Another year and there is more talk of conference realignment. But this one might be more than idle chit-chat.

There was a meeting last month among several ACAC and NECC athletic directors, and the subject was a merger between the two leagues.

“Someone said we always talk about it during football season, and then nothing ever happens,” Angola athletic director Mark Ridenour said. “This may be as close as we have ever been for something to happen.”

In essence, the proposed plan is to join the two conferences in football. While the topic is only in the discussion stage, there were some positive ideas expressed in the meeting. More discussion could be possible in the future.

“We are a long way away from making any decisions,” Leo athletic director Brock Rohrbacher said. “It was good to sit down with those guys from the NECC and talk about it. We are two neighboring conferences who are faced with the same dilemma. Our thought was maybe we could get together and put some larger schools with some larger schools and some smaller schools with smaller ones. It was a healthy discussion.”

Football schools in the NECC are Angola, Central Noble, Churubusco, Eastside, Fairfield, Fremont, Lakeland, Prairie Heights and West Noble, while in the ACAC they are Adams Central, Bluffton, Garrett, Heritage, Leo, South Adams and Woodlan.

When the idea was first broached, it was for a 16-team, two-division conference with the football members of the ACAC and NECC. But later Southern Wells was included to make 17 schools. The Raiders are currently an independent in football but would rejoin the combined league.

That leaves an opening for one more school to make an even number, which could lead to two or three divisions. The divisions would be set up mainly on school size.

There are three reasons for the talk of the combined conference.

First is the odd number of football teams in the NECC and ACAC. When Garrett left the NECC for the ACAC in 2004, the NECC was left with nine teams, and the ACAC has seven after Southern Wells’ departure this year. Among the schools thrown around for consideration in the new league, the most common was Jay County, which is also an independent.

Second is the tenuous nature of high schools and subsequent conference stability. Most athletic directors want a plan in place in case there are more changes in school status, such as Elmhurst’s closing last spring. There has been talk of the number of high schools left standing in East Allen County Schools in the next few years. Leo, Heritage and Woodlan belong to East Allen.

The third reason is the increasing gap in enrollment between the largest and smallest schools in both conferences. Southern Wells’ departure was motivated somewhat by these widening numbers, while some smaller schools in the NECC have talked about doing the same things as Southern Wells.

More discussion was expected among the schools’ administrations and some schools that weren’t in attendance at the August meeting. The athletic directors could also continue the conversation at an athletic directors’ meeting Sept. 27 at Columbia City.

And football may be just the start. If a concrete plan gets approved, other sports could eventually be involved.

“If we start playing more with Leo and some of those guys, it may evolve into other things down the road,” Ridenour said.