Why is the Super Football Conference holding a schedule release show this week?

It’s a meeting and a meat-ing.

The 113-team Super Football Conference will hold its second schedule release show at 7 p.m. Wednesday at House of ‘Que inside American Dream.

Yes, it will be a live broadcast.

Yes, there will be interviews with players and coaches.

Yes, we’re talking about a high school football conference doing a two-hour show dedicated to the release of its 2024 football schedules.

Football schedules.

It’s not a game preview, or breaking news. Just schedules.

It’s outside-the-box thinking, that’s for sure, but the SFC views itself as a brand that isn’t just a conference, but an entity that promotes good football, health and wellness − although there will certainly be some heavy eating Wednesday − and community outreach.

We’re still a good eight months from another high school football game, but who doesn’t want to eat ribs and talk about the upcoming season? I’m in.

“We are not a typical high school conference,” SFC president John Fraraccio said. “We have different goals and aims through our community partnerships and educational platforms. This is our chance to kind of separate us from others who do what we do.”

The mastermind of the SFC schedule matrix is Westwood athletic director Dan Vivino. Schedules are done in two-year cycles, and yes, teams really won’t see their schedules until Wednesday night. Part of the intrigue of the show is watching coaches faces as they see their schedules live for the first time. Although some of the North Jersey non-public powerhouses will have blanks early in the year for national games to fill in later.

The schedule process starts by finding divisions for all 113 teams, then hearing appeals (there was one this year) from unhappy teams. After the divisions are set, Vivino arranges the schedules, doing his best to balance geography and competitive balance.

Fraraccio called Wednesday night Vivino’s ‘big party’ but Vivino said it’s just something that makes the SFC unique.

“Everyone focuses on the championships and level of competition within the SFC, but what makes the SFC so special are all of the things that we are doing with local charities, scholarships we are providing, as well as relationships we have built with sponsors and partners to provide the best possible experience for our student athletes,” Vivino said. ”The schedule release show provides the SFC with the perfect platform to celebrate all of these wonderful things while introducing our new schedules in a fun and exciting way.”

Ten years ago, North Jersey football was a loose collection of rival conferences. Teams were stuck − in a lot of ways − facing schools that had evolved into football powerhouses, with no way out. The SFC brought that mess together and made it work. No one pines for the BCSL American division. (OK, maybe a few people do.)

Size matters in this case. Bigger is better, because it breeds flexibility. With 113 teams broken into divisions spread across eight counties, no team has no shot. If a team is struggling, well, the SFC can help with that too, by placing you in the Ivy Division (sort of Varsity Lite) for a couple of years to grow.

“The SFC is one of the few - if not the only -- conference in the area that can pull off a schedule release show,” Northern Highlands coach Dave Cord said. “And because of the SFC’s size, we have the ability to create new and competitive match-ups each cycle.”

The SFC has major corporate sponsors. It just presented its Man of the Year Award to River Dell's Liam Boyle on Jan. 2 at MetLife Stadium. The award came with a $5,000 scholarship. There are plans to work closer with media partners, like Garden State Sports, which is broadcasting the schedule release show.

American Dream mall is right in the middle of the SFC's geographic footprint with its massive retail and floor space. Fraraccio talks about an athletic trainer's seminar planned for March and a strength coaches' clinic coming up.

The BCSL American could never…

But the biggest thing on display Wednesday night at the House of ‘Que is the SFC itself. The room holds more than 200 people, all talking about high school football (and eating).

“This one is where it’s fun,” Fraraccio said. “This is our way to separate us from other conferences. It involves the 113 teams and so many other people, because we try to get our teams the best possible match-ups. We want to give our kids the best possible schedule for competitive balance because we want teams winning group championships. That’s important to us as a conference.”

We’re in a world where anything football related dominates the sports news cycle. The schedules are the bait. The SFC is the show.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Super Football Conference: Schedule release show planned for Jan. 10