The Big North Conference (BNC) is a high school athletic conference in Michigan. The conference is affiliated with the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA).

The conference contains nine of the largest high schools across Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. Among these schools, four are full-time members, two are non-football members, and three are football-only members.

History The conference was created in 1997 after the split of Traverse City Senior High School into Central and West high schools. It combined the eight largest schools in Northern Michigan. In 2004, due to decreasing enrollment, Cheboygan and Sault Area left the conference. West Branch Ogemaw Heights joined the conference in 2011, but they left the conference after the 2015-16 school year due to decreasing enrollment as well.

In 2021, the league announced the departure of Traverse City Central and Traverse City West high schools' football programs, and those schools becoming associate members of the Saginaw Valley League. However, other sports offered by those schools will continue to participate in the Big North Conference.

In 2023, it was announced that three high schools, Escanaba, Marquette, and Sault Area, would be joining the BNC as football-only members.

Member schools Non-football members

Football-only members School Mascot Colors Class (enrollment) City County Year joined Previous leagueAlpena High SchoolWildcats 1,023 (A)AlpenaAlpena1997Great Lakes Athletic ConferenceCadillac High SchoolVikings 860 (A)CadillacWexford1997North Central ConferenceEscanaba High SchoolEskymos 709 (B)EscanabaDelta2023Great Northern UP ConferenceGaylord High SchoolBlue Devils 901 (A)GaylordOtsego1997Michigan Huron Shores ConferenceMarquette Senior High SchoolSentinels 1,059 (A)MarquetteMarquette2023Great Northern UP ConferencePetoskey High SchoolNorthmen 853 (A)PetoskeyEmmet1997Michigan Huron Shores ConferenceSault Area High SchoolBlue Devils 786 (B)Sault Ste. MarieChippewa2023Great Northern UP ConferenceTraverse City Central High SchoolTrojans 1,382 (A)Traverse CityGrand Traverse1997Great Lakes Athletic ConferenceTraverse City West Senior High SchoolTitans 1,455 (A)Traverse CityGrand Traverse1997N/A (new school)

Former schools School Mascot Colors Class (enrollment) City County Year joined Previous league Year left Current leagueCheboygan High SchoolChiefs B (602)CheboyganCheboygan1997Michigan Huron Shores Conference2004Northern Shores Conference Northern Michigan Football League (football only)Ogemaw Heights High SchoolFalcons B (556)West BranchOgemaw2011Northeast Michigan Conference2016Jack Pine ConferenceSault Area High SchoolBlue Devils A (884)Sault Ste. MarieChippewa1997Michigan Huron Shores Conference2004Straits Area Conference Big North Conference (football only)

Membership timeline Full memberFootball-only memberNon-football member

Football champions From 1997 to 1999 the Big North had a A division and a B division. Year A Champion Record B Champion Record1997Traverse City West7–2–0 (3–0–0)Petoskey8–1–0 (3–0–0)1998Traverse City West6–3 (3–0)Petoskey9–2 (3–0)1999Traverse City West5–4 (3–0)Sault Ste. Marie7–3 (3–0)

Since 2000, the conference has operated with one division. Year Champion Record2000Cadillac9–1 (7–0)2001Gaylord9–1 (7–0)2002Gaylord11–1 (7–0)2003Traverse City West7–3 (7–0)2004Traverse City West10–1 (5–0)2005Gaylord6–3 (4–1)2005Traverse City Central6–4 (4–1)2006Traverse City West6–4 (5–0)2007Traverse City Central5–4 (4–1)2007Traverse City West6–4 (4–1)2008Petoskey9–2 (4–1)2008Traverse City West6–4 (4–1)2009Cadillac8–2 (5–0)2010Petoskey8–2 (4–1)2010Traverse City West6–4 (4–1)2011Petoskey9–2 (6–0)2012Traverse City Central9–2 (6–0)2013Cadillac11–1 (6–0)2014Cadillac9–1 (6–0)2015Traverse City Central9–1 (6–0)2016Traverse City Central9–2 (5–0)2017Traverse City West9–2 (5–0)2018Traverse City West7–3 (5–0)2019Traverse City Central8–2 (5–0)2020Traverse City Central9–2 (5–0)2021Traverse City Central12–2 (5–0)2022Cadillac5–5 (3–0)2023Gaylord11–1 (6–0)2024Petoskey11-1 (6-0)2025Gaylord10-1 (7-0)

Teams in the Final Regular Season Rankings

Year Team Division Rank 2002 Gaylord 3 3rd2004 Traverse City West 1 3rd2008 Petoskey 3 9th2009 Cadillac 3 7th2009 Petoskey 3 10th2012 Traverse City Central 2 6th2013 Cadillac 4 3rd2014 Cadillac 4 3rd2015 Traverse City Central 2 4th2016 Traverse City Central 2 9th2017 Traverse City West 1 10th2019 Traverse City Central 2 7th2020 Traverse City Central 2 10th2021 Traverse City Central 2 3rd2021 Cadillac 4 7th

Conference Records Team Big North Record Pct. Conference Championship Traverse City West 104–28 .788 11Traverse City Central 87–45 .659 8Petoskey 66–66 .500 5Cadillac 62–70 .470 4 Gaylord 58–74 .439 3Sault Ste. Marie 16–21 .432 1Cheboygan 15–22 .405 0 Ogemaw Heights 9–21 .300 0Alpena 31–101 .235 0

State Championship Results SeasonBig NorthNon-Big NorthSiteDivisionRef.2020Cadillac (8–3)0Detroit Country Day (9–2)13Ford Field • Detroit, MI42021Traverse City Central (12–2)14Warren De La Salle (13–0)41Ford Field • Detroit, MI2

Boys Basketball Champions YearChampionRecord1997–98Petoskey14–01998–99Traverse City Central11–31999–00Traverse City West13–12000–01Cadillac13–12001–02Traverse City Central12–22002–03Cadillac/Petoskey/Traverse City West11–32003–04Cadillac/Petoskey12–22004–05Traverse City Central8–22005–06Traverse City West9–12006–07Cadillac/Petoskey7–32007–08Alpena8–22008–09Cadillac/Gaylord8–22009–10Petoskey10–02010–11Petoskey10–02011–12Petoskey11–12012–13Cadillac/Petoskey/Traverse City West9–32013–14Alpena11–12014–15Alpena11–12015–16Petoskey12–02016–17Traverse City West9–12017–18Petoskey9–12018–19Petoskey/Traverse City Central7–32019–20Cadillac/Traverse City Central8–22020–21Traverse City Central9–02021–22Cadillac/Traverse City Central7–3

Conference Records Team Big North Record Pct. Conference Championship Traverse City West 175–112 .610 5Traverse City Central 170–117 .592 7Petoskey 196–91 .683 11Cadillac 192–95 .669 8 Gaylord 78–206 .275 1Sault Ste. Marie 11–87 .112 0Cheboygan 28–70 .286 0 Ogemaw Heights 7–53 .117 0Alpena 134–158 .469 3

Girls Basketball Champions YearChampionRecord1997Sault Ste. Marie13–11998Sault Ste. Marie13–01999Petoskey13–12000Sault Ste. Marie14–02001Cadillac13–12002Traverse City West12–22003Traverse City West14–02004Traverse City Central10–02005Traverse City West10–02006Alpena8–22007–08Traverse City West9–12008–09Traverse City Central9–12009–10Petoskey/Traverse City West9–12010–11Petoskey10–02011–12Traverse City West10–22012–13Petoskey10–12013–14Cadillac11–12014–15Traverse City West12–02015–16Traverse City Central11–12016–17Traverse City Central8–22017–18Petoskey8–22018–19Cadillac10–02019–20Cadillac10–02020–21Cadillac8–12021–22Petoskey8–22022–23Petoskey9–1

Conference Records Team Big North Record Pct. Conference Championship Traverse City West 177–119 .598 7Traverse City Central 168–130 .564 4Petoskey 152–146 .510 7Cadillac 180–117 .610 5 Gaylord 110–186 .372 0Sault Ste. Marie 72–25 .742 3Cheboygan 47–51 .480 0 Ogemaw Heights 4–55 .068 0Alpena 103–192 .349 1

References