For the newbies, every Monday I bracket the 256 playoff teams using the IHSA Playoff Outlook. This is NOT a prediction. These are NOT my opinions. It is simply the most logical way the playoffs would be bracketed, using the IHSA's specific system, if today's standing were the final standings.
Each week I usually have to add/subtract teams to get a true 256. The Outlook doesn't adjust for the teams ineligible for the playoffs from the CPS "Chicago" conferences (teams who finish 3rd place and lower). The Outlook doesn't adjust for a conference champion falling below the cutoff. I take care of all that before proceeding.
Is this a huge waste of time? Yes. But some people seem to like it, and I like bracketing things, so I'll waste some time on the next 6 Mondays for the enjoyment of Edgy's minions. Where you can find some value is in the cutoff for each class, the north/south line between brackets in 1A thru 6A, and how some teams relate to others in terms of playoff points. For example, Glenbard West was a 7A team for a decade. But their ascension to 8A in 2014 should not have been a big surprise because I was showing you they would likely end up in 8A for over a month.
Anyways.....
I don't want to get too detailed for the first Playoff Outlook. I pulled Taft and Schurz out of the playoffs because of the CPS "Chicago" conference rule. I inserted Payton, Julian, Curie, Oblong, and Leyden into the playoffs because their conference had zero qualifiers per the Outlook. I simply chose the top team listed by record and playoff points. That left us with 259 teams. South Fulton Coop is the only team at 2-1, 10 pp.... THEY GONE. Down to 258. Prospect, Benton, North Fulton Coop, and Greenfield Northwestern are the bottom four of the 258 teams, tied at 2-1 w/ 11 playoff points, and a second tie-breaker of 0 wins by defeated opponents. The two Coop teams in 1A won MY week 3 tie-breaker of eeny-meeny-meiny-moe, so Prospect and Benton are out. I'll use all the official IHSA tie-breakers in two weeks when the standings are a bit more forgiving. From there, I adjust teams up and down into the proper classes to create 8 classes of 32 teams.
Still, despite this lengthy explanation for the 11th year in a row, one particular local buffoon will be asking how the hell H-F is not the top seed in 8A. UGH!!!
Next week you get 8A thru 4A, and I continue to add a class each week until week 8. For week 9, I give you the final projection with team nicknames, so look forward to that.
~~~ 8A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#32 Curie at #1 Loyola
#17 Waubonsie at #16 Bolingbrook
#25 Bartlett at #8 Naperville North
#24 Marist at #9 St. Charles East
#29 Bloom at #4 Homewood-Flossmoor
#20 Stevenson at #13 Oak Park
#28 Plainfield South at #5 Hinsdale Central
#21 Fremd at #12 Oswego
Lower Bracket
#31 Leyden at #2 Brother Rice
#18 Lincoln-Way East at #15 West Aurora
#26 Zion-Benton at #7 Palatine
#23 Notre Dame at #10 Neuqua Valley
#30 New Trier at #3 Barrington
#19 Huntley at #14 Evanston
#27 Minooka at #6 Lockport
#22 Lake Park at #11 Lyons
~~~ 7A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#32 Wheaton North at #1 Fenwick
#17 St. Rita at #16 Schaumburg
#25 Lake Zurich at #8 Bradley-Bourbannais
#24 Glenbard North at #9 Lincoln Park
#29 Hononegah at #4 Lincoln-Way West
#20 Mount Carmel at #13 East St. Louis
#28 Jacobs at #5 St. Charles North
#21 Lincoln-Way at #12 Oswego East
Lower Bracket
#31 Plainfield East at #2 Glenbard West
#18 Maine West at #15 Rolling Meadows
#26 Libertyville at #7 Highland Park
#23 Normal at #10 St. Patrick
#30 Plainfield North at #3 Glenbrook North
#19 Pekin at #14 Edwardsville
#27 McHenry at #6 Batavia
#22 Benet at #11 Harlem
~~~ 6A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#16 Grayslake North at #1 Riverside-Brookfield
#9 St. Viator #8 De La Salle
#13 Deerfield at #4 Marmion
#12 Crystal Lake Central at #5 Boylan Catholic
#15 Hampshire at #2 Hoffman Estates
#10 DeKalb at #7 St. Ignatius
#14 Auburn at #3 Prairie Ridge
#11 Cary-Grove at #6 Mather
Lower Bracket
#16 Hubbard at #1 Lemont
#9 TF South at #8 Oak Forest
#13 Kenwood at #4 Danville
#12 Glenwood at #5 Galesburg
#15 Perspectivess at #2 Sacred Heart-Griffin
#10 Thornwood at #7 St. Laurence
#14 Springfield at #3 Shepard
#11 Reavis at #6 Bremen
~~~ 5A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#16 Walter Payton at #1 Sterling
#9 Woodstock #8 Vernon Hills
#13 Solorio Academy at #4 Westinghouse
#12 Marian Central at #5 Goode Academy
#15 CVS at #2 Woodstock North
#10 Nazareth at #7 Kaneland
#14 Evergreen Park at #3 Antioch
#11 Belvidere at #6 Rochelle
Lower Bracket
#16 Cahokia at #1 Morris
#9 Centralia #8 Thornridge
#13 Highland at #4 Limestone
#12 Washington at #5 Dec Eisenhower
#15 Tinley Park at #2 Morgan Park
#10 Peo Notre Dame at #7 Metamora
#14 Hillcrest at #3 Peoria
#11 Waterloo at #6 Triad
Each week I usually have to add/subtract teams to get a true 256. The Outlook doesn't adjust for the teams ineligible for the playoffs from the CPS "Chicago" conferences (teams who finish 3rd place and lower). The Outlook doesn't adjust for a conference champion falling below the cutoff. I take care of all that before proceeding.
Is this a huge waste of time? Yes. But some people seem to like it, and I like bracketing things, so I'll waste some time on the next 6 Mondays for the enjoyment of Edgy's minions. Where you can find some value is in the cutoff for each class, the north/south line between brackets in 1A thru 6A, and how some teams relate to others in terms of playoff points. For example, Glenbard West was a 7A team for a decade. But their ascension to 8A in 2014 should not have been a big surprise because I was showing you they would likely end up in 8A for over a month.
Anyways.....
I don't want to get too detailed for the first Playoff Outlook. I pulled Taft and Schurz out of the playoffs because of the CPS "Chicago" conference rule. I inserted Payton, Julian, Curie, Oblong, and Leyden into the playoffs because their conference had zero qualifiers per the Outlook. I simply chose the top team listed by record and playoff points. That left us with 259 teams. South Fulton Coop is the only team at 2-1, 10 pp.... THEY GONE. Down to 258. Prospect, Benton, North Fulton Coop, and Greenfield Northwestern are the bottom four of the 258 teams, tied at 2-1 w/ 11 playoff points, and a second tie-breaker of 0 wins by defeated opponents. The two Coop teams in 1A won MY week 3 tie-breaker of eeny-meeny-meiny-moe, so Prospect and Benton are out. I'll use all the official IHSA tie-breakers in two weeks when the standings are a bit more forgiving. From there, I adjust teams up and down into the proper classes to create 8 classes of 32 teams.
Still, despite this lengthy explanation for the 11th year in a row, one particular local buffoon will be asking how the hell H-F is not the top seed in 8A. UGH!!!
Next week you get 8A thru 4A, and I continue to add a class each week until week 8. For week 9, I give you the final projection with team nicknames, so look forward to that.
~~~ 8A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#32 Curie at #1 Loyola
#17 Waubonsie at #16 Bolingbrook
#25 Bartlett at #8 Naperville North
#24 Marist at #9 St. Charles East
#29 Bloom at #4 Homewood-Flossmoor
#20 Stevenson at #13 Oak Park
#28 Plainfield South at #5 Hinsdale Central
#21 Fremd at #12 Oswego
Lower Bracket
#31 Leyden at #2 Brother Rice
#18 Lincoln-Way East at #15 West Aurora
#26 Zion-Benton at #7 Palatine
#23 Notre Dame at #10 Neuqua Valley
#30 New Trier at #3 Barrington
#19 Huntley at #14 Evanston
#27 Minooka at #6 Lockport
#22 Lake Park at #11 Lyons
~~~ 7A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#32 Wheaton North at #1 Fenwick
#17 St. Rita at #16 Schaumburg
#25 Lake Zurich at #8 Bradley-Bourbannais
#24 Glenbard North at #9 Lincoln Park
#29 Hononegah at #4 Lincoln-Way West
#20 Mount Carmel at #13 East St. Louis
#28 Jacobs at #5 St. Charles North
#21 Lincoln-Way at #12 Oswego East
Lower Bracket
#31 Plainfield East at #2 Glenbard West
#18 Maine West at #15 Rolling Meadows
#26 Libertyville at #7 Highland Park
#23 Normal at #10 St. Patrick
#30 Plainfield North at #3 Glenbrook North
#19 Pekin at #14 Edwardsville
#27 McHenry at #6 Batavia
#22 Benet at #11 Harlem
~~~ 6A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#16 Grayslake North at #1 Riverside-Brookfield
#9 St. Viator #8 De La Salle
#13 Deerfield at #4 Marmion
#12 Crystal Lake Central at #5 Boylan Catholic
#15 Hampshire at #2 Hoffman Estates
#10 DeKalb at #7 St. Ignatius
#14 Auburn at #3 Prairie Ridge
#11 Cary-Grove at #6 Mather
Lower Bracket
#16 Hubbard at #1 Lemont
#9 TF South at #8 Oak Forest
#13 Kenwood at #4 Danville
#12 Glenwood at #5 Galesburg
#15 Perspectivess at #2 Sacred Heart-Griffin
#10 Thornwood at #7 St. Laurence
#14 Springfield at #3 Shepard
#11 Reavis at #6 Bremen
~~~ 5A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#16 Walter Payton at #1 Sterling
#9 Woodstock #8 Vernon Hills
#13 Solorio Academy at #4 Westinghouse
#12 Marian Central at #5 Goode Academy
#15 CVS at #2 Woodstock North
#10 Nazareth at #7 Kaneland
#14 Evergreen Park at #3 Antioch
#11 Belvidere at #6 Rochelle
Lower Bracket
#16 Cahokia at #1 Morris
#9 Centralia #8 Thornridge
#13 Highland at #4 Limestone
#12 Washington at #5 Dec Eisenhower
#15 Tinley Park at #2 Morgan Park
#10 Peo Notre Dame at #7 Metamora
#14 Hillcrest at #3 Peoria
#11 Waterloo at #6 Triad
