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Playoff Bracket Projections- Including projected Week 9 results & regional assigments

I'm not really sure what the word "dragged" means, as used in the sentence above. However, given the context I will assume it was meant to be a negative comment. Just as a matter of relevant information, the record of the Upstate Eight conference champion over the last five first-round games is 5-0, with the closest win being by 8 points. It could happen, but I will be very surprised if West Aurora loses its first-round game this year (or gets "dragged" as you would put it).
HEADLINE: West Aurora Avoids Getting "Dragged"

West Aurora wins its opening round playoff game 31 to 21 over Fox Valley opponent. Upstate Eight Conference champions run their opening round winning streak to six games.

Bracket Dark Horses (spoilers)

As true dark horses that have at least a small chance of winning a title, I will go with:

1A - LeRoy (Everyone seems to have Althoff and Lena-Winslow ahead of them, so this should qualify.)
2A - Chicago Christian (They have a difficult path and no playoff pedigree, but their only loss was to 4A Wheaton Academy.)
3A - St. Joseph - Ogden (Although unbeaten, clearly both Byron and Montini would be considerable favorites over them.)
4A - Normal University High School (They are battle tested in the Central State Eight.)
5A - Morgan Park (Forget the Chicago Catholic League, let's go Public League here.)
6A - Geneva (I will stay away from the Flyers as long as possible and go with a DuKane co-champ.)
7A - Downers Grove North (The Trojans regain early-season form and sweep to the title.)
8A - West Aurora (Do you believe in miracles?)

Edit: After posting the picks above, I checked the CalPreps rankings to make sure the teams could reasonably be viewed as dark horses. I believe they all can be viewed that way. Here are the CalPreps rankings within their respective classes:

LeRoy - 3rd
Chicago Christian - 6th
St. Joseph - Ogden - 4th
Normal U-High - 11th
Morgan Park - 7th
Geneva - 3rd
Downers Grove N. - 7th
West Aurora - 18th

All are ranked 3rd or worse, and even where they are as high as 3rd or 4th, they are ranked behind powerhouses such as: Althoff and Lena, Byron and Montini, East St. Louis and Cary-Grove.
So far so good; all the dark horses are through to the second round, even much maligned West Aurora.

Bears

Trestman-Fox-Nagy-Eberflus-???
It's been a tough week for this "in-over-their-head" coaching staff. They are now being exposed. Last two years was expected to be bad.

Put some expectations on them, and they fail miserably. No adjustments made at halftime to stop the run. Outcoached or Bears coaches are clueless.

And lo' and behold, a "bend but don't break" moment that results in three points for Arizona and much-needed time taken off the clock. So predictable.

And another undisciplined penalty that fortunately didn't hurt the Bears.

Another 3 and out?

Round 2 Post any known Game Days and Times here!

8A
LW East @ Minooka FRI 6
Stevenson @ Glenbard East FRI 7
West Aurora @ Maine South SAT 1
Loyola @ Marist SAT 130
Downers Grove South @ Lyons FRI 7
Fremd @ Naperville Central FRI 730
York @ Oswego FRI 630
Barrington @ Warren FRI 730

7A
Whitney Young @ Bradley-Bourb. ????
Hoffman Estates @ LW Central FRI 7
Batavia @ LW West SAT 1
Fenwick @ Downers Grove North SAT 1
Moline @ Quincy FRI 7
Saint Rita @ Willowbrook FRI 7
St.Charles North @ Mount Carmel SAT 5
Prospect @ Normal FRI 7

6A
Antioch @ Cary-Grove SAT 1
Wauconda @ Belvidere North SAT 12
Lake Forest @ Libertyville SAT 1
Burlington Central @ Geneva SAT 6
Normal West @ East St.Louis SAT 2
Glenwood @ Oak Forest SAT 2
Washington @ Richards FRI 7
Bloomington @ Kankakee SAT 2

5A
Sycamore @ Westinghouse (Lane) SAT 1
Prairie Ridge @ Saint Francis SAT 1
Benet @ Rochelle FRI 7
Woodstock North @ Nazareth SAT 1
Morgan Park @ Metamora SAT 2
Highland @ Morris SAT 4
Peoria @ TF North FRI 7
Joliet Catholic @ Sacred Heart Griffin SAT 2

4A
Geneseo @ DePaul Prep SAT 1
Wheaton Academy @ Saint Laurence SAT 1
Coal City @ Rockford Boylan SAT 1
Ag.Science @ Dixon FRI 7
Breese Central @ Murphysboro SAT 3
Peoria Notre Dame @ Mount Zion FRI 7
Richland County @ Normal U-High ????
Cahokia @ Waterloo ????
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Hilltopper Fans!

All.... Game time has been set for Saturday 2PM. Tailgating is encouraged. (at least by me)☺️ Next to the stadium (west side) is a large tree lined grass area where all the fun occurs. Grills, flags pop up tents the works are usually all over that. Before entering this area is small asphalt lot where one can park a rv. They prefer those not on the grass. An entrance is also quite close where you can purchase tickets and get into the stadium

The only possible hitch on all of this is this land is owned by the diocese. The field was torn up last year during the season (rain and ruts) even though they don't use it much. Seeded the grass and it's nice. No rain on Friday but at the moment it looks like morning and afternoon precip for Saturday. I think for this game they will need the area because of limited parking . But if the word comes down it can't be used the secondary tailgate site is directly behind the baseball field next to SHG's main parking lot west campus. Not as "fun" but it is what it is. It will kind of be a wait and see thing as they say. I will try to stay on top of it.

Anyway for you tailgaters and even those that don't many just park on the grass stop by for a meet and greet if you would like. I'm easy to find in the corner (of course!) with the SHG flag flying high.

Lastly adequate seating for visiting team fans shouldn't be a problem. A bit over 2000 and berm seating on grass adjacent to the stands on both sides of the field and beyond the end zone. Field specs actually have the stadium 4600 in seating and another 2000 in standing room only. I have never seen a crowd like that. With possible rain one shouldn't have to arrive early to get a good seat. Safe travels for those making the trip. Ratsy




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