Bracket Dark Horses (spoilers)

[MMA_Det]

Every year a team with a few losses gells right before the playoffs and makes an incredible run.

Who in your opinion has the potential to be currently under the radar bit with the potential to win state this year.

8A Edwardsville
7A St Charles North
6A Libertyville

 

[Alexander32]

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.

 

[ODirty1]

not quite a dark horse but Sycamore seems over looked

 

[SiuCubFan8]

not quite a dark horse but Sycamore seems over looked

I agree, I have been looking ahead at that game for SF (I can cause I am a fan) and it scares the crap out of me.

 

[all4theillini]

not quite a dark horse but Sycamore seems over looked

I’d love to see another original Little Seven team get a ring.

 

[kpjasion]

I'll have to agree with Mike O'Brien in 8A:

Previewing and predicting the Class 8A state football playoffs

Who will win that possible Loyola vs. Lincoln-Way East semifinal and what is the likely title-game matchup?

chicago.suntimes.com

 

[forlouann]

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.

Thanks for the shout out for Chicago Christian . Yes, we do have a tough road ahead, but this team is ready . Let's see what happens