Visitors to the Verona High School gymnasium this week might have noticed something missing above the bleachers along the east wall of the gymnasium.

The Badger Conference banners -- one for each of the other 13 schools in the northern and southern divisions -- have been removed to make way for new ones for the Big Eight Conference, the Wildcats' new conference home beginning this fall.

Conference realignment will be a hot topic this fall as several area schools switch affiliations.

 Not only will Verona join the Big Eight, but McFarland will join the Rock Valley Conference along with East Troy, Jefferson and Whitewater (from the Southern Lakes). Fort Atkinson and Milton come in from the Southern Lakes to replace McFarland and Verona in the Southern Badger while the other two Southern Lakes schools -- Delavan-Darien and Elkhorn -- leave the Wisconsin State Journal coverage area for what had been the Lakeshore Conference in a new-look Southern Lakes.

 Also, Johnson Creek and Randolph will switch divisions of the Trailways Conference for football. The Trailways will also break into three divisions for basketball this winter.

 Here is how the changing conferences will look for football this fall: