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Wow. Another very odd week. We had several teams in the larger classifications either collect upset wins to get into the field, which bumped some teams out of the field also mostly from larger classifications. As a result, there was about a four team shift from the upper classifications that bulged out to about seven teams in the middle and stabilized with the small schools. This usually happens in the opposite direction. One thing to keep in mind, several of the teams on the point fence come from 7A and 8A. These are the teams most likely to get in with upset losses to teams I believe are somewhat secure.
I had 270 teams eligible to make the field. That's up two teams from last week. This isn't all that surprising of a number.
The point cutoff stayed where I had it last week. I believe 38's are in trouble, and some 39's might be in danger.
Last three teams in the field: 254) Chicago Marshall 255) Toledo Cumberland, 256) DePaul Prep
First three teams out: 257) Hersey, 258) Vernon Hills, 259) Peru St. Bede
Other teams that will miss on points: Erie, South Elgin, Rich East, Robeson, Ridgewood, Bureau Valley, East Dubuque, Alton Marquette, Lake Park, Salt Fork, Centralia.
Class 8A
New teams in the field: Simeon (was in 7A), Maine South (was in 7A), Glenbard West (was in 7A), Benet (was in 7A)
Teams leaving the field: South Elgin (out on points, but could easily get back in, on short list of teams on the verge and with a little bit of help), York (extremely costly loss), Glenbard North (I've been having trouble with the DuPage Valley),
General thoughts on the bracket: Remember last week when I said there were several easy shifts to put some teams on the fence back in the bracket back into 8A. Well, they all happened. One thing to keep in mind that the same shifts that pushed teams back and forth remain in play, we could just easily be looking at a reverse shift back to a form more resembling Week 7's projection
Classification's smallest enrollment team: Benet
North Bracket
Niles West at Stevenson
Huntley at Curie
Hinsdale Central at Barrington
Glenbrook South at Loyola
Fremd at Glenbard West
Gurnee Warren at Oak Park-River Forest
Palatine at Maine South
Taft at New Trier
South Bracket
(Quads for more fun!)
Lyons at Naperville Central
Downers Grove South at Neuqua Valley
Metea Valley at Simeon
Brother Rice at Benet
Belleville East at Waubonsie Valley
Homewood-Flossmoor at Edwardsville
Bolingbrook at Oswego
Joliet West at Bloom
Class 7A
New teams in the field: Rockford Boylan (was in 6A), Lincoln-Way North (was in 6A), Reavis (was in 6A), T.F. South (was in 6A), Lake Zurich (needed a win over Lake Forest to stay alive got it, now appear somewhat secure)
Teams leaving the field: Benet (now in 8A), Glenbard West (now in 8A), Maine South (now in 8A), Niles North (costly loss), Simeon (now in 8A).
Notes about the bracket: I'm gonna be honest. The geography on the South bracket is freakin brutal to try to figure. I'm using a strict north/south protocol here. However, there's been precedence to going a more east to west protocol as well. I'm not sure which one will win out on pairings night. And I'll probably change it about 10 more times.
Smallest school in the bracket: Rockford Boylan
Largest school in the bracket: Lincoln Park
North Bracket
Hoffman Estates at Cary-Grove
St. Charles North at Machesney Park Harlem
Rockford Boylan at Rockton Hononegah
Jacobs at Rolling Meadows
Lake Zurich at Highland Park
Rockford Auburn at Lincoln Park
Buffalo Grove at Addison Trail
Libertyville at Carmel
South Bracket (Once again in stupid quad form)
Fenwick at Geneva
St. Rita at Lincoln-Way North
T.F. South at Lincoln-Way East
Batavia at Reavis
Lincoln-Way Central at Providence Catholic
Normal Community at Quincy
Plainfield North at Bradley-Bourbonnais
Alton at Plainfield East
Class 6A
New teams in the field: Dunlap (was in 5A), Springfield Sacred Heart Griffin (was in 5A), Glenbard South (was in 5A), Lincoln-Way West (was in 5A), Nazareth (was in 5A), Thornton (surprise win gets them in), Marmion (changed grade slightly, but has to get to six wins. Won't have the points with 5)
Teams out of the field: Wauconda (in danger of not getting to five and has points problems to boot), Maple Park Kaneland (thought they'd pull it together, guess not), Boylan (now in 6A), Lincoln-Way North (now in 6A), Shepard (long story short, I had a bad score last week, led to a much higher grade than they deserved), Reavis (now in 6A), T.F. South (now in 6A).
Notes on the bracket: Field construction changed violently again because of the quality of the teams on the bubble.
Smallest school in the field: Dunlap
Largest school in the field: Marmion
North Bracket
Deerfield at DeKalb
Riverside-Brookfield at King
Crystal Lake Central at Lake Villa Lakes
Marmion at Glenbard South
Grayslake North at Nazareth
St. Francis at Hinsdale South
Prairie Ridge at Belvidere North
Lake Forest at Antioch
South Bracket
(Broken into quads)
Dunlap at Sacred Heart Griffin
East St. Louis at Richwoods
Chatham Glenwood at Peoria Notre Dame
Normal West at Centennial
Oak Forest at Lemont
Morgan Park at Yorkville
Thornton at Lincoln-Way West
Crete-Monee at Oak Lawn Richards
Class 5A
New teams in the field: Geneseo (was in 4A), Taylorville (was in 4A), North Lawndale Charter (was in 4A), St. Viator (I guess they showed me.), St. Laurence (still not entirely sure, but Aurora Christian win moved them back into the living), Tinley Park (another team affected by one of the rogue scores from two weeks ago).
Teams removed from field: Rich East (points problems), Lincoln-Way North (now in 6A), Nazareth (now in 6A), Dunlap (now in 6A), Springfield Sacred Heart Griffin (now in 6A), Glenbard South (now in 6A)
Thoughts on the field: This field just looks odd. The North bracket has some depth, but not really in the high seeds. The South bracket has to be broken into quads, despite the fact that one bracket is significantly better than the other, IMO. All hail quads!
Largest school in the field: Peoria
Smallest school in the field: Geneseo
North Bracket
St. Laurence at Solorio Academy
Tinley Park at Burlington Central
St. Viator at Westinghouse
North Lawndale Charter at Montini
Woodstock Marian at Joliet Catholic
Sterling at Woodstock North
Wheaton Academy at Urban Prep-Englewood
Noble Street Charter/C. Bulls at Sycamore
South Bracket
Broken into quads
Kankakee at Normal University
Washington at Peoria
Champaign Central at Metamora
Mahomet-Seymour at Geneseo
Cahokia at Highland
Marion at Jersey
Mascoutah at Taylorville
MacArthur at Waterloo
Class 4A
New teams in field: Stanford Olympia (claimed toss-up win to get in), DePaul Prep (was in 3A), Carterville (was in 3A), Evergreen Park (had a bad score last week, correct grade now applied), Bloomington Central Catholic (was in 3A)
Teams removed from field: Richmond-Burton (I've been flip-flopping them with Poplar Grove North Boone for several weeks. Play each other to truly decide the quibble), Taylorville (now in 5A), Geneseo (now in 5A), North Lawndale (now in 5A).
Thoughts on the bracket: There are simply too many northern teams in this bracket. That's really all I have to say.
Largest school in field: Payton
Smallest school in field: Stanford Olympia
North Bracket
DePaul Prep at Rockford Lutheran
Aurora Central Catholic at Plano
Chicago Marshall at Phillips
Genoa-Kingston at Mendota
Payton at St. Edward
Marengo at Coal City
Rock Island Alleman at Johnsburg
Evergreen Park at Dixon
South Bracket (Broken into quads)
Bloomington Central Catholic at Manteno
Mount Zion at Herscher
Stanford Olympia at Quincy Notre Dame
Canton at Rochester
Breese Mater Dei at Carterville
Murphysboro at Freeburg
Effingham at Columbia
Althoff at Herrin
Class 3A
New teams in the field: Sterling Newman Central Catholic (was in 2A), Auburn (was in 2A), Elmwood (was in 2A), Poplar Grove-North Boone (keep flip-flopping on them.).
Teams removed from the field: DePaul Prep (now in 4A), Peru St. Bede (points problems), Bloomington Central Catholic (now in 4A), Carterville (now in 4A).
Thoughts on the bracket: Unlike 4A, there aren't ENOUGH teams in the north for this bracket to make sense. Some northern teams are getting dragged pretty far south just to make a north bracket possible. You could pull teams out of a hat randomly and probably get some pairings just as close geographically as the process does.
Largest school in the field: Greenville
Smallest school in the field: Sterling Newman Central Catholic
North Bracket (broken into quads)
Aurora Christian at Sterling Newman Central Catholic
Westmont at Chicago Harper
Byron at Chicago Bowen
Poplar Grove North Boone at Wilmington
Paxton at St. Joseph-Ogden
Elmwood at Tolono Unity
Bishop McNamara at Williamsville
Monticello at Decatur St. Teresa
South Bracket (broken into quads)
Pleasant Plains at Robinson
New Berlin at Sullivan
Hillsboro at Carlinville
Marshall at Auburn
Newton at Greenville
Roxana at Mt. Carmel
Anna-Jonesboro at Fairfield
Vandalia at Nashville
Class 2A Field
New teams in field: Orion (was in 1A), Deer Creek Mackinaw (was in 1A), Hales Franciscan (good win gets them off the five win bubble)
Teams removed from field: Sterling Newman Central Catholic (now in 3A), Auburn (now in 3A), Elmwood (now in 3A).
Thoughts on this bracket: Still having a lot of problems with the geography of this one. The Northern bracket is much deeper than the Southern bracket too, so that's a treat.
Smallest school in the field: Orion
Largest school in the field: El Paso
North Bracket (Broken into quads)
Kewanee Wethersfield at Pearl City-Eastland
Spring Valley Hall at Taylor Ridge Rockridge
Hales Franciscan at Chicago Uplift
Amboy at Orion
Knoxville at Momence
Clifton Central at Mercer County
Deer Creek Mackinaw at Fieldcrest
Gibson City-Melvin Sibley at El Paso
South Bracket
(Broken into quads)
Nokomis at Lawrenceville
Carmi White County at Chester
Eldorado at Tuscola
Shelbyville at Johnston City
Illini West at Rushville
Maroa-Forsyth at Tri-Valley
Villa Grove at Athens
Sangamon Valley at Georgetown-Ridge Farm
Class 1A
New teams in field: Cumberland (surprise win over Villa Grove gets them in), Flanagan (mild upset of Deer Creek Mackinaw gets them in).
Teams removed from field: Orion (now in 2A), Deer-Creek Mackinaw (now in 2A).
Notes on the field: Sweet predictable Class 1A. I would like to hug you.
Largest school in the field: Bismarck-Henning
Entire bracket broken into quads
North Bracket
Monmouth United at Stark County
Ottawa Marquette at Polo
Flanagan at Abingdon
Princeville at Hope Academy
Alden-Hebron at Rockford Christian Life
Galena at Stockton
Warren at Forreston
Lena-Winslow at Aquin
South Bracket
Triopia at Camp Point Central
LeRoy at Milford
Astoria-South Fulton at Arcola
Arthur at Bismarck-Henning
Toledo Cumberland at Casey-Westfield
White Hall North Greene at Oakland
Hardin-Calhoun at Carrollton
Greenfield at Pawnee
Wow. Another very odd week. We had several teams in the larger classifications either collect upset wins to get into the field, which bumped some teams out of the field also mostly from larger classifications. As a result, there was about a four team shift from the upper classifications that bulged out to about seven teams in the middle and stabilized with the small schools. This usually happens in the opposite direction. One thing to keep in mind, several of the teams on the point fence come from 7A and 8A. These are the teams most likely to get in with upset losses to teams I believe are somewhat secure.
I had 270 teams eligible to make the field. That's up two teams from last week. This isn't all that surprising of a number.
The point cutoff stayed where I had it last week. I believe 38's are in trouble, and some 39's might be in danger.
Last three teams in the field: 254) Chicago Marshall 255) Toledo Cumberland, 256) DePaul Prep
First three teams out: 257) Hersey, 258) Vernon Hills, 259) Peru St. Bede
Other teams that will miss on points: Erie, South Elgin, Rich East, Robeson, Ridgewood, Bureau Valley, East Dubuque, Alton Marquette, Lake Park, Salt Fork, Centralia.
Class 8A
New teams in the field: Simeon (was in 7A), Maine South (was in 7A), Glenbard West (was in 7A), Benet (was in 7A)
Teams leaving the field: South Elgin (out on points, but could easily get back in, on short list of teams on the verge and with a little bit of help), York (extremely costly loss), Glenbard North (I've been having trouble with the DuPage Valley),
General thoughts on the bracket: Remember last week when I said there were several easy shifts to put some teams on the fence back in the bracket back into 8A. Well, they all happened. One thing to keep in mind that the same shifts that pushed teams back and forth remain in play, we could just easily be looking at a reverse shift back to a form more resembling Week 7's projection
Classification's smallest enrollment team: Benet
North Bracket
Niles West at Stevenson
Huntley at Curie
Hinsdale Central at Barrington
Glenbrook South at Loyola
Fremd at Glenbard West
Gurnee Warren at Oak Park-River Forest
Palatine at Maine South
Taft at New Trier
South Bracket
(Quads for more fun!)
Lyons at Naperville Central
Downers Grove South at Neuqua Valley
Metea Valley at Simeon
Brother Rice at Benet
Belleville East at Waubonsie Valley
Homewood-Flossmoor at Edwardsville
Bolingbrook at Oswego
Joliet West at Bloom
Class 7A
New teams in the field: Rockford Boylan (was in 6A), Lincoln-Way North (was in 6A), Reavis (was in 6A), T.F. South (was in 6A), Lake Zurich (needed a win over Lake Forest to stay alive got it, now appear somewhat secure)
Teams leaving the field: Benet (now in 8A), Glenbard West (now in 8A), Maine South (now in 8A), Niles North (costly loss), Simeon (now in 8A).
Notes about the bracket: I'm gonna be honest. The geography on the South bracket is freakin brutal to try to figure. I'm using a strict north/south protocol here. However, there's been precedence to going a more east to west protocol as well. I'm not sure which one will win out on pairings night. And I'll probably change it about 10 more times.
Smallest school in the bracket: Rockford Boylan
Largest school in the bracket: Lincoln Park
North Bracket
Hoffman Estates at Cary-Grove
St. Charles North at Machesney Park Harlem
Rockford Boylan at Rockton Hononegah
Jacobs at Rolling Meadows
Lake Zurich at Highland Park
Rockford Auburn at Lincoln Park
Buffalo Grove at Addison Trail
Libertyville at Carmel
South Bracket (Once again in stupid quad form)
Fenwick at Geneva
St. Rita at Lincoln-Way North
T.F. South at Lincoln-Way East
Batavia at Reavis
Lincoln-Way Central at Providence Catholic
Normal Community at Quincy
Plainfield North at Bradley-Bourbonnais
Alton at Plainfield East
Class 6A
New teams in the field: Dunlap (was in 5A), Springfield Sacred Heart Griffin (was in 5A), Glenbard South (was in 5A), Lincoln-Way West (was in 5A), Nazareth (was in 5A), Thornton (surprise win gets them in), Marmion (changed grade slightly, but has to get to six wins. Won't have the points with 5)
Teams out of the field: Wauconda (in danger of not getting to five and has points problems to boot), Maple Park Kaneland (thought they'd pull it together, guess not), Boylan (now in 6A), Lincoln-Way North (now in 6A), Shepard (long story short, I had a bad score last week, led to a much higher grade than they deserved), Reavis (now in 6A), T.F. South (now in 6A).
Notes on the bracket: Field construction changed violently again because of the quality of the teams on the bubble.
Smallest school in the field: Dunlap
Largest school in the field: Marmion
North Bracket
Deerfield at DeKalb
Riverside-Brookfield at King
Crystal Lake Central at Lake Villa Lakes
Marmion at Glenbard South
Grayslake North at Nazareth
St. Francis at Hinsdale South
Prairie Ridge at Belvidere North
Lake Forest at Antioch
South Bracket
(Broken into quads)
Dunlap at Sacred Heart Griffin
East St. Louis at Richwoods
Chatham Glenwood at Peoria Notre Dame
Normal West at Centennial
Oak Forest at Lemont
Morgan Park at Yorkville
Thornton at Lincoln-Way West
Crete-Monee at Oak Lawn Richards
Class 5A
New teams in the field: Geneseo (was in 4A), Taylorville (was in 4A), North Lawndale Charter (was in 4A), St. Viator (I guess they showed me.), St. Laurence (still not entirely sure, but Aurora Christian win moved them back into the living), Tinley Park (another team affected by one of the rogue scores from two weeks ago).
Teams removed from field: Rich East (points problems), Lincoln-Way North (now in 6A), Nazareth (now in 6A), Dunlap (now in 6A), Springfield Sacred Heart Griffin (now in 6A), Glenbard South (now in 6A)
Thoughts on the field: This field just looks odd. The North bracket has some depth, but not really in the high seeds. The South bracket has to be broken into quads, despite the fact that one bracket is significantly better than the other, IMO. All hail quads!
Largest school in the field: Peoria
Smallest school in the field: Geneseo
North Bracket
St. Laurence at Solorio Academy
Tinley Park at Burlington Central
St. Viator at Westinghouse
North Lawndale Charter at Montini
Woodstock Marian at Joliet Catholic
Sterling at Woodstock North
Wheaton Academy at Urban Prep-Englewood
Noble Street Charter/C. Bulls at Sycamore
South Bracket
Broken into quads
Kankakee at Normal University
Washington at Peoria
Champaign Central at Metamora
Mahomet-Seymour at Geneseo
Cahokia at Highland
Marion at Jersey
Mascoutah at Taylorville
MacArthur at Waterloo
Class 4A
New teams in field: Stanford Olympia (claimed toss-up win to get in), DePaul Prep (was in 3A), Carterville (was in 3A), Evergreen Park (had a bad score last week, correct grade now applied), Bloomington Central Catholic (was in 3A)
Teams removed from field: Richmond-Burton (I've been flip-flopping them with Poplar Grove North Boone for several weeks. Play each other to truly decide the quibble), Taylorville (now in 5A), Geneseo (now in 5A), North Lawndale (now in 5A).
Thoughts on the bracket: There are simply too many northern teams in this bracket. That's really all I have to say.
Largest school in field: Payton
Smallest school in field: Stanford Olympia
North Bracket
DePaul Prep at Rockford Lutheran
Aurora Central Catholic at Plano
Chicago Marshall at Phillips
Genoa-Kingston at Mendota
Payton at St. Edward
Marengo at Coal City
Rock Island Alleman at Johnsburg
Evergreen Park at Dixon
South Bracket (Broken into quads)
Bloomington Central Catholic at Manteno
Mount Zion at Herscher
Stanford Olympia at Quincy Notre Dame
Canton at Rochester
Breese Mater Dei at Carterville
Murphysboro at Freeburg
Effingham at Columbia
Althoff at Herrin
Class 3A
New teams in the field: Sterling Newman Central Catholic (was in 2A), Auburn (was in 2A), Elmwood (was in 2A), Poplar Grove-North Boone (keep flip-flopping on them.).
Teams removed from the field: DePaul Prep (now in 4A), Peru St. Bede (points problems), Bloomington Central Catholic (now in 4A), Carterville (now in 4A).
Thoughts on the bracket: Unlike 4A, there aren't ENOUGH teams in the north for this bracket to make sense. Some northern teams are getting dragged pretty far south just to make a north bracket possible. You could pull teams out of a hat randomly and probably get some pairings just as close geographically as the process does.
Largest school in the field: Greenville
Smallest school in the field: Sterling Newman Central Catholic
North Bracket (broken into quads)
Aurora Christian at Sterling Newman Central Catholic
Westmont at Chicago Harper
Byron at Chicago Bowen
Poplar Grove North Boone at Wilmington
Paxton at St. Joseph-Ogden
Elmwood at Tolono Unity
Bishop McNamara at Williamsville
Monticello at Decatur St. Teresa
South Bracket (broken into quads)
Pleasant Plains at Robinson
New Berlin at Sullivan
Hillsboro at Carlinville
Marshall at Auburn
Newton at Greenville
Roxana at Mt. Carmel
Anna-Jonesboro at Fairfield
Vandalia at Nashville
Class 2A Field
New teams in field: Orion (was in 1A), Deer Creek Mackinaw (was in 1A), Hales Franciscan (good win gets them off the five win bubble)
Teams removed from field: Sterling Newman Central Catholic (now in 3A), Auburn (now in 3A), Elmwood (now in 3A).
Thoughts on this bracket: Still having a lot of problems with the geography of this one. The Northern bracket is much deeper than the Southern bracket too, so that's a treat.
Smallest school in the field: Orion
Largest school in the field: El Paso
North Bracket (Broken into quads)
Kewanee Wethersfield at Pearl City-Eastland
Spring Valley Hall at Taylor Ridge Rockridge
Hales Franciscan at Chicago Uplift
Amboy at Orion
Knoxville at Momence
Clifton Central at Mercer County
Deer Creek Mackinaw at Fieldcrest
Gibson City-Melvin Sibley at El Paso
South Bracket
(Broken into quads)
Nokomis at Lawrenceville
Carmi White County at Chester
Eldorado at Tuscola
Shelbyville at Johnston City
Illini West at Rushville
Maroa-Forsyth at Tri-Valley
Villa Grove at Athens
Sangamon Valley at Georgetown-Ridge Farm
Class 1A
New teams in field: Cumberland (surprise win over Villa Grove gets them in), Flanagan (mild upset of Deer Creek Mackinaw gets them in).
Teams removed from field: Orion (now in 2A), Deer-Creek Mackinaw (now in 2A).
Notes on the field: Sweet predictable Class 1A. I would like to hug you.
Largest school in the field: Bismarck-Henning
Entire bracket broken into quads
North Bracket
Monmouth United at Stark County
Ottawa Marquette at Polo
Flanagan at Abingdon
Princeville at Hope Academy
Alden-Hebron at Rockford Christian Life
Galena at Stockton
Warren at Forreston
Lena-Winslow at Aquin
South Bracket
Triopia at Camp Point Central
LeRoy at Milford
Astoria-South Fulton at Arcola
Arthur at Bismarck-Henning
Toledo Cumberland at Casey-Westfield
White Hall North Greene at Oakland
Hardin-Calhoun at Carrollton
Greenfield at Pawnee
