September 25, 2001
Pairings in the 2001 Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Football Playoffs will be announced during a two-hour live program on the IHSA Television Network from 7:00-9:00 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20.
The pairings in each of the eight classes will be announced on the television show before they are released on the World Wide Web. Pairings will be made in the IHSA Office beginning with Class 8A. Once pairings for a class have been made and announced on the show they will be posted on the IHSA Web site at www.ihsa.org.
Sometime after 5:00 p.m., and before the show goes on the air, a listing of the 256 qualifying teams will be placed on the IHSA Web Site. The listing will be posted as quickly as the scores of the Saturday games are reported to the IHSA Office. The listing will break the schools down by conference champions, by number of wins that earn automatic at-large selection and by at-large points. The at-large points for non-qualifying schools also will be posted on the Web Site. In addition, the final conference standings will be posted. Members of the media and/or school personnel who see incorrect won-loss records or incorrect conference standings should notify the IHSA Office prior to the start of the show.
The show will feature video and analysis of top teams and individuals by a statewide lineup of most of the broadcasters scheduled to announce the games on the IHSA Television Network. It also will feature historical and statistical matchups of first round opponents.
It will conclude with a segment devoted to viewer questions and comments via the Internet. During the show, viewers may send their questions or comments to tv@ihsa.org. IHSA Asst. Executive Director Dave Gannaway will respond to selected e-mails near the end of the show.
The broadcast announcing crew, subject to adjustment, will be as follows:
- Class 8A and 6A Games – Dave Bernhard and Jack McInerney
- Class 7A and 5A Games – Tom Stocker and Jim Covert
- Class 4A and 2A Games – Lee Hall and Dave Butz
- Class 3A and 1A Games – Jim Spencer and Steve Moews
- Sideline Announcers: Lisa Aprati, Curt Pegler and Lee Hall.
Here is how the show will be put together:
- 7:00 p.m. – Opening of the Show
- 7:08-7:50 (Approx.) – Pairings beginning with Class 8A and in descending order. Once the pairings in a respective class have been announced on television they will posted on the IHSA Web site.
- 7:50-8:49 p.m. (Approx.) – Recap of the matchups, coaches comments, video highlights and analysis.
- 8:49-8:59 p.m. (Approx.) – Internet Question and Answer Session with IHSA Staff
- 8:59-9:00 p.m. (Approx.) – Closing of the Show
For the first time in the 28-year history there will be eight classes in the IHSA Football Playoffs. From 1974-79 there were five classes. From 1980-2001 there were six classes. A total of 543 schools began the 2001 season with a berth in the playoffs as their goal. There are 32 teams in each of the eight classes in 2001. This year 47.1 per cent of the football schools will be in the playoffs.