight years in either girls or boys basketball, sometimes both. In 1999, Tecumseh lost by six points in the experimental "Tournament of Champions" to the 4A State Champion, Indianapolis' North Central. Tecumseh was the 1A State Champion. Boonville and Washington bring additional strength on the conference's basketball schedule as well as two more of the state's largest gymnasiums. Starting in 2024, Gibson Southern will compete in AAAA in girl's basketball due repeated appearances in semi-state and now a state title in AAA.
Baseball and Softball
The Pocket Athletic Conference has been exceptionally strong in baseball and softball in the last 20 years. Both South Spencer and Gibson Southern won the softball state title in their respective classes in 2015. Forest Park also won the title in 2001. North Posey ('05, '06) and South Spencer ('07, '13, '15) have won state titles in baseball. As a result, South Spencer, a AA school, plays in the AAA tournament, and Gibson Southern, a AAA school, plays in the AAAA tournament, where the Titans have made consecutive appearances at the AAAA Semi-State match, preventing their return to AAA. In 2022, Gibson Southern returned to class AAA, following two seasons losing at the regional level. Likewise Tecumseh, having moved up to class AA after a state title and semi state appearance, has advanced to the AA Semi-State joining Gibson Southern in playing in a Semi State in a higher class only after beating conference rival Southridge in the regional. Southridge will also move up into AAA from AA in baseball after back-to-back State Runner-up titles.
Football
The Pocket Athletic Conference has a long history of being a periodic powerhouse in football with several members having state titles or runner-ups. Since 2000, the PAC has been represented in the football state finals ten times. The three schools that have represented the PAC recently are Heritage Hills (2000 3A State Champs, and 2004 and 2023 3A Runner-up), Southridge (2002 and 2006 2A Runner-up and again in 2018 and 2019) and North Posey (2005 and 2023 2A Runner-up) and Gibson Southern (2021 State Champs). Heritage Hills was the dominant force in the conference, winning the conference from 1996 to 2008 and winning the AAA state title in 2000 but have three runner up titles as well. Southridge added a title in AA in 2017 while Gibson Southern added another AAA title in 2021, but Southridge adds a total of 3 more runner up titles in AA while North Posey adds another pair, all within the last 25 years. The oldest state appearance as a member belongs to South Spencer, occurring in 1986. Tell City, while having an appearance just two years earlier, was a member of the Big Eight Conference at the time, before its return. Both were runner-ups and both were in AA. Pocket members Gibson Southern, Heritage Hills, Forest Park, North Posey, and Southridge have either periodically or regularly ranked in the top ten in the last 10 years and the conference title has been considerably less predictable in the last ten years, even with the divisions.
In the last ten years, 32 Pocket Athletic Conference teams have represented their school and the conference in state championship games.
Tell City played in the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference from 1953 to 1980, then played in the Big Eight Conference 1980–2001 before rejoining. Boonville and Mount Vernon were also earlier members who left to join the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference. They were joined with Gibson Southern and Tell City to form the Big Eight Conference but returned in 2020 after the breakup of the conference.
Sports in which a member is currently competing in a class above their enrollment due to the IHSAA's Tournament Success Factor.
South Spencer advances to AAA for 2 years in Baseball also because of the IHSAA's Tournament Success Factor.[5]
Tecumseh advanced to AA also due to the IHSAA's Tournament Success Factor
In 2025, Gibson Southern will compete in AAAA for the next two years after two consecutive seasons at semi-state and a state championship in AAA.
As of 2012-13, Princeton plays in a new 5,200 seat gym which replaced the aging 3,000 seat old gym which is still occasionally used for tourneys as of 2016.
Membership timeline
Sponsored Sports
Boys
State Titles
Runner-Up
Regional
Sectional
Girls
State Titles
Runner-Up
Regional
Sectional
Archery
0
0
0
0
Archery
0
0
0
0
Basketball
3
3
18
119
Softball
4
6
13
39
Baseball
6
1
20
69
Basketball
1
2
11
50
Football 12
2
7
26
36
Cross Country
0
0
Cross Country
0
0
7
25
Golf
0
0
Golf
0
0
0
4
Soccer
0
1
1
7
Soccer
0
0
0
3
Swimming
0
0
No Regional
Swimming
0
0
No Regional
3
Tennis
0
0
Tennis
0
0
1
16
Track & Field
0
0
Track & Field
0
0
0
18
Volleyball
0
0
Wrestling
0
0
0
14
Wrestling
0
0
0
0
Total
10
10
71
307
Total
4
8
25
96
Conference Total
14
17
96
403
1From 2008 to 2022 Tecumseh played football as an independent but is now participating in PAC for all sports.
22 State Titles, however Tell City's football title was won under the Big Eight Conference.
Sectional and Regional numbers include titles won by the nine schools' predecessors, but do not include those who left, i.e. Cannelton, Mount Vernon, and Wood Memorial or their predecessors.
Southridge's home gymnasium in Huntingburg has a capacity of 6,092 and is one of the 20 largest in Indiana. Boonville and Washington add two more of the state's largest gymnasiums
Alumni
Gil Hodges, Petersburg – Class of 1941. Longtime member of the Brooklyn Dodgers, manager of the 1969 New York "Miracle" Mets. Also the greatest snub in the history of the Baseball Hall of Fame (Elected to the Baseball HOF in 2022)
Bill Feix, Tell City – Class of 1950, 2-year letterman, Captain, Vanderbilt Basketball team.
Burke Scott, Tell City – Class of 1951, 2x All-PAC basketball player, was a starter on Indiana University's 1953 NCAA title team.
Roger Kaiser, Dale – Class of 1957, Georgia Tech All-American, led the Dale Golden Aces to PAC Basketball titles in the 1954–55 (SO) and in 1956–57 (SR) seasons.
Bob Reinhart, Dale – Class of 1957, future Georgia State MBB Coach was a teammate of Kaiser and led the Dale Golden Aces to PAC Basketball titles in the 1954–55 (SO) and in 1956–57 (SR) seasons.
Del Harris, future NBA Coach, was the Dale Golden Aces Head Coach during the 1961–62 and 1962-63 seasons.
Bruce King, Heritage Hills – Class of 1981, NFL Running Back, 1984–1987
Terry Brahm, Heritage Hills – Class of 1981; 1988 Olympian; NCAA & Big Ten Champion track athlete
Ken Dilger, Heritage Hills - Class of 1989, Super Bowl Champion Tight End, led Heritage Hills to PAC Football titles in the 1987 (JR) and 1988 (SR) seasons; Ken was also a star baseball and basketball player, helping Heritage Hills to baseball titles in 1987 and 1988; and basketball titles in 1987-88 and 1988-89.
Parrish Casebier, South Spencer - Class of 1989, Basketball star at University of Evansville. Casebier also spent several years in South American professional leagues.
Jay Cutler - Heritage Hills - Class of 2001, former Chicago Bears quarterback, starred in high school football at Heritage Hills and led them to the 3A state title in 2000 (SR) and PAC titles in his three years as Varsity Starter (1998–2000).
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