The Big Rivers Conference is a high school athletic conference consisting of large high schools in western Wisconsin. Formed in 1956, its member schools are affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Location of Original Big Rivers Conference Members
The Big Rivers Conference was formed by five large high schools in northern and western Wisconsin.[1] Four long-time independents (Eau Claire, La Crosse Central, Marinette and Menominee (MI)) joined with Wausau, who was forced out of the Wisconsin Valley Conference by the other league members to create greater parity in competition.[2][3] The twin cities of Marinette and Menominee left the conference in 1963, primarily due to travel issues and lack of competitiveness in basketball.[4] The two exiting schools were replaced by four newcomers: Chippewa Falls from the disbanded Mississippi Valley Conference, the newly opened Eau Claire North, and two former independents in La Crosse Logan and Menomonie.[5] The conference added an eighth member in 1970 when Wausau High School split into Wausau East and the new Wausau West High School.[6] The two Wausau high schools would go back to the Wisconsin Valley Conference in 1973,[7][8] and membership stayed consistent until realignment in the late 1980s.
In 1989, the two La Crosse high schools (Central and Logan) left the Big Rivers Conference to become charter members of the new Mississippi Valley Conference,[9] along with other schools that were geographically closer than the Eau Claire-area schools.[10] In 1986, Hudson of the Middle Border Conference and Rice Lake of the Heart O'North Conference joined the Big Rivers Conference as football-only members,[11] attaining full membership three years later along with fellow MBC member River Falls.[12] They replaced the two La Crosse high schools, who became charter members of the Mississippi Valley Conference in 1989.[13]New Richmond briefly joined the Big Rivers in 1998 from the Middle Border Conference,[14] which they returned to after a four-year stint.[15] In football, New Richmond was replaced by Lake Superior Conference members Superior in 2002 after they joined as associate members.[16] New Richmond would return to the Big Rivers in 2020,[17] first as a football-only member and then as a full member in 2021.[18]
In February 2019, in conjunction with the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association, the WIAA released a sweeping football-only realignment for Wisconsin to commence with the 2020 football season and run on a two-year cycle.[19] For the first competition cycle, the Big Rivers Conference lost River Falls to the Mississippi Valley Conference, replacing them with New Richmond of the Middle Border Conference.[20] River Falls made their return to the Big Rivers for the 2022-2023 realignment cycle, replacing the departing Rice Lake, who became football-only members of the Middle Border Conference.[21] In 2024, Edgewood made their return to the Badger Conference as a football member, joining from the Capitol Conference along with Lakeside Lutheran in Lake Mills. For the 2024-2025 cycle, both Eau Claire schools joined the Wisconsin Valley Conference as football-only members and were replaced by Rice Lake after being shifted back from the Middle Border Conference. The BRC and WVC also entered into a scheduling partnership where each member would play a mandatory crossover game that would count towards their conference's standings.[22] This alignment is set to remain in place through at least the 2026-2027 competition cycle.[23]
