League reset: Learn your new rivals

The Big East Conference is history. The Cedar Valley Conference has been renamed and split. The Tri-Rivers Conference is bigger, but not necessarily better.It's a new school year, with a whole new landscape for many area small-school conferences. To acclimate you, here's a primer on the all the Gazette-area conferences:

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY CONFERENCE

The cast of characters:

Mississippi Division -- Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Dubuque Hempstead, Dubuque Senior, Iowa City High, Iowa City West, Waterloo East.

Valley Division -- Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Cedar Rapids Washington, Cedar Rapids Xavier, Dubuque Wahlert, Linn-Mar, Waterloo West.

Additions -- None.

Subtractions -- None.

Notable -- This big-school conference is extremely stable, with basically the same 14 schools since 1992 (Cedar Rapids Regis merged with Cedar Rapids LaSalle in 1998 to form Xavier). One of only two conferences (the Mississippi Athletic Conference is the other) that still plays conference football. The only shift is the every-other-year shuffle of divisions, and the next shuffle comes in the fall of 2014.

WAMAC CONFERENCE

The cast of characters:

East Division -- Anamosa, DeWitt Central, Dyersville Beckman, Maquoketa, Mount Vernon, Solon, West Delaware, Western Dubuque.

West Division -- Benton Community, Center Point-Urbana, Clear Creek Amana, Independence, Marion, Vinton-Shellsburg, Williamsburg.

Additions -- None.

Subtractions -- Waterloo Columbus (to NICL).

Notable -- For one year, the Wamac downsizes to a 15-team league. That will create a clumsy three-pod format of five teams each for the upcoming basketball season. That will just be a one-year deal: South Tama rejoins the league in 2014.

TRI-RIVERS CONFERENCE

The cast of characters:

East Division -- Bellevue Marquette, Calamus-Wheatland, Cedar Valley Christian, Clinton Prince of Peace, Easton Valley, Midland.

West Division -- Alburnett, Central City, East Buchanan, Lisbon, Maquoketa Valley, North Linn, Springville.

Additions -- Marquette, Calamus-Wheatland, Prince of Peace, Easton Valley, Midland, Lisbon (all from the Big East), Cedar Valley (formerly an independent).

Subtractions -- Cascade and Monticello (to River Valley), Edgewood-Colesburg and Starmont (to Upper Iowa).

Notable -- Massive changes here. Six West Division teams (all but Lisbon) have been part of the Tri-Rivers since its birth in 1967. The blow-up of the Big East forced that league's small schools to join, though Lisbon had been admitted for 2013-14 anyway. Cedar Valley Christian is in its third year as a member of the IHSAA and IGHSAU. Easton Valley is the result of a merger between the Preston and East Central districts; the school's nickname is "River Hawks."

RIVER VALLEY CONFERENCE (formerly Cedar Valley Conference)

North Division -- Bellevue, Camanche, Cascade, Monticello, North Cedar, Northeast.

South Division -- Durant, Iowa City Regina, Mid-Prairie, Tipton, West Branch, West Liberty, Wilton.

Additions --Bellevue, Camanche, Northeast (from Big East), Cascade, Monticello (from Tri-Rivers).

Subtractions -- None.

Notable -- A new name, and a lot more travel involved here. Seven of these schools (the current South Division) have been together for decades, as members of the Eastern Iowa Hawkeye Conference, then the Cedar Valley Conference. North Cedar joined the CVC in 2008. It's roughly 135 miles (a 2 1/2-hour trip) from Bellevue to Wellman, home of Mid-Prairie.

NORTHEAST IOWA CONFERENCE

The cast of characters: Charles City, Crestwood, Decorah, New Hampton, Oelwein, Waukon, Waverly-Shell Rock.

Additions -- None.

Subtractions -- None.

Notable -- This is one of the oldest and most stable conferences in Iowa. Six of the schools have been with the league since its inception in 1920. Waukon joined around 1970, and it hasn't changed since.

SOUTH IOWA CEDAR LEAGUE

The cast of characters: Belle Plaine, BGM, English Valleys, HLV, Iowa Valley, Keota, Lynnville-Sully, Montezuma, North Mahaska, Sigourney, Tri-County.

Additions -- None.

Subtractions -- None.

Notable -- The SICL has seen no changes since 1999, when Williamsburg left for the Eastern Iowa Hawkeye Conference.

UPPER IOWA CONFERENCE

The cast of characters: Clayton Ridge, Edgewood-Colesburg, Elkader Central, Lansing Kee, MFL MarMac, North Fayette Valley, Postville, South Winneshiek, Starmont, Sumner-Fredericksburg, Turkey Valley, West Central.

Additions -- Ed-Co, Starmont (from Tri-Rivers).

Subtractions -- Valley Community (in whole-grade sharing agreement with North Fayette).

Notable -- The first new look since 2004, when Sumner and Fredericksburg combined. North Fayette Valley (no hyphen) will be known as the TigerHawks, with colors of black, Columbia blue and silver. Sumner-Fredericksburg will leave the UIC for the NICL next year.

OTHER CONFERENCE AFFILIATIONS OF AREA SCHOOLS

Iowa Star -- Meskwaki Settlement, North Tama

North Iowa Cedar -- Jesup, South Tama, Union

Southeast -- Washington

Southeast Iowa Superconference -- Highland, Iowa Mennonite, Lone Tree