Big North Conference (Michigan)

This article is about the sports conference in Michigan. For the conference in New Jersey, see Big North Conference (New Jersey).

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 league
Alpena High School	Wildcats		1,023 (A)	Alpena	Alpena	1997	Great Lakes Athletic Conference
Cadillac High School	Vikings		860 (A)	Cadillac	Wexford	1997	North Central Conference
Escanaba High School	Eskymos		709 (B)	Escanaba	Delta	2023	Great Northern UP Conference
Gaylord High School	Blue Devils		901 (A)	Gaylord	Otsego	1997	Michigan Huron Shores Conference
Marquette Senior High School	Sentinels		1,059 (A)	Marquette	Marquette	2023	Great Northern UP Conference
Petoskey High School	Northmen		853 (A)	Petoskey	Emmet	1997	Michigan Huron Shores Conference
Sault Area High School	Blue Devils		786 (B)	Sault Ste. Marie	Chippewa	2023	Great Northern UP Conference
Traverse City Central High School	Trojans		1,382 (A)	Traverse City	Grand Traverse	1997	Great Lakes Athletic Conference
Traverse City West Senior High School	Titans		1,455 (A)	Traverse City	Grand Traverse	1997	N/A (new school)

Former schools

School	Mascot	Colors	Class (enrollment)	City	County	Year joined	Previous league	Year left	Current league
Cheboygan High School	Chiefs		B (602)	Cheboygan	Cheboygan	1997	Michigan Huron Shores Conference	2004	Northern Shores Conference Northern Michigan Football League (football only)
Ogemaw Heights High School	Falcons		B (556)	West Branch	Ogemaw	2011	Northeast Michigan Conference	2016	Jack Pine Conference
Sault Area High School	Blue Devils		A (884)	Sault Ste. Marie	Chippewa	1997	Michigan Huron Shores Conference	2004	Straits Area Conference Big North Conference (football only)

Membership timeline

Full member

Football-only member

Non-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	Record
1997	Traverse City West	7–2–0 (3–0–0)	Petoskey	8–1–0 (3–0–0)
1998	Traverse City West	6–3 (3–0)	Petoskey	9–2 (3–0)
1999	Traverse City West	5–4 (3–0)	Sault Ste. Marie	7–3 (3–0)

Since 2000, the conference has operated with one division.

Year	Champion	Record
2000	Cadillac	9–1 (7–0)
2001	Gaylord	9–1 (7–0)
2002	Gaylord	11–1 (7–0)
2003	Traverse City West	7–3 (7–0)
2004	Traverse City West	10–1 (5–0)
2005	Gaylord	6–3 (4–1)
2005	Traverse City Central	6–4 (4–1)
2006	Traverse City West	6–4 (5–0)
2007	Traverse City Central	5–4 (4–1)
2007	Traverse City West	6–4 (4–1)
2008	Petoskey	9–2 (4–1)
2008	Traverse City West	6–4 (4–1)
2009	Cadillac	8–2 (5–0)
2010	Petoskey	8–2 (4–1)
2010	Traverse City West	6–4 (4–1)
2011	Petoskey	9–2 (6–0)
2012	Traverse City Central	9–2 (6–0)
2013	Cadillac	11–1 (6–0)
2014	Cadillac	9–1 (6–0)
2015	Traverse City Central	9–1 (6–0)
2016	Traverse City Central	9–2 (5–0)
2017	Traverse City West	9–2 (5–0)
2018	Traverse City West	7–3 (5–0)
2019	Traverse City Central	8–2 (5–0)
2020	Traverse City Central	9–2 (5–0)
2021	Traverse City Central	12–2 (5–0)
2022	Cadillac	5–5 (3–0)
2023	Gaylord	11–1 (6–0)
2024	Petoskey	11-1 (6-0)
2025	Gaylord	10-1 (7-0)

Teams in the Final Regular Season Rankings

Year	Team	Division	Rank
2002	Gaylord	3	3rd
2004	Traverse City West	1	3rd
2008	Petoskey	3	9th
2009	Cadillac	3	7th
2009	Petoskey	3	10th
2012	Traverse City Central	2	6th
2013	Cadillac	4	3rd
2014	Cadillac	4	3rd
2015	Traverse City Central	2	4th
2016	Traverse City Central	2	9th
2017	Traverse City West	1	10th
2019	Traverse City Central	2	7th
2020	Traverse City Central	2	10th
2021	Traverse City Central	2	3rd
2021	Cadillac	4	7th

Conference Records

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

State Championship Results

Season	Big North		Non-Big North		Site	Division	Ref.
2020	Cadillac (8–3)	0	Detroit Country Day (9–2)	13	Ford Field • Detroit, MI	4
2021	Traverse City Central (12–2)	14	Warren De La Salle (13–0)	41	Ford Field • Detroit, MI	2

Boys Basketball Champions

Year	Champion	Record
1997–98	Petoskey	14–0
1998–99	Traverse City Central	11–3
1999–00	Traverse City West	13–1
2000–01	Cadillac	13–1
2001–02	Traverse City Central	12–2
2002–03	Cadillac/Petoskey/Traverse City West	11–3
2003–04	Cadillac/Petoskey	12–2
2004–05	Traverse City Central	8–2
2005–06	Traverse City West	9–1
2006–07	Cadillac/Petoskey	7–3
2007–08	Alpena	8–2
2008–09	Cadillac/Gaylord	8–2
2009–10	Petoskey	10–0
2010–11	Petoskey	10–0
2011–12	Petoskey	11–1
2012–13	Cadillac/Petoskey/Traverse City West	9–3
2013–14	Alpena	11–1
2014–15	Alpena	11–1
2015–16	Petoskey	12–0
2016–17	Traverse City West	9–1
2017–18	Petoskey	9–1
2018–19	Petoskey/Traverse City Central	7–3
2019–20	Cadillac/Traverse City Central	8–2
2020–21	Traverse City Central	9–0
2021–22	Cadillac/Traverse City Central	7–3

Conference Records

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

Girls Basketball Champions

Year	Champion	Record
1997	Sault Ste. Marie	13–1
1998	Sault Ste. Marie	13–0
1999	Petoskey	13–1
2000	Sault Ste. Marie	14–0
2001	Cadillac	13–1
2002	Traverse City West	12–2
2003	Traverse City West	14–0
2004	Traverse City Central	10–0
2005	Traverse City West	10–0
2006	Alpena	8–2
2007–08	Traverse City West	9–1
2008–09	Traverse City Central	9–1
2009–10	Petoskey/Traverse City West	9–1
2010–11	Petoskey	10–0
2011–12	Traverse City West	10–2
2012–13	Petoskey	10–1
2013–14	Cadillac	11–1
2014–15	Traverse City West	12–0
2015–16	Traverse City Central	11–1
2016–17	Traverse City Central	8–2
2017–18	Petoskey	8–2
2018–19	Cadillac	10–0
2019–20	Cadillac	10–0
2020–21	Cadillac	8–1
2021–22	Petoskey	8–2
2022–23	Petoskey	9–1

Conference Records

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