March 28, 2024
Analysis | Friday Night Drive


Analysis

Round 1 playoff picks for all 8 classes

Lincoln-Way East's Jack Baltz tires to escape Bolingbrook's defense on Friday at Lincoln-Way East in Frankfort.

There are 128 opening-round playoff games in Illinois this weekend.

And I’ve got an opinion on all of them. Here’s a class-by-class prediction of what could happen in Round 1, but probably won’t.

Class 8A

Lincoln-Way East is no doubt the beast that everyone is trying to slay. That’s not going to be an easy task. But seeing who advances to take those shots at the overwhelming favorite is going to be fascinating to watch. No team is infallible, however, a quick glance to last year reminds you that the Griffins nearly lost in the second round to the same team they open with this year.

• Brother Rice over Zion-Benton

• Oak Park-River Forest over New Trier

• Gurnee Warren over Neuqua Valley

• Hinsdale Central over Conant

• Homewood-Flossmoor over Fremd

• Barrington over Oswego East

• Marist over Stevenson

• Naperville Central over Plainfield South

• Lincoln-Way East over St. Charles East

• Glenbard West over Bartlett

• Aurora West over South Elgin

• Edwardsville over Evanston

• Oswego over Chicago Taft

• Loyola over Minooka

• Maine South over Huntley

• Bolingbrook over Waubonsie Valley

Class 7A

The Class 7A field is full of dangerous teams not on top seed lines. But that’s not to discount several other teams that are. Defending champ Batavia will have to go through a minefield of teams looking to pick them off in order to repeat, and is this the year for top seeded Simeon to finally break through?

• Chicago Simeon over Rockford East

• Lincoln-Way West over Machesney Park Harlem

• Nazareth over Andrew

• Hersey over Lincoln-Way Central

• Batavia over Granite City

• Moline over Glenbrook North

• Willowbrook over Chicago Lincoln Park

• Benet over Maine West

• Glenbard East over Prospect

• East St. Louis over Hoffman Estates

• Mount Carmel over T.F. South

• DeKalb over Lake Zurich

• Hononegah over Buffalo Grove

• Wheaton Warrenville South over Belleville West

• Rolling Meadows over Alton

• Normal Community over St. Charles North

Class 6A

Of all of the eight classes, none was affected more by the enrollment shifts this season. Washington, the state’s top ranked team in Class 5A all season, shifted into this classification while other strong teams such as Antioch and Lemont also found their way into the 6A field after most of their previous postseason visits were in 5A.

• Cary-Grove over Wauconda

• Kaneland over Chicago Von Steuben

• Chicago Phillips over Lake Forest

• Prairie Ridge over Hinsdale South

• Antioch over Reavis

• Lakes over Belvidere North

• Crystal Lake South over Chicago Kenwood

• Niles Notre Dame over St. Ignatius

• Oak Lawn Richards over Rock Island

• Yorkville over Dunlap

• Normal West over Peoria Notre Dame

• Springfield over Shepard

• Washington over Providence Catholic

• Sacred Heart Griffin over Quincy

• Glenwood over Lemont

• Crete-Monee over Bloomington

Class 5A

This class always seems to be collectively thin, and that hasn’t changed, but unlike other classes where the addition of a team that has had a multiplier removed, this class has been bolstered by a team, Montini, that had its success factor removed. The Broncos are the odds-on favorite to win 5A.

• Chicago Payton over Evergreen Park

• Elmwood Park over Chicago Back of the Yards

• Montini over Woodstock North

• Sycamore over Rochelle

• Sterling over Chicago Phoenix

• Chicago Brooks over Chicago Hyde Park

• Rockford Boylan over Glenbard South

• Wheaton St. Francis over Chicago Amundsen

• Hillcrest over Jerseyville

• Decatur MacArthur over Morton

• Cahokia over Mount Zion

• Champaign Centennial over Carbondale

• Highland over Rich Central

• Mascoutah over Mattoon

• Joliet Catholic over Metamora

• Marion over Rich East

Class 4A

In a class that has been dominated by Rochester in recent years, things may be a little more interesting this time around. IC Catholic looks to be a serious challenger to the Rockets, while Bishop McNamara shouldn’t be ignored as a threat.

• IC Catholic over Chicago Raby

• Stillman Valley over Dixon

• St. Edward over Chicago Urban Prep/Bronzeville

• Marengo over Chicago Sullivan

• Coal City over Wheaton Academy

• Johnsburg over Chicago Agricultural Science

• Richmond-Burton over Plano

• Genoa-Kingston over Chicago Clemente

• Taylorville over Illinois Valley Central

• Freeburg over Columbia

• Rochester over Breese Central

• Herrin over Pontiac

• Paris over Salem

• Breese Mater Dei over Effingham

• Bishop McNamara over Richland County

• Murphysboro over Prairie Central

Class 3A

There doesn’t appear to be a class that is more wide open than Class 3A. With two-time defending champion IC Catholic Prep moving up to the 4A field because of the success formula, the road to the championship has been cleared considerably.

• Byron over Rock Island Alleman

• Princeton over Elmwood-Brimfield

• Lisle over Dwight

• North Boone over Mid-County

• Herscher over Chicago Dunbar

• Hall over Chicago Clark

• Eureka over Chicago Urban Prep-Englewood

• Wilmington over Monmouth-Roseville

• Monticello over St. Joseph-Ogden

• Anna-Jonesboro over West Frankfort

• Farmington over Greenville

• Pleasant Plains over Beardstown

• Carlinville over East Alton-Wood River

• Vandalia over Paxton

• Fairfield over Newton

• Williamsville over DuQuoin

Class 2A

An overwhelming amount of quality teams litter this 32-team field. Six undefeated teams top the seeds, but the strength possessed by a number of quality one-loss teams should not be ignored.

• Gibson City-Melvin Sibley over Watseka

• Hope Academy over Knoxville

• Illini West over Mercer County

• Newman Central Catholic over Rockford Christian

• Orion over Fieldcrest

• Clifton Central over Rockridge

• Eastland-Pearl City over Chicago Harlan

• Chicago Christian over Chicago Collins

• St. Teresa over Staunton

• Athens over Eldorado

• Pana over Oakwood

• Tri-Valley over Nashville

• Maroa-Forsyth over Jacksonville Routt

• Warrensburg-Latham over Chester

• Tuscola over Villa Grove

• Bismarck-Henning over West Hancock

Class 1A

This class is defined by a number of teams that aren’t here. Numerous potential title threats were bumped up into Class 2A which leaves the usual suspects many of which come from the Northwest Illini Upstate Conference as the leading candidates to reach the state finals.

• Princeville over Polo

• Aurora Christian over Annawan-Wethersfield

• Lena-Winslow over Lewistown

• LeRoy over Chicago Orr

• Ottawa Marquette over Orangeville

• Dakota over Stockton

• Milledgeville over Fulton

• Forreston over Kirkland Hiawatha

• Argenta-Oreana over Cerro Gordo

• Fisher over Cumberland

• Red Hill over Moweaqua Central A&M

• Edwards County over Madison

• Camp Point Central over Greenfield

• Carrollton over Sesser-Valier

• Concord Triopia over Georgetown-Ridge Farm

• Arcola over Salt Fork