BCS League

The Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph (BCS) League is an athletic conference for high schools in southwest Michigan. Founded in 2014 with the inaugural season of play in 2014-15, the conference aspired to grow into a Southwest Michigan "super conference" with membership extending across all MHSAA classes and organized into divisions of schools with similar enrollments. Periodic realignment of divisions allowed members to remain in competition with like-sized schools within the conference thereby avoiding the disruptive effects of conference switching due to changing enrollment. The conference had a unique scheduling philosophy that did not force members to play against conference opponents in different divisions and respected the freedom of members to schedule rivals and other willing conference opponents regardless of size or division.^[1][2]

Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph League

Conference	Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA)
Founded	2014
No. of teams	3 Class C, 6 Class D
Region	Southwest Michigan
Locations

Between 2017 and 2021, the BCS experienced frequent membership changes with eight schools departing & five schools joining. A final attempt to realize its "super-conference" aspiration was attempted in 2019, when membership invitations were extended to ten schools of diverse enrollments.^[3] Niles and South Haven were the only two that accepted. However, Niles departed after only a single season and South Haven exited after two seasons. When expansion proved unsuccessful, the remaining larger schools decided to leave for other conferences.^[4] Beginning with the 2022-2023 season, the BCS transitioned into being a league catering to small public and private schools in southwest Michigan.

Sponsored Sports

Boys

Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Soccer, Tennis, Track and Field, Wrestling

Girls

Basketball, Cross Country, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Track & Field, Volleyball

Member schools

There are currently 9 member schools. The geographic footprint of the league includes Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Van Buren counties in Michigan.

Current members

School data in the table below is current for the 2023-24 season according to the MHSAA website.^[5]

School	Location	Mascot	Colors	Enrollment	Class	Sports Division	Football Division	Affiliation	Joined	Previous Conference
Benton Harbor Countryside Academy	Benton Township	Cougars	Blue & White	179	C	BCS	n/a	Public Charter	2016	Red Arrow Conference
Covert	Covert Township	Bulldogs	Navy Blue & Gold	107	D	BCS	n/a	Public	2017^[6]	Southwestern Athletic Conference
Eau Claire	Eau Claire	Fighting Beavers	Maroon & White	175	C	BCS	n/a †	Public	2020^[7]	Southwest 10 Conference
Marcellus Howardsville Christian	Flowerfield Township	Eagles	Red & White	62	D	BCS	n/a	Private	2016	Red Arrow Conference
New Buffalo	New Buffalo	Bisons	Royal Blue & Gold	178	C	BCS	n/a †	Public	2014^[8]	Red Arrow Conference
Our Lady of the Lake Catholic	St. Joseph Township	Lakers	Royal Blue, Gold & White	61	D	BCS	n/a †	Private	2014^[8]	Red Arrow Conference
St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran	Royalton Township	Titans	Purple & White	114	D	BCS	n/a †	Private	2015^[9]	Red Arrow Conference
Three Oaks River Valley	Chikaming Township	Mustangs	Navy & White	155	D	BCS	n/a	Public	2015^[9]	Red Arrow Conference
Watervliet Grace Christian	Bainbridge Township	Patriots	Royal Blue, Gold & White	19	D	BCS	n/a	Private	2016	Red Arrow Conference

† 8-man football team that is a member of the Southwest Michigan 8-man Football League^[10]

Former members

School	Location	Joined	Previous Conference	Departed	Successive Conference
Berrien Springs Shamrocks	Berrien Springs	2015	Wolverine Conference	2022	Lakeland Conference
Bridgman Bees	Bridgman	2014	Lakeland Athletic Conference	2022	Southwestern Athletic Conference
Bronson Vikings	Bronson	2014	St. Joseph Valley League	2017	Big 8 Conference
Buchanan Bucks	Buchanan	2014	Lakeland Athletic Conference	2022	Lakeland Conference
Cassopolis Rangers	Jefferson Township	2014	Lakeland Athletic Conference	2017	Southwest 10 Conference
Centreville Bulldogs	Centreville	2014	St. Joseph Valley League	2017	Southwest 10 Conference
Comstock Colts	Comstock Township	2015	Kalamazoo Valley Association	2021	Southwest 10 Conference
Lawrence Tigers	Lawrence	2015	Southwestern Athletic Conference	2022	Southwest 10 Conference
Mendon Hornets	Mendon	2014	St. Joseph Valley League	2017	Southwest 10 Conference
Niles Vikings	Niles	2020	Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference	2021	Wolverine Conference
Brandywine Bobcats	Niles Township	2014	Lakeland Athletic Conference	2022	Lakeland Conference
Parchment Panthers	Parchment	2015	Kalamazoo Valley Association	2020	Southwestern Athletic Conference
South Haven Rams	South Haven	2020	Wolverine Conference	2022	Southwestern Athletic Conference
White Pigeon Chiefs	White Pigeon	2014	St. Joseph Valley League	2017	Southwest 10 Conference

^{[6][11][12][13]}

Membership Timeline

League championships

Baseball

	Red Division		White Division		Blue Division
Season	School	Division Record	School	Division Record	School	Division Record
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021	Buchanan		Bridgman^[14]	17-1
2022	Buchanan^[15]	7-1

Boys Basketball

	Red Division		White Division		Blue Division		BCS Division
Season	School	Division Record	School	Division Record	School	Division Record	School	Division Record
2015	Bridgman	7-1	Cassopolis	7-1
2016	Bridgman & Niles Brandywine	8-2	Marcellus Howardsville Christian	9-1	Cassopolis	9-1
2017	Niles Brandywine	9-1	Marcellus Howardsville Christian	7-1	Cassopolis	8-2
2018	Parchment	9-1	Marcellus Howardsville Christian, New Buffalo & St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic	10-2
2019	Niles Brandywine	9-1	Marcellus Howardsville Christian	13-0
2020	Niles Brandywine	8-2	Three Oaks River Valley	14-0
2021	Niles Brandywine	5-0	Marcellus Howardsville Christian	8-0
2022	Niles Brandywine	5-1	New Buffalo	9-0
2023							Eau Claire	13-1

Girls Basketball

	Red Division		White Division		Blue Division
Season	School	Division Record	School	Division Record	School	Division Record
2015	Niles Brandywine	8-0	Bronson	7-1
2016	Niles Brandywine	10-0	St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran	8-0	Mendon	9-1
2017	Buchanan & Comstock	9-1	St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran	8-0	Centreville	10-0
2018	Comstock	10-0	St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran	12-0
2019	Comstock	10-0	St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran	9-1
2020	Niles Brandywine	10-0	St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran	13-1
2021	Buchanan	6-0^[16]	St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran & New Buffalo	8-1
2022	Buchanan & Niles Brandywine	5-1	Bridgman	6-0

Football

	Blue Division		Red Division		White Division		BCS Division
Season	School	Division Record	School	Division Record	School	Division Record	School	Division Record
2014	Mendon	4-0	Bridgman	4-0
2015	Bridgman	4-0	Cassopolis	4-0	Buchanan	3-0
2016	St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic	4-0	Cassopolis	4-0	Berrien Springs	3-0
2017	St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic	4-0	N/A	N/A	Berrien Springs	3-0
2018	Niles Brandywine	3-0	N/A	N/A	Berrien Springs	3-0
2019	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Berrien Springs	3-0
2020	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Buchanan	4-0^[17]
2021	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Berrien Springs	3-0^[18]

Softball

	Red Division		White Division		Blue Division
Season	School	Division Record	School	Division Record	School	Division Record
2014
2015
2016	Bridgman^[19]	9-1
2017
2018			Three Oaks River Valley
2019	Bridgman		Three Oaks River Valley
2020
2021	Buchanan
2022	Buchanan	7-1

Volleyball

	Red Division		White Division		Blue Division
Season	School	Division Record	School	Division Record	School	Division Record
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019	Bridgman	^[20]	New Buffalo	^[20]
2020
2021	Buchanan	6-0^[21]

State championships

Schools that have participated in MHSAA state championship finals while being members of the BCS League.

Baseball Finish Year School Division Runner-Up^[22] 2015 Buchanan 3 Runner-Up^[22] 2015 Centreville 4 Champion^[23]^[24] 2022 Buchanan 3 Boys Track & Field Finish Year School Division Runner-Up^[25]^[26] 2018 Berrien Springs 3 Champion^[27] 2022 Berrien Springs 2 Girls Cross County Finish Year School Division Champion^[28]^[29] 2019 Bridgman 4 Softball Finish Year School Division Runner-Up^[30] 2015 Bronson 3 Runner-Up^[31]^[30] 2021 Buchanan 3 Volleyball Finish Year School Division Champion^[32] 2015 Bronson C Champion^[32] 2016 Bronson C References "Berrien-Cass-St. Joe Conference Archives". Leader Publications. Retrieved February 23, 2020. Tribune, Jack Walkden South Bend. "High school sports: A dream conference?". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved February 23, 2020. "Jason Mitchell: BCS wants to expand. So who's signing up?". "New athletic conference gets the go-ahead from school boards". December 17, 2021. https://www.mhsaa.com/sites/default/files/Enrollment%20and%20Classification/2324enroll.pdf "Southwest 10 Conference prepares for its debut in Fall 2017". mlive. January 17, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2020. Correspondent, DEBRA HAIGHT-HP. "Eau Claire schools joins BCS Athletic Conference". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved February 23, 2020. "A Summer of Change | WSJM Sports". June 9, 2014. "BCS expanding to 15 teams for 2015-16". Leader Publications. August 13, 2014. Retrieved February 23, 2020. Hafer, Val (November 15, 2018). "New 8-Man Football Conference Formed In SW Michigan". 106.1 & 1400 WSJM Sports. Retrieved February 23, 2020. "Southwest Schools Begin League Shuffle > SecondHalf". Retrieved February 23, 2020. "South Haven, Parchment to join new athletic conferences in 2020". mlive. September 30, 2019. Retrieved February 23, 2020. "Local athletic conferences could see movement". "Bee baseball, softball teams win league titles; Mustangs advance from pre-district". "Bucks sweep Bobcats to claim Red Division title". May 18, 2022. "Buchanan boys, girls basketball teams sweep rival Niles, Lady Bucks clinch BCS Red title". March 20, 2021. "Michigan football roundup: Historic night for BCS-champion Bucks as they beat Vikings for first time since 1966". "Hailey runs wild as Berrien Springs bests short-handed Bobcats 26-6". October 16, 2021. "Bees BCS Red softball champions". "Bison, Bees claim conference volleyball titles". "Buchanan wins outright BCS Red Division championship". October 24, 2021. . Archived from the original on July 18, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2021. "Buchanan Baseball Closes 2021-22 Sports Year as Champ for 1st Time Since 1985". "South Bend Tribune". "Division 3 state track finals: All the best stories, photos and videos". June 3, 2018. . Archived from the original on January 11, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2021. "2022 MHSAA Division 2 track and field state final highlights, champs, more". June 5, 2022. "Bridgman girls win state cross country championship". "Team Champions | Girls Cross Country | MHSAA Sports". . Archived from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2021. "Oh so close: Gritty, unranked Buchanan upended after remarkable run to state title game". . Archived from the original on May 16, 2015. Retrieved October 10, 2021.