Since its founding in 1932, the West Michigan Conference (WMC) has been a bastion of high school football excellence, producing formidable teams and some deep-rooted traditions. Schools like Whitehall, Hart, Shelby, Montague, and others laid the groundwork for a legacy that would span decades.
The conference wasn’t just old, it was good. Since the MHSAA playoffs started in 1975, WMC teams have racked up nine state championships. North Muskegon leads the way with 22 conference titles (plus four shared), followed by Oakridge (15 titles, six shared) and Montague (13 titles, four shared).
Then there’s Ravenna — more state titles (4) than conference crowns (3). That’s how you know the league’s talent runs deep. And of course, you can’t talk WMC football without the legendary rivalries — Whitehall vs. Montague comes to mind, complete with sandbag stories and on-field drama that still get brought up decades later.
If there was ever a peak, it was the ’90s and 2000s. Back then, the WMC wasn’t just competitive — it was a gauntlet.
- Ravenna dominated the mid-’90s, winning titles in ’94, ’96, and ’97, then adding another in 2003. Tough, disciplined football was their trademark.
- Oakridge kept the train rolling with championships in ’97, ’05, and ’08 — teams loaded with defense and balanced by explosive offense.
- Montague rose up late in the decade, winning back-to-back in ’08 and ’09.
In those years, it felt like every playoff bracket in Michigan ran through West Michigan. Beating a WMC team meant you were legit.
Fast forward, and the landscape’s changed. In 2022, the conference expanded to 14 teams and two divisions, trying to solve problems with enrollment gaps and competitive balance. And with the MHSAA now giving playoff points for strength of schedule instead of just wins, the big-school/small-school gap got even more noticeable.
By 2026–27, Hart will jump to the Lakes Division, and Manistee will move to the Rivers. The hope is that this shuffle evens the playing field a bit. You can read more about that here.
The last WMC state championship came in 2020 when Montague went perfect and took home the Division 6 crown. Since then, teams have made deep runs but haven’t cracked Ford Field. Whitehall reached the Division 4 regional final in 2022, North Muskegon made back-to-back Division 7 semifinal trips in ’23 and ’24, but those trophy-lifting seasons of the past have been harder to come by.
Whitehall, North Muskegon, and Oakridge have stayed consistent, while programs like Ravenna, Hart, and Montague have had flashes of success without sustaining it. Shelby, Hesperia, and Holton are grinding through rebuilds, fighting the numbers game with smaller rosters.
The WMC still commands respect, but it’s not the automatic favorite it once was. The tradition’s alive and well — the challenge now is turning that history into a new wave of championship football.
Nearly a century in, the WMC is still proud, still competitive, and still fueled by rivalries that matter. The realignment in 2026 offers a fresh chance to reset, balance the divisions, and maybe kickstart another run of dominance.
Because if history tells us anything, it’s this — when West Michigan Conference football is at its best, the rest of the state takes notice.
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