Loyola, the three-time defending Class 8A state champs, had to wait around all day on Saturday and see how the playoff points fell.
The Ramblers lost at home to Mount Carmel on Friday and wound up with a 4-4 regular-season record. Five games generally guarantee a playoff spot. Loyola couldn’t find a Week 2 opponent, so it played just eight games.
The Ramblers managed to sneak into the field of 256 teams announced Saturday evening and will travel to Mount Carmel in the Class 8A first round. It’s a titanic matchup between Catholic League rivals that have combined to win the last three Class 8A and Class 7A titles.
Five teams with four wins wound up qualifying for the playoffs: Loyola, UP-Bronzeville, Edwardsville, Joliet Catholic and Shepard.
The top half of the Class 8A bracket is loaded with the three preseason favorites: Loyola, Mount Carmel and Lincoln-Way East.
It’s uncertain if Griffins quarterback Jonas Williams will play in the playoffs. The USC recruit missed Lincoln-Way East’s last two games with an ankle injury.
Fremd, with Northwestern recruit Johnny O’Brien at quarterback, is favored to advance to the semifinals against Mount Carmel.
The way the bracket fell in Class 8A was kind to Maine South. The Hawks have steadily improved all season and are heavy favorites all the way to a possible championship matchup against Mount Carmel.
Wide-open Class 7A
While a handful of heavyweights could dominate the Class 8A bracket, Class 7A is wide open.
Brother Rice is the favorite and has a fortunate road through the first two rounds. But things get very tough for the Crusaders after that, with any of five Super 25 teams looming in the quarterfinals and semifinals including Carmel, St. Charles North, Downers Grove North, Lincoln-Way West and Glenbard West.
Batavia, in the top half of the Class 7A bracket, avoided the logjam of Super 25 teams. The Bulldogs would only have to knock off one ranked squad, Hersey or Lincoln-Way Central, to get to the title game.
East St. Louis an 8-seed?
The Illinois High School Association seeds the tournament strictly on records and breaks ties with a coin flip. That’s how mighty East St. Louis, a team several schools wanted to avoid so badly that they opted to play up in Class 7A, wound up with the No. 8 seed in Class 6A.
The Flyers are 6-3 after losing to IMG Academy, a powerhouse national prep school, 38-14 on Saturday. Their other losses are to Bergen Catholic, N.J. and Bishop Gorman, Nev. No team from Illinois has come within 40 points of East St. Louis.
The Flyers may wind up traveling to Joliet Catholic for a second-round matchup.
Coaches all over the area are coming around on the idea of adding more teams to the state playoffs. It likely won’t be long until that happens. Ideally, that will come with a new seeding system.
I don’t understand what the rush is to get the playoff brackets out a few hours after the regular season finishes up. The IHSA would be wise to take a day and let the coaches in each class seed the field. Then reveal a true, sensibly seeded state playoff bracket on Sunday or Monday.