The Little Eight Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin. Founded in 1926 and dissolved in 1937, the conference and its member schools belonged to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
Location of Original Little Eight Conference Members
The Little Eight Conference was formed in 1926 by eight small high schools in west central Wisconsin: Altoona, Augusta, Black River Falls, Fairchild, Fall Creek, Humbird, Merrillan and Osseo.[1] Most conference members were located in Eau Claire County (or the neighboring counties of Clark, Jackson and Trempealeau) and all members with one exception were located along U.S. Route 12. A ninth member was added to the Little Eight in 1931 when Elk Mound moved over from the Dunn-St. Croix Conference.[2] The next year, Neillsville joined as members and the conference was realigned into Northern and Southern sections:[3]
| Northern Section
|
Southern Section
|
| Altoona
|
Black River Falls
|
| Augusta
|
Fairchild
|
| Elk Mound
|
Humbird
|
| Fall Creek
|
Merrillan
|
| Osseo
|
Neillsville
|
Location of Final Little Eight Conference Members
This alignment lasted for three seasons before four members left the Little Eight Conference in 1935: Augusta, Black River Falls, Neillsville and Osseo.[4] Augusta left for membership in the Mississippi Valley Conference[5] along with Osseo, who relinquished dual membership in the Little Eight to join the MVC on a full-time basis. Black River Falls and Neillsville both became independents before forming the Mississippi Valley Triangular League with Augusta in 1936.[6] The six remaining members carried on for two more seasons before the Little Eight Conference ceased operations in 1937.[7] Elk Mound returned to the Dunn-St. Croix Conference[8] and Merrillan became members of the Trempealeau Valley Conference.[9] The other four schools (Altoona, Fairchild, Fall Creek and Humbird) became independents until joining new conferences after World War II.
Conference membership history
Final members
Previous members
Membership timeline
Northern Section Southern Section
List of state champions
Fall sports
None
Winter sports
Spring sports
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball
| School
|
Quantity
|
Years
|
| Fall Creek
|
5
|
1927, 1931, 1933, 1936, 1937
|
| Altoona
|
4
|
1928, 1931, 1932, 1934
|
| Merrillan
|
3
|
1928, 1929, 1933
|
| Augusta
|
2
|
1930, 1935
|
| Neillsville
|
2
|
1934, 1935
|
| Black River Falls
|
0
|
|
| Elk Mound
|
0
|
|
| Fairchild
|
0
|
|
| Humbird
|
0
|
|
| Osseo
|
0
|
|
References
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