The Big Central Football Conference is a football-only athletic league of high schools in Central New Jersey. The 59-team league was formed in 2020.Kinney, Mike. "Big Central revises 2020 football schedule for its shortened inaugural season", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, August 12, 2020. Accessed April 18, 2021. "The newly formed Big Central Football Conference has released a revised 2020 schedule for its inaugural season. The BCFC - the merged product of the Mid-State and Greater Middlesex conferences - has devised a six-game regular season from Oct. 2 through Nov. 6 that complies with the abbreviated fall sports calendar issued last month by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, and also attempts to limit travel distance within reason.... the BCFC is schools from Middlesex, Union, Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren counties. The schedule was compiled for only 59 teams because Carteret announced the cancellation of its entire fall season in July."
History The Big Central consists of the members of the former Mid-State 38 Conference and the football programs from the Greater Middlesex Conference, including public and private high school football teams in Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset, Union and Warren counties.Kinney, Mike. "The latest football super-conference proves there really is a Central Jersey", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, November 25, 2019. Accessed April 18, 2021. "The newly formed Big Central Football Conference - the merged product of the Greater Middlesex Conference and Mid-State 38 - has released its division alignments for the inaugural 2020 season and for 2021, as well. In all, 61 members make up this newest super-conference which encompasses Union, Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren counties."
Divisions For the 2026 and 2027 seasons, there are a total of 12 divisions of the Big Central Football Conference, with teams divided by size, location, and performance:
American Gold
Elizabeth High School St. Joseph High School (Metuchen) Union High School Westfield High School
American Silver
Bridgewater-Raritan High School Hillsborough High School Phillipsburg High School Ridge High School
Freedom Gold
David Brearley High School Jonathan Dayton High School Highland Park High School J. P. Stevens High School Roselle Park High School South River High School
Freedom Silver
Belvidere High School Bound Brook High School Dunellen High School Manville High School Middlesex High School South Hunterdon Regional High School
Liberty Gold
Colonia High School Linden High School Plainfield High School Rahway High School Woodbridge High School
Liberty Silver
Hunterdon Central Regional High School Montgomery High School North Hunterdon High School Somerville High School Watchung Hills Regional High School
National Gold
East Brunswick High School Monroe Township High School Old Bridge High School Piscataway High School South Brunswick High School
National Silver
Edison High School Franklin High School North Brunswick High School Sayreville War Memorial High School St. Thomas Aquinas High School
Patriot Gold
Delaware Valley Regional High School Hillside High School New Brunswick High School North Plainfield High School Voorhees High School
Patriot Silver
Arthur L. Johnson High School Metuchen High School New Providence High School Perth Amboy High School Abraham Clark High School (Roselle) Spotswood High School
United Gold
Carteret High School Cranford High School Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Summit High School
United Silver
Bernards High School Governor Livingston High School John F. Kennedy Memorial High School (Iselin) South Plainfield High School
References