Big Eight Conference (IHSAA)

Big Eight Conference
Established	1980
Members	All Class AAA
Region	7 Counties: Daviess, Dubois, Gibson, Knox, Posey, Warrick, and Wabash of Illinois
Headquarters	Indiana
Locations
Big Eight Conference locations

The Big Eight Conference is an athletic conference currently comprising six IHSAA Class AAA high schools located in Southwestern Indiana with one IHSA Class AAA member in Southern Illinois. The conference members are small city-based schools located in Daviess, Dubois, Gibson, Knox, Posey, and Warrick counties in Indiana and Wabash County in Illinois.

History

The Big Eight Conference was created in 1980 when seven members of the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference (Boonville, Jasper, Mount Vernon, Princeton, Tell City, Vincennes Lincoln, and Washington) left to form a new conference with a member of the Pocket Athletic Conference (Gibson Southern). Gibson Southern left in 1992 to rejoin the PAC and Tell City followed in 2001 also to rejoin the PAC, reducing the Big Eight to six members. Mount Carmel joined in 2003 to increase the membership to seven. Currently Mount Carmel, located in Illinois, is the only school from outside Indiana to compete in an Indiana athletic conference.

Member schools

Current members

School	Mascot	Colors	Location	Joined Conference	Enrollment [1] 08-09	IHSAA Class	IHSAA Class Football	Gym Size	# / County
Boonville	Pioneers		Boonville	1980	936	AAA	AAAA	5,650	87 Warrick
Jasper	Wildcats		Jasper	1980	1,055	AAA	AAAA	5,200 1	19 Dubois
Mount Carmel 2	Golden Aces		Mount Carmel	2003	649	(IL)AAA	(IL)AAA	2,500	93 Wabash
Mount Vernon	Wildcats		Mount Vernon	1980	849	AAA	AAA	3,200	65 Posey
Princeton Community	Tigers		Princeton	1980	679	AAA	AAA	3,000/ 4,2003	26 Gibson
Vincennes Lincoln	Alices		Vincennes	1980	772	AAA	AAA	5,466	42 Knox
Washington	Hatchets		Washington	1980	746	AAA	AAA	7,090	14 Daviess

Information
Schools that operate on Eastern Time. 1 Jasper High School is rebuilding their gym after a roof collapse that occurred on May 2, 2011 during an intense rainstorm. 2 Only extra-Indiana School in an IHSAA-sanctioned conference. Departed disbanded North Egypt Conference of Illinois. 3 in 2012-13, Princeton will be playing in a new 4,200 seat gym replacing the aging current 3,000 seat gym.

Former members

School	Mascot	Colors	Location	Years with Conference	County	Current Conference
Gibson Southern	Titans		Fort Branch	1980-1992 4	26 Gibson	Pocket
Tell City	Marksmen		Tell City	1980-2001 4 5	62 Perry	Pocket

• ⁴ Both are founding Schools that left to rejoin the Pocket Athletic Conference
• ⁵ Tell City was briefly part of the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference prior to the Big Eight's founding.

State championships

Boonville Pioneers (1)

• 2006 Softball (3A)

Jasper Wildcats (8)

• 1949 Boys Basketball
• 1996 Baseball
• 1997 Baseball
• 1998 Baseball (3A)
• 1999 Boys Tennis
• 2000 Baseball (3A)
• 2001 Football (4A)
• 2006 Baseball (3A)

Mount Carmel Golden Aces (3)

• 1927 Boys Basketball (Illinois)
• 1981 Football (3A) (Illinois)
• 2010 Boys Golf (1A) (Illinois)

Princeton Community Tigers (2)

• 2009 Boy's Basketball (3A)
• 2015 Girl's Basketball (3A)

Vincennes Lincoln Alices (3)

• 1923 Boys Basketball
• 1981 Boys Basketball
• 2002 Baseball (3A)

Washington Hatchets (9)

• 1914 Boys Track
• 1915 Boys Track
• 1930 Boys Basketball
• 1941 Boys Basketball
• 1942 Boys Basketball
• 2005 Boys Basketball (3A)
• 2008 Boys Basketball (3A)
• 2010 Boys Basketball (3A)
• 2011 Boys Basketball (3A)

Former Member State Championships

Gibson Southern Titans (2)

• 2003 Softball (2A)
• 2005 Softball (3A)

Big Eight Championships

Football Championships by School

School	Championships	Years
Jasper	22	1981, 1982, 1984*, 1985, 1986*, 1987, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1996*, 1998, 1999*, 2000, 2001, 2004*, 2005, 2006*, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014*
Vincennes Lincoln	9	1983*, 1984*, 1996*, 1997, 1999*, 2002, 2003, 2004*, 2014*
Tell City	6	1980, 1984*, 1988, 1989, 1991*, 1992
Mount Carmel	5	2006*, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014*
Boonville	3	1984*, 1986*, 1991*
Gibson Southern	1	1983*
Princeton Community	1	1993
Mount Vernon	0
Washington	0

Boys Basketball Championships

School	Championships	Years
Vincennes Lincoln	19	1981, 1982*, 1984*, 1987, 1988, 1989*, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999*, 2002, 2003*, 2004, 2006, 2012, 2013
Jasper	7	1982*, 1989*, 1993, 1996, 1999*, 2000*, 2014*
Washington	7	1983, 1995, 2003*, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011
Boonville	4	1986, 1999*, 2000*, 2001
Princeton Community	5	1984*, 1985, 2009, 2010, 2014*
Mount Carmel	0
Mount Vernon	0
Tell City	0
Gibson Southern	0

Girls Basketball Championships

School	Championships	Years
Washington	10	1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998*, 1999, 2001, 2003
Jasper	8	1982, 1983, 1988, 1991, 1998*, 2005, 2010*, 2012
Boonville	6	1981, 1984*, 1985, 1986, 1987, 2000
Mount Carmel	4	2007, 2008, 2011, 2013
Vincennes Lincoln	4	2002, 2004, 2006, 2009
Mount Vernon	2	1984, 2010*
Tell City	2	1989, 1990
Princeton Community	2	2014, 2015

Note: Big Eight Conference championships are determined by a single round-robin among the active members. The Big Eight Conference does not break ties in the standings for championship purposes, instead co-championships are awarded.

Interesting Fact

The Big Eight Conference now has two different members that captured the 3A boys basketball title in successive years. Washington captured the 2007-08, 2009–10, and 2010–11 State Titles and Princeton captured the 2008-09 State Title. Very rarely has this occurred in the history of the state finals.

• 2008 Boy's Basketball (3A) Washington
• 2009 Boy's Basketball (3A) Princeton Community
• 2010 Boy's Basketball (3A) Washington
• 2011 Boy's Basketball (3A) Washington

Neighboring Conferences

• Pocket Athletic Conference
• Southern Indiana Athletic Conference
• Blue Chip Conference
• Patoka Lake Conference

References

• IHSAA Conference Membership
• IHSAA State Champions
• IHSAA Classification
• IHSAA Football Classification
• Southwest Indiana Conference Histories
• Member School Information (reference for school colors)