Lol can't wait for the DC to show up on the boards again.
Strictly a non-fact driven view, but I actually think you are wrong and that the Antioch people were very satisfied with how the playoff bracket worked out this year. Next year? Well, we shall see.
First, note that while Antioch played 5A last year, got just annihilated by a private school in the second round of the playoffs, and then petitioned up to play 6A this season and next season, the Sequoits wound up in 6A this year based on their own enrollment so the playing-up request for this year was not needed. Next year, we shall see.
Anyway, given that by playing 6A, Antioch knew they have a zero chance of winning a state title and barely a non-zero chance of playoff advancement based on a nearby perennial state power from the Fox Valley Conference, plus other 6A powers such as the Geneva team that just accorded themselves very well at ISU on Saturday.
The point of that is Antioch clearly did not prefer 6A or 5A because it gave the Sequoits a better chance to be playing at ISU.
What it DID do was pretty much assure that when the Sequoits were soundly beaten in the playoffs, that it was a loss to a superior public school which obviously Antioch feels it can compete against on an equal basis ... not equal in terms of being just as good as the public school opponent but that the opponent and Antioch are playing by the same set of rules.
The Sequoits certainly seem to feel that private schools have an advantage in football based on how the IHSA rules are applied.
In other words, Antioch I assume would rather get taken out by a superior public school program that plays harder, plays smarter and coaches better, than by a private school that has what appears to be built-in advantages that public schools at Antioich's level of commitment can't match.
This year, it was obvious all season that the powerhouse Chicago Catholic League/East Suburban Catholic league was not going to have much of a presence in the 6A bracket but was going to be loaded at the 5A bracket.
Given that observation, I submit that it's the reason Antioch preferred playing 6A both this year and next.
That said, I have read on Edgy's forum that because of some CCL/ESCC schools adding an IHSA-imposed multiplier or even maybe two multipliers, and also that some CCL/ESCC schools will be losing their enrollment multiplier, that it's possible that the 6A football bracket next November will have significant private-school participation.
That, of course, defeats the purpose of Antioch petitioning to play 6A.
Then again, with the way this year's state-title game played out on Friday, maybe there will be a completely different set of multipliers to deal with next fall.
