What you need to know ahead of the IHSA football playoffs selections for 2022
On Saturday night, the 256 high school football teams in the 2022 Illinois state playoffs — 68 conference champions and 188 at-large teams — know who and where they play to open the postseason.
But you have questions.
We have answers.
Here is a look at some of the frequently asked questions about the Illinois High School Association playoffs and how the eight-class field is set.
Who's already in the IHSA football playoffs?
Heading into Week 9, there are 222 teams with five or more wins. Officially, as of Friday morning, a total of 148 teams have earned berths via conference championships or by winning six or more games. The final 108 playoff teams will be those who win their sixth game this weekend and the remaining five-win teams with the highest playoff points. If there are still open spots after five-win teams are in, the four-win teams with the highest number of playoff points complete the field.
What are IHSA playoff points?
Add the number of victories by the nine teams on your schedule: those are your playoff points. The higher the number, the tougher the schedule and the more likely a team with fewer than six wins makes the field. They also help determine seeds within a class.
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How many IHSA playoff points does a team need?
If history is any indication, between 35 and 37 points gets a five-win team in the field; last season, it was 34. That might change this season with the impact of programs dropping to 8-player football or the possible inclusion of four-win teams, which would need a much higher playoff point total to qualify.
Teams with losing records could get in?
Yep. For the first time since the IHSA expanded to eight classes in 2001, the field of 256 could include at-large teams with four wins. This is largely because of the dwindling number of programs caused by schools combining to join co-ops or programs shifting from 11-player to 8-player football. Heading into Week 9, IHSA bracketologist Steve Soucie of Friday Night Drive projects three four-win teams to earn at-large berths.
How do we know who is in each class?
First, forget everything about polls or playoff outlooks. A school's in-season classification is strictly a guideline and has no bearing on its postseason class. The IHSA will take the 256 teams that qualify and place them in order of football enrollment (including non-boundaried multipliers, teams playing up and success adjustments). The 32 qualifiers with the lowest enrollments will make up Class 1A, the 32 with the next highest will be 2A, and so on, through all eight classes.
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What are 'playing up' and 'success adjustment'?
Programs have the option to “play up” into a larger class than their enrollment dictates, an option exercised this season by four schools: Elmhurst Immaculate Conception (3A), Joliet Catholic (4A), East St. Louis (6A) and Wilmette Loyola Academy (8A).
For the second straight season, no programs were bumped up a class by the “success adjustment" after three were bumped in 2019. There was no IHSA postseason in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
How are the pairings determined?
For the six smallest classes (1A through 6A), the IHSA will divide each 32-team field into 16-team halves based on geography. Seeds within each half are based on: 1) wins, 2) wins by opponents, 3) wins of defeated opponents. Ties are broken based on: 1) head-to-head results, 2) random selection by computer. Teams will be paired 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, and so on. Class 7A and 8A will be fully seeded as 32-team fields (1 vs. 32, 2 vs. 31, etc.)
Who gets to host playoff games?
In the first round, the better seed is host. In subsequent rounds the team that has hosted fewer times during the current playoffs series is host. If both have hosted an equal number of times, host site defers back to the better seed.
When are Illinois high school football playoff games?
First-round games are the weekend of Oct. 28-29. Playoff games must be played on Saturday unless both schools agree to play on Friday. Friday games must not be scheduled during school hours and Saturday games must start between 1-7 p.m. The schools must agree on the starting time of the game; if not, the IHSA will set kickoff time.
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How can I watch the IHSA playoff pairings show?
The IHSA football pairings show will air live from 8-9 p.m. Saturday through the IHSA TV Network. In Peoria, that's WEEK's CW (channel 25.3). In Springfield, that's WCIX's MyTV (channel 49.1). In Rockford, that's WREX's ME TV (channel 13.3). IHSA TV announcer Dave Bernhard and Matt Rodewald will reveal the first-round matchups.
Pre- and post-pairings shows will also be available on the NFHS Network. The preview show will feature WRMJ’s Jim Taylor, “Edgy” Tim O’Halloran of EdgyTim.com and bracketologist Steve Soucie of Friday Night Drive. The show will stream on the NFHS Network from 7:30-8 p.m. and return for a breakdown from 9-10 p.m.
Where are Illinois state title football games?
At Memorial Stadium in Champaign. The 1A through 4A title games will be on Friday, Nov. 25. The four largest class title games will be on Saturday, Nov. 26.
Wes Huett is Journal Star sports editor. Email him at whuett@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @WesHuett.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA football playoffs: Guide to Illinois high school bracket picks
