Northwest Upstate Illini Conference
The Northwest Upstate Illini Conference is a high school conference in northwest and north central Illinois. The conference participates in athletics and activities in the Illinois High School Association. The conference comprises 20 small public high schools and one small private school, with enrollments between 60-340 students in Carroll, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago counties. History. In 1996 the Northwestern Illinois Conference (NWIC) and Upstate Illini Conference (UIC) merged under the Upstate Illini banner. Initially three divisions were formed for all team sports except football: West - Dakota, East Dubuque, Galena, Lena-Winslow , Orangeville, River Ridge, Stockton, and Warren East - Ashton-Franklin Center, Durand, Kirkland-Hiawatha, North Boone, Pecatonica, Rockford Lutheran and South Beloit, and South - Forreston, Freeport Aquin, Fulton Unity Christian, Eastland, Pearl City, Milledgeville, Mt. Carroll and Polo. In 1999 Savanna was added to the South Division and Rockford Christian Life to the East Division for a total of 24 teams. In 2000, after six schools (Ashton-Franklin Center, Durand, Kirkland-Hiawatha, North Boone, Pecatonica and South Beloit) left to form the Four Rivers Conference, the two remaining schools from the East, Rockford Christian Life and Rockford Lutheran, also left the  conference looking for competition within closer proximity. Based on all of these changes, the remaining schools realigned under the new moniker '"Northwest Upstate Illini"' starting with the 2001 school year. The 18 remaining schools maintained divisional balance in all sports for 4 years, however, during the 2004-05 school year, the school districts of Savanna, Mt. Carroll and Thomson consolidated into the West Carroll School District, becoming the largest high school in the conference. This consolidation reduced the teams in the Northwest Division of football to 6 and also created a scheduling issue due to an odd number of teams  within the conference. To correct this, prior to the 2005-06 school year, four schools, Ashton-Franklin Center, Durand, Pecatonica, and South Beloit, joined the conference. These four schools were previously members of the Four Rivers Conference and raised the number of schools from 17 to its highest total of 21. Fulton Unity left the conference to join the Northern Illinois Christian Conference after the 2007 school year, reducing the conference to a total of 20. South Beloit left the NUIC after the 2015-16 season. The Sobos joined the Northeastern Athletic Conference to compete against schools from Chicago, Rockford , Aurora, Arlington Heights, Elgin, Hebron, Crystal Lake, Ottawa, Mooseheart and Kirkland. To replace the exiting team, the NUIC added Amboy High School, formerly a member of the Three Rivers Conference. The Clippers began competition in the NUIC during the 2016-17 school year. Between 2019 and 2020, seven teams within the conference announced that they would begin playing 8-man football. This change, as well as several schools cooping, reduced the number of 11-man football teams to nine. In order to maintain competitive balance, Fulton High School joined the NUIC for the 2021-22 school year from the Three  Rivers Conference. A member of the Three Rivers Conference since the league's inception in 1975, Fulton is poised to make the move to the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference for the 2021-22 school year. NUIC Sportsmanship Creed. Prior to every varsity sporting event, the following creed is read to everyone in attendance. Current Membership. The Northwest Upstate Illini Conference comprises 20 high schools, grades 9-12. There are 20 public and 1 private high school within the conference. "Sources:IHSA Conferences, IHSA Coop Teams, and IHSA Member Schools Directory" Divisions and alignments. Basketball divisions. In 2001, as the conference  realigned under its new label, the divisions were broken into 2; nine team divisions. Those groups were: Starting in 2005, after the addition of the teams from the Four Rivers Conference and the unification of Savanna, Mt. Carroll and Thomson into West Carroll, the league broke into three divisions for basketball. Each division had 7 teams, however, for girls basketball, River Ridge and Scales Mound formed a coop that would keep the West with only 6 teams. Those groups were: This three division system lasted only for two years when Fulton Unity Christian joined the North Illinois Christian Conference for  basketball prior to the start of in 2007-2008 school year. The league realigned back into two divisions with each having 10 teams. These divisions remained constant with the only change occurring in 2016 when Amboy was added to the East to replace South Beloit after their departure. These groups were: Prior to the 2019-2020 school year, the conference realigned back to three divisions. The divisions would be labeled North, South and West and would be unbalanced with two divisions having 7 teams and one having 6. Fulton joined the conference for the 2021-22 season and were placed  in the South Division, giving each division 7 teams. These divisions are: Football alignment. Initially in 2001, the Northwest Upstate Illini was divided into two football divisions, each having 7 total teams. These divisions were: In 2005, Mt. Carroll and Savanna consolidated with Thomson to become West Carroll. During the same year, four teams from the Four Rivers Conference (Ashton-Franklin Center, Durand, Pecatonica, South Beloit) were accepted to join the conference. Durand, Pecatonica and South Beloit joined the Northwest Division and Ashton-Franklin Center entered the Upstate. In 2016, upon the departure of South Beloit, Amboy took their position  in the Northwest division. The final alignment of these divisions were: Starting in 2019, Polo and River Ridge ceased playing traditional 11-man football and began playing 8-man. This change, along with Warren forming a coop with Black Hawk High School in South Wayne, Wisconsin, has created a conference realignment specifically for football. The conference split geographically into North and South divisions with seven schools on each side. Crossover games between schools in different divisions are scheduled based on enrollment. These divisions were: In 2021, five more teams from the conference transitioned to 8-man football. These teams include  Ashton-Franklin Center, and Milledgeville as well as the 1984 (2A) state champion Amboy, the 1989 (1A) state championship team Orangeville, and Freeport Aquin, who claimed the (1A) state championship in 1981, 1986 and 2005. However, with the 2022 addition of Fulton High School, the conference has a net loss of only four teams. These changes will reduce the number of 11-man teams to 10 teams and eliminate the need for divisional play. The 2022 season will include: On November 18, 2021, the East Dubuque board of education voted 5 to 1 in favor of joining Southwestern High School  (Wisconsin) for football, leaving the NUIC and bringing the total number of teams competing in 11-man football down to nine. Volleyball alignment. In 2001, the conference utilized the same concept of North and South divisions for girls volleyball. Those groups were: Similar to basketball, when the league expanded in 2005, some teams shifted and the arrangements moved to the following 3 division system: In 2014, the conference eliminated divisions and created a single volleyball conference with all 20 teams and South Beloit was replaced with Amboy after they left the conference in 2016. Prior to the 2019-2020 school  year, the conference realigned back to three divisions. The divisions would once again be labeled North, South and West and would be unbalanced with two divisions having 7 teams and one having 6, however, this alignment changed for the 2021-22 season as Fulton joinied the South Division, giving each division 7 teams. These divisions are: Membership timeline. Cooperative Arrangements. "note": Highlighted school is the host Competitive Success. Teams currently competing in the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference have won 82 team state championships in IHSA sponsored athletics and activities. This includes championships won prior to entering the league. State Champions . Note: Championships listed here also include championships won by current member schools prior to any respective consolidations, as well as prior to the formation of the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference. Team. <nowiki>*</nowiki>Polo's championship in 8-man football is in a non-sanctioned IHSA activity. Championship totals. <nowiki>*</nowiki>Pearl City was the host school for the football coop with Eastland in the 2014 championship. <nowiki>**</nowiki>Polo's championship in 8-man football is in a non-sanctioned IHSA activity.