8A - Loyola - With nine state championships since the IHSA went to eight classes 16 years ago, the Chicago Catholic Blue is arguably the best large-school conference in the state; and Loyola dominated the conference this year.
7A - Lake Zurich - As good a season as Batavia has had, they did not win their conference championship. Winning the state championship is too much to ask.
6A - Nazareth - Cary-Grove played Prairie Ridge tough two times this year, while also losing to first-round losers Huntley and South Elgin. Nazareth squeaks by in the upset.
5A - Phillips - If Sterling couldn't stop them with the home field, Dunlap isn't going to stop them in DeKalb.
4A - Rochester - Six state championships in seven years. Enough said.
3A - Immaculate Conception - Pleasant Plains finished fourth in the Sangamo Conference.
2A - Maroa-Forsyth - The Heart of Illinois Conference, in which Gibson City plays, hasn't won a state football championship in a very long time.
1A - Lena-Winslow - Five teams have won 10 state championships from the Northwest Upstate Conference over the last 16 years, including two by Lena-Winslow.