Can’t believe people think the CCL isn’t the best conference in the state. I’m not even a CCL guy. It’s not even up for debate. CCL is superior to any other conference,
Feel like we’re debating What is a Woman. It’s shouldn’t be a debate but somehow it is.
Here is a list of the nine conferences/divisions (as currently comprised) that have won a state championship (5A or larger) in the last five years (in which a playoff was held). Therefore, it includes the 2018 playoffs because there were no playoffs in 2020. The order in which the conferences are listed is based on a total of earned points. Each conference earned 4 points for winning an 8A football title, 3 points for winning a 7A title, 2 points for winning a 6A title, and 1 point for winning a 5A title. The list provides a sense of which conferences are the strongest in the state of Illinois.
1. CCL/ESCC (Blue) - 21 points [6 championships]
2. Southwest Valley (Blue) - 8 points [2 championships]
3. Fox Valley - 6 points [3 championships]
4. CCL/ESCC (Green) - 5 points [3 championships]
5. Southwestern - 4 points [2 championships]
6. DuKane - 3 points [1 championship]
7. CCL/ESCC (White) - 1 point [1 championship]
8. Central State Eight - 1 point [1 championship]
9. CCL/ESCC (Orange) - 1 point [1 championship]
As you suggested, there should be no debate.
* The last three listed conferences have each won a single 5A championship in the last five years. They are listed in the order of which conference won the more recent championship.
** The North Suburban Conference and the West Suburban (Silver) Conference deserve an honorable mention. Each of those two conferences have placed four teams in the semifinals over the last five playoffs. No other conference, that has not won a championship, has placed more than three teams in the semifinals.