Rock Falls to BNC makes sense

The Big Northern Conference is looking for a member.

Rock Falls High School is interested.

This makes too much sense not to happen.

Nothing official will happen until the Big Northern’s next meeting on Jan. 14, but I fully expect, based on a few conversations with people in the know, for the Rockets to join the BNC on that date.

Rock Falls athletic director Rich Montgomery said Thursday that no invitation has been sent by the BNC to the Rockets, but that Rock Falls has sent a letter of interest.

Big Northern president Dale Purvis, athletic director at North Boone, said the BNC is actively seeking a new school or schools to replace Hampshire, which announced last month it was leaving for the Fox Valley Conference.

Purvis said the Big Northern discussed the matter at a Tuesday meeting, but that he will not speak publicly about the matter until Jan. 14.

While the official confirmation will have to wait, there are some things we now know: Rock Falls is interested in joining the Big Northern Conference, and the BNC would be crazy not to take the Rockets.

It would be a sweet move for both sides.

Rock Falls gets to jump off the sinking NCIC ship while landing in a safe, stable haven.

The Big Northern gains a school similar to its current members in a variety of ways: athletics, academics, geography and size. Just slide Genoa-Kingston from the West division to the East to take Hampshire’s spot, and let the Rockets join the West.

Rock Falls has been a school in search of rivalries since the NCIC split four years ago. The Rockets don’t play Sterling in football, and their number of games with the Golden Warriors have recently declined in every other sport.

Oregon, Byron, Stillman Valley and Winnebago provide the Rockets with ample opportunities for rivalries, in a variety of sports. The trips to those towns are no more onerous than the ones Rock Falls currently makes to its NCIC opponents.

Speaking of the NCIC, if Rock Falls leaves, what is to become of the once-great league? The final gasps of a slow death, probably. A demise Rock Falls would do well to avoid while it still can.