Big Northern Conference
The Big Northern Conference is an organization of eleven high schools in northern Illinois. These high schools are members of the Illinois High School Association.
The high schools of the Big Northern Conference are located in the following counties: Boone, DeKalb, LaSalle, Lee, Ogle, Whiteside, and Winnebago.
History
The conference was formed in 1991 as a football-only union of the Big 8 Conference and the Mid-Northern Conference. The original 12 members consisted of six Big 8 schools, five Mid-Northern schools, and one independent school. In 1995, the Big 8 and Mid Northern merged for all sports, with Ottawa Marquette remaining a football-only member. At the same time, Forreston left, and Huntley, a Big 8 school that was previously independent in football, joined the BNC for all sports. Few more changes occurred over the next 15 years, with Johnsburg joining for all sports but football in 1997 and replacing Ottawa Marquette for football in 1998, Rockford Lutheran replacing Huntley in 2003, and North Boone replacing Johnsburg in 2006.Since 2011, however, the conference has had several changes and peaked at 16 schools during the 2014–15 and 2015–16 school years. In 2011, Hampshire left for the Fox Valley Conference and was replaced by Rock Falls and Mendota. Rockford Christian joined the conference in 2012, giving the conference an even number of 14 schools, with 7 in each division. In 2014, Johnsburg rejoined the conference and Dixon became a new member.
Following the 2015–16 school year, Burlington Central, Harvard, Johnsburg, Marengo, and Richmond-Burton left the BNC to join Woodstock and Woodstock North in creating the Kishwaukee River Conference. With 11 schools in the 2016–17 school year, the BNC will play as one division for the first time in conference history. In football, BNC schools will play against only 8 conference opponents, with the 7 largest schools also playing one game against a team in the KRC.
From 1991–92 to 2005–06, the conference's two divisions for football were determined by school size, with the 6 larger schools in the BNC Red Division and the 6 smaller schools in the BNC White Division. Non-football sports also used the Red and White divisions from 1995–96 to 2000–01, but switched to East and West divisions in 2001–02. In 2006–07, the BNC permanently switched to East and West divisions for all sports until the dissolution of divisions in 2016–17.
In 2018, Rockford Christian moved to the Northeastern Athletic Conference in football while remaining in the BNC for all other sports. Having 10 teams in football made it possible for the BNC to have a full conference schedule, as there are 9 games in the regular season.
Membership
The conference's current members, as of 2019–20:| School | Town | Team Name | Colors | Enrollment | IHSA Classes 2/3/4 |
| Byron High School | Byron | Tigers | Orange, Black | 471 | A/1A/2A |
| Dixon High School | Dixon | Dukes/Duchesses | Purple, White | 762 | A/2A/3A |
| Genoa-Kingston High School | Genoa | Cogs | Blue, Orange, White | 594.5 | A/1A/2A |
| Mendota High School | Mendota | Trojans | Purple, Gold | 554 | A/1A/2A |
| North Boone High School | Poplar Grove | Vikings | Green, White | 513.5 | A/1A/2A |
| Oregon High School | Oregon | Hawks | Red, White | 430.5 | A/1A/2A |
| Rock Falls High School | Rock Falls | Rockets | Green, Black | 646.5 | A/1A/2A |
| Rockford Christian High School | Rockford | Royal Lions | Blue, Metallic Gold, Black | 378.5 | A/1A/2A |
| Rockford Lutheran High School | Rockford | Crusaders | Purple, White | 362 | A/1A/2A |
| Stillman Valley High School | Stillman Valley | Cardinals | Red, Black | 588.5 | A/1A/2A |
| Winnebago High School | Winnebago | Indians | Orange, Black | 454.5 | A/1A/2A |
Membership timeline
From 1991 to 1995, the Mid-Northern Conference and Big 8 Conference continued to play all non-football sports in their respective pre-merger conferences, with a full merger happening at the start of the 1995–96 school year. Marengo, which was part of the Northwest Suburban Conference during the 1990–91 school year before joining the BNC for football in 1991, joined the Big 8 for all other sports. Ottawa Marquette was independent in all non-football sports during its entire time associated with the BNC. Huntley did not accompany the other Big 8 schools in the BNC football merger, playing football independently for 1991 and 1992 and in the Upstate Illini Conference for 1993 and 1994.DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:1350 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1970 till:2020
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id:line value:pink
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference
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bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1972 till:1991 text:Byron
bar:1 color:AssocF from:1991 till:1995 text:
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bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1972 till:1991 text:Forreston
bar:2 color:AssocF from:1991 till:1995 text:
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1972 till:1991 text:Mt. Morris
bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1972 till:1991 text:Oregon
bar:4 color:AssocF from:1991 till:1995 text:
bar:4 color:Full from:1995 till:end text:
bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1972 till:1990 text:Pecatonica
bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1972 till:1991 text:Polo
bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:1972 till:1991 text:Stillman Valley
bar:7 color:AssocF from:1991 till:1995 text:
bar:7 color:Full from:1995 till:end text:
bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:1972 till:1991 text:Winnebago
bar:8 color:AssocF from:1991 till:1995 text:
bar:8 color:Full from:1995 till:end text:
bar:9 color:OtherC2 from:1980 till:1991 text:Burlington Central
bar:9 color:AssocF from:1991 till:1995 text:
bar:9 color:Full from:1995 till:2016 text:
bar:10 color:OtherC2 from:1980 till:1991 text:Genoa-Kingston
bar:10 color:AssocF from:1991 till:1995 text:
bar:10 color:Full from:1995 till:end text:
bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:1980 till:1991 text:Hampshire
bar:11 color:AssocF from:1991 till:1995 text:
bar:11 color:Full from:1995 till:2011 text:
bar:12 color:OtherC2 from:1980 till:1995 text:Huntley
bar:12 color:Full from:1995 till:2003 text:
bar:13 color:OtherC2 from:1980 till:1991 text:Richmond-Burton
bar:13 color:AssocF from:1991 till:1995 text:
bar:13 color:Full from:1995 till:2016 text:
bar:14 color:OtherC2 from:1980 till:1985 text:Sandwich
bar:15 color:OtherC2 from:1980 till:1990 text:Valley Lutheran
bar:16 color:OtherC2 from:1984 till:1991 text:Harvard
bar:16 color:AssocF from:1991 till:1995 text:
bar:16 color:Full from:1995 till:2016 text:
bar:17 color:OtherC2 from:1985 till:1990 text:North Boone
bar:17 color:Full from:2006 till:end text:North Boone
bar:18 color:AssocF from:1991 till:1995 text:Marengo
bar:18 color:Full from:1995 till:2016 text:
bar:19 color:AssocF from:1991 till:1998 text:Ottawa Marquette
bar:20 color:FullxF from:1997 till:1998 text:Johnsburg
bar:20 color:Full from:1998 till:2006 text:
bar:20 color:Full from:2014 till:2016 text:
bar:21 color:Full from:2003 till:end text:Rockford Lutheran
bar:22 color:Full from:2011 till:end text:Rock Falls
bar:23 color:FullxF from:2011 till:2012 text:Mendota
bar:23 color:Full from:2012 till:end text:
bar:24 color:Full from:2012 till:2018 text:Rockford Christian
bar:24 color:FullxF from:2018 till:end text:
bar:25 color:Full from:2014 till:end text:Dixon
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text:^"BNC Membership History"
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