Conference Realignment 2025

[Alum-Ni]

Since posts have not yet migrated from the old Huskerland board, here are the conference changes that occurred as of July 1:

- Ainsworth joins the Niobrara Valley Conference (was an independent)

- Mitchell and Valentine join the South Platte Valley Association (Mitchell comes from Western and Western Trails Conferences / Valentine comes from the Southwest Conference)

- Sutherland is joining the Republican Plains Activities Conference (leaving the SPVA)

- Heartland Lutheran is now Grand Island Lutheran and their nickname is changing from Red Hornets to Lightning

- Omaha Christian Academy Eagles are now the Omaha Christian High School Guardians

Capitol Conference (9)
Arlington
Conestoga
Douglas County West
Fort Calhoun
Logan View
Louisville
Raymond Central
Syracuse
Yutan

Centennial Conference (11)
Boys Town (boys)
Columbus Scotus
David City Aquinas
Fremont Bergan
Grand Island Central Catholic
Hastings St. Cecilia
Kearney Catholic
Lincoln Christian
Lincoln Lutheran
Omaha Concordia
Wahoo Neumann

Central Conference (9)
Adams Central
Aurora
Columbus Lakeview
Crete
Grand Island Northwest
Lexington
Schuyler
Seward
York

Crossroads Conference (12)
Bruning-Davenport/Shickley
Cross County
Dorchester
East Butler
Hampton
High Plains
McCool Junction
Meridian
Nebraska Lutheran
Osceola
Shelby/Rising City
Twin River

East Central Nebraska Conference (8)
Auburn
Elmwood-Murdock
Falls City
Freeman
Johnson County Central
Mead
Palmyra
Weeping Water

East Husker Conference (15)
Bancroft-Rosalie
Clarkson/Leigh
Howells-Dodge
Humphrey/Lindsay Academy
Lyons-Decatur Northeast
Madison
North Bend
Oakland-Craig
Pender
Scribner-Snyder
Stanton
Tekamah-Herman
Wakefield
West Point-Beemer
Wisner-Pilger

Eastern Midlands Conference (11)
Bennington
Blair
Elkhorn
Elkhorn North
Gretna
Gretna East
Hastings
Lincoln Northwest
Lincoln Standing Bear
Norris
Waverly

Fort Kearny Conference (9)
Amherst
Ansley/Litchfield
Axtell
Elm Creek
Loomis
Overton
Pleasanton
Sumner-Eddyville-Miller
Wilcox-Hildreth

Frontier Conference (9)
Boys Town (girls)
Cedar Bluffs
College View Academy
Cornerstone Christian
Heartland Christian (Iowa)
Omaha Brownell-Talbot
Omaha Christian
Parkview Christian
Whiting (Iowa)

Goldenrod Conference (12)
Archangels Catholic
Burwell
Central Valley
Elba
Fullerton
Grand Island Lutheran
Nebraska Christian
Newman Grove
Palmer
Riverside
Spalding Academy
St. Edward

Great Northeast Activities Conference (8)
Atkinson West Holt
Elkhorn Valley
Hartington-Newcastle
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge
Lutheran High Northeast
Neligh-Oakdale
Plainview
Summerland

Heartland Athletic Conference (11)
Columbus
Fremont
Grand Island
Kearney
Lincoln East
Lincoln High
Lincoln North Star
Lincoln Northeast
Lincoln Southeast
Lincoln Southwest
Norfolk

Independents (4)
Lincoln Pius X
North Platte
Omaha Nation
Omaha Street School

Lewis & Clark Conference (11)
Bloomfield
Creighton
Homer
Osmond
Randolph
Tri County Northeast
Walthill
Wausa
Winnebago
Winside
Wynot

LouPlatte Conference (9)
Arcadia/Loup City
Central City
Centura
Doniphan-Trumbull
Gibbon
Ord
Ravenna
St. Paul
Wood River

Metro Conference (20)
Bellevue East
Bellevue West
Elkhorn South
Millard North
Millard South
Millard West
Omaha Benson
Omaha Bryan
Omaha Buena Vista
Omaha Burke
Omaha Central
Omaha Creighton Prep
Omaha Marian
Omaha North
Omaha Northwest
Omaha South
Omaha Westside
Omaha Westview
Papillion-LaVista
Papillion-LaVista South

Mid-Nebraska Activities Conference (8)
Anselmo-Merna
Arthur County
Brady
Mullen
Sandhills Valley
Sandhills/Thedford
South Loup
Twin Loup

Mid-State Conference (10)
Battle Creek
Boone Central
Crofton
Guardian Angels Central Catholic
Hartington Cedar Catholic
Norfolk Catholic
O'Neill
Pierce
Ponca
Wayne

Minuteman Activities Conference (8)
Bayard
Banner County
Creek Valley
Garden County
Leyton
Mintare
Potter-Dix
South Platte

Niobrara Valley Conference (9)
Ainsworth
Boyd County
Chambers/Wheeler Central
Elgin/Elgin Pope John
Niobrara/Verdigre
North Central
O'Neill St. Mary's
Santee
Stuart

Panhandle Conference (8)
Cody-Kilgore
Crawford
Edgemont (South Dakota)
Hay Springs
Hemingford
Hyannis
Morrill
Sioux County

Pioneer Conference (10)
Diller-Odell
Falls City Sacred Heart
Exeter-Milligan/Friend
Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer
Johnson-Brock
Lewiston
Nebraska City Lourdes
Pawnee City
Southern
Sterling

Republican Plains Activities Conference (16)
Alma
Arapahoe
Bertrand
Cambridge
Dundy County-Stratton
Hi-Line
Hitchcock County
Maxwell
Maywood/Hayes Center
Medicine Valley
Paxton
Southern Valley
Southwest
Sutherland
Wallace
Wauneta-Palisade

River Cities Conference (7)
Elkhorn Mt. Michael
Omaha Duchesne
Omaha Gross
Omaha Mercy
Omaha Roncalli
Omaha Skutt
South Sioux City

South Platte Valley Association (8)
Bridgeport
Chase County
Hershey
Kimball
Mitchell
North Platte St. Patrick's
Perkins County
Valentine

Southern Nebraska Conference (12)
Centennial
David City
Fairbury
Fillmore Central
Heartland
Milford
Sandy Creek
Superior
Sutton
Thayer Central
Tri County
Wilber-Clatonia

Southwest Conference (7)
Broken Bow
Cozad
Gothenburg
Holdrege
McCook
Minden
Ogallala

Trailblazer Conference (8)
Ashland-Greenwood
Beatrice
Malcolm
Nebraska City
Platteview
Plattsmouth
Ralston
Wahoo

Twin Valley Conference (10)
Blue Hill
Deshler
Franklin
Giltner
Harvard
Kenesaw
Lawrence-Nelson
Red Cloud
Shelton
Silver Lake

Western Conference (5)
Alliance
Chadron
Gering
Scottsbluff
Sidney

Western Trails Conference (6)
Bayard
Bridgeport
Gordon-Rushville
Hemingford
Kimball
Morrill

 

[SpaghettiSlayer]

Tri County had played in the Southern Nebraska Conference tournaments in basketball and volleyball last season. Did they officially rejoin the SNC?

 

[Alum-Ni]

Tri County had played in the Southern Nebraska Conference tournaments in basketball and volleyball last season. Did they officially rejoin the SNC?

After a little digging, it looks like Tri County rejoined the SNC this past school year. I did not know that. Will edit the list above.

 

[SpaghettiSlayer]

Outside of that, the only other things I notice are that Hi-Line is missing (RPAC?), North Platte is missing (no idea where they officially stand with the whole "Greater Nebraska" thing), and is LV/SS splitting back up?

 

[Alum-Ni]

Outside of that, the only other things I notice are that Hi-Line is missing (RPAC?), North Platte is missing (no idea where they officially stand with the whole "Greater Nebraska" thing), and is LV/SS splitting back up?

- Logan View and Scribner-Snyder are together for most sports, and compete in the Capitol Conference. But there are a few things, like track, where Scribner-Snyder still stands alone and competes in the East Husker.

- I must have missed Hi-Line unintentionally...they are added above to the RPAC

- North Platte must be a current independent

 

[Anon1751544946]

Newman Grove is a member of the Goldenrod Conference.

 

[LooseCannon]

Newman Grove is a member of the Goldenrod Conference.

Is the Newman Grove/St. Ed co-op for all sports?

 

[Anon1751544946]

Is the Newman Grove/St. Ed co-op for all sports?

Yes. Each school is on its own for Fine Arts.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Torrington Joins Western Conference as Newest Member

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Torrington High School Joins Western Conference as Newest Member The Western Conference is happy to announce that Torrington High School has officially joined as its newest…

ruralradio.com

Torrington (Wyoming) will join the Western Conference in the 2026-27 school year

 

[waseamann]

Cody-Kilgore and Hyannis are no longer in the Mid-Nebraska conference

 

[Alum-Ni]

Cody-Kilgore and Hyannis are no longer in the Mid-Nebraska conference

Thanks.

Updated above list, moving Cody-Kilgore and Hyannis both from the MNAC to the Panhandle Athletic Conference.

 

[LooseCannon]

Cody-Kilgore and Hyannis are no longer in the Mid-Nebraska conference

Nice move to get both the MNAC and Pandhandle to 8 teams. Less travel for MNAC teams.

 

[LooseCannon]

Lincoln Northwest and Standing Bear are moving to the HAC in 2026. The move makes the HAC a 13 team league while the Easter Midlands becomes a 9 team league.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Lincoln Northwest and Standing Bear are moving to the HAC in 2026. The move makes the HAC a 13 team league while the Easter Midlands becomes a 9 team league.

Soon Elkhorn North will be Class A and I expect them to also join the Metro Conference. That would drop the EMC to eight.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Elkhorn North is joining the Metro Conference.
That did not surprise me.

Fremont is leaving the Heartland Athletic Conference to join the Metro Conference.

That did surprise me.

 

[Alum-Ni]

 

[LooseCannon]

Hopeful that Fremont will still continue to play Norfolk, Columbus, Grand Island on a regular basis.

 

[SpaghettiSlayer]

Hopeful that Fremont will still continue to play Norfolk, Columbus, Grand Island on a regular basis.

Hard to see how they wouldn't. Class A is unique with only two leagues (Metro and Heartland) controlling the whole class. There's going to be non-conference games to play the other league no matter what, and I'd imagine that Columbus, Norfolk, G.I. are at the top of that list. Basketball and Volleyball have plenty of regular season games to create that opportunity, and Football scheduling would not be affected by conference ties. That being said, it's all the school's decision. I may be wrong if they somehow really wanted to schedule all of and only the Metro schools.

 

[Sean Callahan]

Will Bennington just play in the EMC as a Class A for two years?

Won't their basketball schedule have to be made, though, with mostly A teams by the scheduling committee?

 

[Alum-Ni]

Will Bennington just play in the EMC as a Class A for two years?

Won't their basketball schedule have to be made, though, with mostly A teams by the scheduling committee?

The NSAA doesn't set the basketball schedule. IIRC, Class A teams do get "two extra points" in their point standings for playing other Class A teams..

 

[Alum-Ni]

Now roughly 2/3 of Class A will be in the Metro Conference. At what point does that league split?

METRO CONFERENCE (22)
Bellevue East
Bellevue West
Elkhorn North
Elkhorn South
Fremont
Millard North
Millard South
Millard West
Omaha Benson
Omaha Bryan
Omaha Buena Vista
Omaha Burke
Omaha Central
Omaha Creighton Prep
Omaha Marian
Omaha North
Omaha Northwest
Omaha South
Omaha Westside
Omaha Westview
Papillion-LaVista
Papillion-LaVista South

HEARTLAND ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (12)
Columbus
Grand Island
Kearney
Lincoln East
Lincoln High
Lincoln North Star
Lincoln Northeast
Lincoln Northwest
Lincoln Southeast
Lincoln Southwest
Lincoln Standing Bear
Norfolk

INDEPENDENT (1)
North Platte

EASTERN MIDLANDS CONFERENCE (1)
Bennington

RIVER CITIES CONFERENCE (1)
South Sioux City

 

[Big G20]

Hi

 

[Alum-Ni]

A statement from the Fremont folks on the potential move:

"We have greatly valued our time as members of the Heartland Athletic Conference and appreciate the relationships and competitive opportunities it has provided. However, our proximity to Omaha and the metropolitan area, along with the advantage of access to lower-level schedules featuring comparable competition -- without the extensive travel across the state -- are key reasons for seeking membership in the Metro Conference.

We have long admired the standards, leadership, and competitive excellence demonstrated by the HAC. However, we believe that joining the Metro Conference better aligns strategically with the best interests of our students, coaches and families."

The farthest Fremont would have to travel to face a Metro school is 48 miles (Bellevue East). The closest HAC school to Fremont is Lincoln Northeast (50 miles) and Columbus (52 miles).

 

[HuskDaddy]

At what point does the Metro quit being a conference and instead become a loose association of high schools? Yes, you have scheduling agreements with schools within the 'conference', but it seems unrealistic that you will play all of them in a two or three-year cycle.

 

[Alum-Ni]

At what point does the Metro quit being a conference and instead become a loose association of high schools? Yes, you have scheduling agreements with schools within the 'conference', but it seems unrealistic that you will play all of them in a two or three-year cycle.

A lot of folks have opined the most logical things is perhaps the OPS schools breakaway and form their own league while the suburban schools do their own thing.

20+ schools does seem a bit unwieldy for a league.

 

[ahansel]

Hampton and Heartland will be together.

 

[SpaghettiSlayer]

Hampton and Heartland will be together.

As far as I've heard, they're a co-op for most non-football sports. Is this now going to be a full co-op? A consolidation?
This and the Giltner-Harvard basketball co-op are the ones I know the least about.

 

[LooseCannon]

As far as I've heard, they're a co-op for most non-football sports. Is this now going to be a full co-op? A consolidation?
This and the Giltner-Harvard basketball co-op are the ones I know the least about.

I’m pretty sure they are co-opting everything starting in fall of 2026.

It would be great for it to lead to a consolidation down the road.

 

[Sean Callahan]

A lot of folks have opined the most logical things is perhaps the OPS schools breakaway and form their own league while the suburban schools do their own thing.

20+ schools does seem a bit unwieldy for a league.

People forget the Metro Conference actually included Gross, Ralston, Roncalli, Ryan, Council Bluffs TJ and Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln at one time. I could be missing a team in there, too.

Before the formation of the NSAA football championship, there were two divisions in the Metro, and the top two teams in each Division would play for the Metro Championship, which, in many ways, was a state title game.