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Tuesday,
October 29, 2002
Carthage's class change drops
Tremont to No. 3
Heading into the playoffs, the Tremont Turks find themselves
in an unfamiliar position.
No. 3.
Tremont had been at No. 2 in Class 2A, just behind Aledo, for most of
the season. The Turks finished the season undefeated at 9-0, but when the
Illinois High School Association placed Carthage, last week's No. 1 team
in Class 1A, into 2A for the playoffs, Tremont was forced down one spot.
Bloomington put the wraps on a perfect regular season and remained No.
3 in Class 6A, while Normal Community fell a spot to No. 6.
Pontiac, which finished the season with a 22-19 overtime victory over
Metamora, ended the season ranked at No. 6 in Class 5A, trailed by the
Redbirds at No. 7 and Morton and No. 10.
Due to the reshuffling, El Paso moved up to No. 4 in Class 1A and
LeRoy finished at No. 7.
Because the Blueboys are now in Class 2A, Kewanee Wethersfield moved from
third to first in Class 1A.
There were no other changes among last weeks top-ranked teams. Schools
finishing No. 1 in the Associated Press poll included Downers Grove South
in 8A, Buffalo Grove in 7A, Mundelein Carmel in 6A, New Lenox Providence
in 5A, Mount Carmel in 4A and Alton Marquette in 3A, according to a panel
of writers and broadcasters.
The regular season rankings used classes based on school's official
enrollment. For the playoffs, the Illinois High School Association groups
the 256 playoff teams into eight classes based on "football
enrollment."
To determine football enrollment, the IHSA looks at two figures: the
school's official enrollment and the split of the difference between
official enrollment and the average enrollment of all opponents, after
throwing out the high and the low.
The football enrollment is the larger of the two figures.
Once football enrollment is determined, the playoff teams are divided
up into eight different classes with 32 teams each -- 8A consisting of
the largest schools and 1A the smallest.
After going to an eight-class system last year, the IHSA has tinkered
with the playoffs again -- drawing the ire of coaches.
Instead of seeding teams 1-32, each class is broken up into quadrants
based on geography. The switch was made to reduce early round travel and
not everyone is happy with the change.
Seeding teams based on geography also means schools that are familiar
with each other will meet early in the playoffs.
For example, West Frankfort and Benton face each other the first round
in Class 4A, just one month after No. 4 West Frankfort beat the Rangers
14-0. Massac County also faces Herrin in the first round -- two games
after they met in the regular season.
"I'll tell you what, it's kind of strange how they've got it set
up," said West Frankfort coach Jeff Rush. "But it's not just
us, with Herrin and Massac. It's like a conference championship all over
again. I don't understand it."
Coaches also said the new seeding format is unbalanced -- grouping
some of the state's best teams in the same quadrant.
In Class 6A, No. 1 Mundelein Carmel was placed in the same group as
No. 4 Chicago Mount Carmel, which has won nine state titles. And No. 4
Lockport could meet No. 6 Naperville North in the second round in Class
8A if both win first round games as expected.
"It's a sham, and every coach I've talked to is against the new
format," Naperville North coach Larry McKeon said. "There's too
much room for manipulating the placement of teams and interpreting what
geographics means. With this system, you won't get a true champion."
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