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 standings 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.
The cut-off this week was 2-2, 18 pp.
I pulled Steinmetz, Mather, Schurz, and Foreman out of the playoffs because of the CPS "Chicago" conference rule.
I inserted MoPo, Rolling Meadows, St. Edward, 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.
4 teams out, 4 teams in... real easy!
WAIT......
Two games aren't final yet. I gave Lisle and Pontiac their Monday Night Football victories and adjusted their opponents playoff points. The win earned a spot in the 256 for Pontiac and Lisle, and the playoff point earned a spot for Mahomet-Seymour. Now I have 259 teams.
9 teams were in the original playoff field at 2-2/18 (Gillespie, Carlinville, Piasa SW, East Richland, Rich East, Southeast, Plainfield N, Glenbard N, and Addison Trail) and 26 teams were on the outside.... BIG CLUSTERFUZZ!!! Now I have to remove the 3 lowest teams from the field.
- The next tiebreaker is wins by defeated opponents. Southeast has 2 so they are gone. C'ville, Piasa, E Rich, and Rich E are tied at 3.
- The next tiebreaker is opponents in the playoffs. Carlinville and Piasa SW lose this THANK GOD. E Rich and Rich E are safe, and also make for a confusing little twist on team abbreviations.
The last thing I need to do is balance the classes, and boy was this interesting. Maine South dropped to 7A. Cary-Grove dropped to 6A. They are squarely on the bubble between two classes as of right now. I find that usually the classes get bigger in enrollment as the season continues. Another team on the size bubble is Phillips. They are surprisingly the smallest team in 4A as of this outlook. Could they fall to 3A?
A lot of changes are inevitable too. This 256 doesn't include Providence, Hinsdale South, Sycamore, etc.... And somehow, 9 teams were mistakenly seeded ahead of the greatest team to play since the Bears thrilled the nation with their T-formation. Somebody must be adding this up wrong!
~~~ 8A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#32 Leyden at #1 Loyola
#17 Notre Dame at #16 Brother Rice
#25 Neuqua Valley at #8 Hinsdale Central
#24 Waubonsie Valley at #9 New Trier
#29 Glenbrook South at #4 Conant
#20 Belleville East at #13 Marist
#28 Warren at #5 Barrington
#21 Evanston at #12 Curie
Lower Bracket
#31 Bolingbrook at #2 Oak Park
#18 Naperville Central at #15 Stevenson
#26 South Elgin at #7 Huntley
#23 Oswego at #10 Homewood-Flossmoor
#30 Zion-Benton at #3 Lyons
#19 Glenbard East at #14 Palatine
#27 Minooka at #6 Fremd
#22 Sandburg at #11 Edwardsville
~~~ 7A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#32 Rolling Meadows at #1 Whitney Young
#17 East St. Louis at #16 Eisenhower
#25 St. Patrick at #8 Mount Carmel
#24 Maine South at #9 Hononegah
#29 Plainfield North at #4 Normal
#20 Mundelein at #13 Lincoln Park
#28 Downers North at #5 Bradley-Bourbannais
#21 Reavis at #12 Schaumburg
Lower Bracket
#31 Addison Trail at #2 Glenbard West
#18 Auburn at #15 Benet
#26 Pekin at #7 Jacobs
#23 Hoffman Estates at #10 Harlem
#30 Glenbard North at #3 Batavia
#19 St. Charles North at #14 Lincoln-Way East
#27 Wheaton North at #6 Geneva
#22 Glenbrook North at #11 Libertyville
~~~ 6A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#16 Lake Forest at #1 Cary-Grove
#9 Prairie Ridge #8 Kaneland
#13 St. Ignatius at #4 Vernon Hills
#12 Antioch at #5 Crystal Lake South
#15 Grayslake North at #2 Riverside-Brookfield
#10 Belvidere North at #7 DeKalb
#14 Fenton at #3 Montini
#11 St. Francis at #6 Lemont
Lower Bracket
#16 Morgan Park at #1 Lincoln-Way North
#9 Dunlap at #8 Peoria
#13 Normal West at #4 Peoria Notre Dame
#12 Richards at #5 Lincoln-Way West
#15 TF North at #2 Oak Forest
#10 Crete-Monee at #7 Sacred Heart-Griffin
#14 Galesburg at #3 Thornton
#11 Yorkville at #6 Ottawa
~~~ 5A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#16 Rochelle at #1 Marian Central
#9 Woodstock North #8 Sterling
#13 Payton at #4 Tinley Park
#12 Hyde Payk at #5 St. Laurence
#15 Glenbard South at #2 Solorio Academy
#10 Westinghouse at #7 Nazareth
#14 DuSable at #3 Joliet Catholic
#11 Lindblom at #6 King
Lower Bracket --- QUADS
#8 Rich East at #1 Washington
#5 Morris at #4 Metamora
#7 LaSalle-Peru at #2 Hillcrest
#6 Rich Central at #3 Limestone
#8 Mahomet-Seymour at #1 Triad
#5 Jacksonville at #4 Marion
#7 University at #2 Highland
#6 Champaign Central at #3 Centralia
~~~ 4A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#16 St. Edward at #1 Geneseo
#9 Richmond-Burton #8 Julian
#13 Ag Science at #4 Manteno
#12 Dixon at #5 Marengo
#15 Peotone at #2 Wheaton Academy
#10 Herscher at #7 Rockford Lutheran
#14 Aurora Central Catholic at #3 Phillips
#11 Plano at #6 Johnsburg
Lower Bracket --- QUADS
#8 Pontiac at #1 Rochester
#5 Clinton at #4 Prairie Central
#7 Macomb at #2 Taylorville
#6 Mount Zion at #3 Quincy Notre Dame
#8 Richland County at #1 Civic Memorial
#5 Murphysboro at #4 Herrin
#7 Mater Dei at #2 Althoff Catholic
#6 Harrisburg at #3 Columbia
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.
The cut-off this week was 2-2, 18 pp.
I pulled Steinmetz, Mather, Schurz, and Foreman out of the playoffs because of the CPS "Chicago" conference rule.
I inserted MoPo, Rolling Meadows, St. Edward, 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.
4 teams out, 4 teams in... real easy!
WAIT......
Two games aren't final yet. I gave Lisle and Pontiac their Monday Night Football victories and adjusted their opponents playoff points. The win earned a spot in the 256 for Pontiac and Lisle, and the playoff point earned a spot for Mahomet-Seymour. Now I have 259 teams.
9 teams were in the original playoff field at 2-2/18 (Gillespie, Carlinville, Piasa SW, East Richland, Rich East, Southeast, Plainfield N, Glenbard N, and Addison Trail) and 26 teams were on the outside.... BIG CLUSTERFUZZ!!! Now I have to remove the 3 lowest teams from the field.
- The next tiebreaker is wins by defeated opponents. Southeast has 2 so they are gone. C'ville, Piasa, E Rich, and Rich E are tied at 3.
- The next tiebreaker is opponents in the playoffs. Carlinville and Piasa SW lose this THANK GOD. E Rich and Rich E are safe, and also make for a confusing little twist on team abbreviations.
The last thing I need to do is balance the classes, and boy was this interesting. Maine South dropped to 7A. Cary-Grove dropped to 6A. They are squarely on the bubble between two classes as of right now. I find that usually the classes get bigger in enrollment as the season continues. Another team on the size bubble is Phillips. They are surprisingly the smallest team in 4A as of this outlook. Could they fall to 3A?
A lot of changes are inevitable too. This 256 doesn't include Providence, Hinsdale South, Sycamore, etc.... And somehow, 9 teams were mistakenly seeded ahead of the greatest team to play since the Bears thrilled the nation with their T-formation. Somebody must be adding this up wrong!
~~~ 8A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#32 Leyden at #1 Loyola
#17 Notre Dame at #16 Brother Rice
#25 Neuqua Valley at #8 Hinsdale Central
#24 Waubonsie Valley at #9 New Trier
#29 Glenbrook South at #4 Conant
#20 Belleville East at #13 Marist
#28 Warren at #5 Barrington
#21 Evanston at #12 Curie
Lower Bracket
#31 Bolingbrook at #2 Oak Park
#18 Naperville Central at #15 Stevenson
#26 South Elgin at #7 Huntley
#23 Oswego at #10 Homewood-Flossmoor
#30 Zion-Benton at #3 Lyons
#19 Glenbard East at #14 Palatine
#27 Minooka at #6 Fremd
#22 Sandburg at #11 Edwardsville
~~~ 7A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#32 Rolling Meadows at #1 Whitney Young
#17 East St. Louis at #16 Eisenhower
#25 St. Patrick at #8 Mount Carmel
#24 Maine South at #9 Hononegah
#29 Plainfield North at #4 Normal
#20 Mundelein at #13 Lincoln Park
#28 Downers North at #5 Bradley-Bourbannais
#21 Reavis at #12 Schaumburg
Lower Bracket
#31 Addison Trail at #2 Glenbard West
#18 Auburn at #15 Benet
#26 Pekin at #7 Jacobs
#23 Hoffman Estates at #10 Harlem
#30 Glenbard North at #3 Batavia
#19 St. Charles North at #14 Lincoln-Way East
#27 Wheaton North at #6 Geneva
#22 Glenbrook North at #11 Libertyville
~~~ 6A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#16 Lake Forest at #1 Cary-Grove
#9 Prairie Ridge #8 Kaneland
#13 St. Ignatius at #4 Vernon Hills
#12 Antioch at #5 Crystal Lake South
#15 Grayslake North at #2 Riverside-Brookfield
#10 Belvidere North at #7 DeKalb
#14 Fenton at #3 Montini
#11 St. Francis at #6 Lemont
Lower Bracket
#16 Morgan Park at #1 Lincoln-Way North
#9 Dunlap at #8 Peoria
#13 Normal West at #4 Peoria Notre Dame
#12 Richards at #5 Lincoln-Way West
#15 TF North at #2 Oak Forest
#10 Crete-Monee at #7 Sacred Heart-Griffin
#14 Galesburg at #3 Thornton
#11 Yorkville at #6 Ottawa
~~~ 5A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#16 Rochelle at #1 Marian Central
#9 Woodstock North #8 Sterling
#13 Payton at #4 Tinley Park
#12 Hyde Payk at #5 St. Laurence
#15 Glenbard South at #2 Solorio Academy
#10 Westinghouse at #7 Nazareth
#14 DuSable at #3 Joliet Catholic
#11 Lindblom at #6 King
Lower Bracket --- QUADS
#8 Rich East at #1 Washington
#5 Morris at #4 Metamora
#7 LaSalle-Peru at #2 Hillcrest
#6 Rich Central at #3 Limestone
#8 Mahomet-Seymour at #1 Triad
#5 Jacksonville at #4 Marion
#7 University at #2 Highland
#6 Champaign Central at #3 Centralia
~~~ 4A ~~~
Upper Bracket
#16 St. Edward at #1 Geneseo
#9 Richmond-Burton #8 Julian
#13 Ag Science at #4 Manteno
#12 Dixon at #5 Marengo
#15 Peotone at #2 Wheaton Academy
#10 Herscher at #7 Rockford Lutheran
#14 Aurora Central Catholic at #3 Phillips
#11 Plano at #6 Johnsburg
Lower Bracket --- QUADS
#8 Pontiac at #1 Rochester
#5 Clinton at #4 Prairie Central
#7 Macomb at #2 Taylorville
#6 Mount Zion at #3 Quincy Notre Dame
#8 Richland County at #1 Civic Memorial
#5 Murphysboro at #4 Herrin
#7 Mater Dei at #2 Althoff Catholic
#6 Harrisburg at #3 Columbia