With over half the regular season in the books, it’s becoming a lot clearer which teams are headed toward the top seed lines in most of the classes.

There are still some things to be decided but for the most part barring something extreme who will likely land on the top or near the top of most of the classifications is well on its way to be decided.

What hasn’t been decided is what might happen in who is going to round out the field. Every week has a number of games that are going to decide teams that after that result have a reasonable path to five wins and those who don’t.

And to be completely honest, many of those games, could go either way.

This week there were several games that fit that profile and there were also several games that went the opposite way that the projection leaned to.

It happens. Consider Forreston’s win over Galena, where the Cardinals stopped a two-point conversion with no time left that spared the game going into overtime.

Galena had a clear path to at least five wins before the game and still does. Forreston’s, however, went from pretty murky to somewhat likely.

And since a spot had to be created for Forreston in the Class 1A draw, that led to a switch that would ultimately affect all eight classes and switch the bubble line for all of them.

Other games also fit this mold. Pekin dropped three of its first four games of the regular season and seemed to have two games remaining on its Mid-Illini Conference schedule that were going to be games that were going to be troublesome. But they edged out Morton (one of those two games) in Week 5. That win for Pekin coupled with the fact that the loss while it will drop Morton some seed placement it won’t likely lead to them missing the field. So once again, Pekin’s addition wasn’t simply a swap out, it was one that required a field spot to be created for them, this time in the 6A field.

Some other games went in the other direction where a team that seemed on a path to five wins experienced an unexpected loss that makes getting to five wins a lot less likely than it was a week ago.

There were even more of them than surprise success stories, hence, a whopping 10 4-5 teams were needed to be added to the field to get to 256 teams.

And while the battles between two undefeated teams are getting deserved attention as the season moves along, the ones that will ultimately decide how this field is ultimately put together come from the group of teams that may already have three or even four losses already.

Here is the Week 5 playoff projection for all eight classes:

Class 1A

Teams on the bubble between 1A/2A (from closest to bubble to farthest): Deer Creek-Mackinaw, Cumberland, Arthur, Momence, Newman Central Catholic,

Class 2A

Teams on the bubble between 1A/2A (from closest to bubble to farthest): Deer Creek-Mackinaw, Cumberland, Arthur, Momence, Newman Central Catholic,

Teams on the bubble between 2A/1A (from closest to bubble to farthest): Chicago Richards, Sullivan, Chester, Riverdale, Mendon Unity.

Teams on the bubble between 2A/3A (from closest to bubble to farthest): Vandalia, Wilmington, Pana, Elmwood, DuQuoin.

Class 3A

Teams on the bubble between 2A/3A (from closest to bubble to farthest): Vandalia, Wilmington, Pana, Elmwood, DuQuoin.

Teams on the bubble between 3A/2A (from closest to bubble to farthest): West Frankfort, Stillman Valley, Aurora Central Catholic, Hillsboro, Oregon.

Teams on the bubble between 3A/4A (from closest to the bubble to farthest): Bishop McNamara, Noble/Rauner, Manteno, IC Catholic, Paris.

Class 4A

Teams on the bubble between 3A/4A (from closest to the bubble to farthest): Bishop McNamara, Noble/Rauner, Manteno, IC Catholic, Paris.

Teams on the bubble between 4A/3A (from closest to the bubble to farthest): South Shore, Benton, Columbia, Macomb, Alton Marquette.

Teams on the bubble between 4A/5A (from closest to the bubble to farthest): Normal University, Decatur MacArthur, Woodstock, Sterling, Woodstock North.

Class 5A

Teams on the bubble between 4A/5A (from closest to the bubble to farthest): Normal University, Decatur MacArthur, Woodstock, Sterling, Woodstock North.

Teams on the bubble between 5A/4A (from closest to the bubble to farthest): Corliss, Mahomet-Seymour, Noble/Bulls, Marion, Morton.

Teams on the bubble between 5A/6A (from closest to the bubble to farthest): Glenwood, Dunlap, Wauconda, Champaign Centennial, Washington.

Class 6A

Teams on the bubble between 5A/6A (from closest to the bubble to farthest): Glenwood, Dunlap, Wauconda, Champaign Centennial, Washington.

Teams on the bubble between 6A/5A (from closest to the bubble to farthest): Crete-Monee, Normal West, Kennedy, Burlington Central, Goode.

Teams on the bubble between 6A/7A (from closest to the bubble to farthest): Carmel, East Moline United, Harlem, Wheaton Warrenville South, Bradley-Bourbonnais.

Class 7A

Teams on the bubble between 6A/7A (from closest to the bubble to farthest): Carmel, East Moline United, Harlem, Wheaton Warrenville South, Bradley-Bourbonnais.

Teams on the bubble between 7A/6A (from closest to the bubble to farthest): Addison Trail, St. Charles North, Reavis, Willowbrook, Kenwood.

Teams on the bubble between 7A/8A (from closest to the bubble to farthest): Belleville East, Edwardsville, Schaumburg, Glenbard West, Glenbard East.

Class 8A

Teams on the bubble between 7A/8A (from closest to the bubble to farthest): Belleville East, Edwardsville, Schaumburg, Glenbard West, Glenbard East.

Teams on the bubble between 8A/7A (from closest to the bubble to farthest): Elgin. Hinsdale Central, Maine South, Marist, Palatine.