September 25, 2002
Click here to
find an over-the-air station or basic cable channel
carrying
the IHSA TV Network near you.
BLOOMINGTON - Pairings in the 2002 Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Football Playoffs will be announced during a two-hour live program on the IHSA Television Network from 8:00-10:00 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26. The show will originate from Memorial Stadium on the campus of the University of Illinois where the eight playoff games will be played Nov. 29-30. All eight games will be televised live, too.
Pairings Show
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.
Hosts for the Pairings Show will be Dave Bernhard, Jack McInerney and Lanny Slevin, who joins the Pairings Show team for the first time after six years as host and producer of the IHSA Sports Report Radio Network. Bernhard and McInerney hosted last year's inaugural Football Pairings Show.
This year's show will feature video and analysis of top teams and individuals. It also will feature historical and statistical comparisons of first round opponents.
It will conclude with a segment featuring IHSA Asst. Executive Director Dave Gannaway, who will briefly describe the process used to determine this year's quadrants in each class, and the other procedures used to complete the pairings. Gannaway will respond to questions from the show's hosts.
Here is how the 2002 Playoff Pairings Show will be put together:
8:00 p.m. - Opening of the Show
8:08-8:50 (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.
8:50-9:49 p.m. (Approx.) - Recap of the matchups, coaches comments, video highlights and analysis.
9:49-9:59 p.m. (Approx.) - Internet Question and Answer Session with IHSA Staff
9:59-10:00 p.m. (Approx.) - Closing of the Show
Championship Games
All eight of the 2002 championship games will be televised live on the IHSA Television Network. The starting times of this year's games, and the order in which the classes play in them, is different than in past years. The 2002 games will be played and televised live as follows:
Friday, Nov. 29
10:00 a.m. - Class 2A Game
1:00 p.m. - Class 1A Game
4:00 p.m. - Class 4A Game
7:00 p.m. - Class 3A Game
Saturday, Nov. 30
10:00 a.m. - Class 6A Game
1:00 p.m. - Class 5A Game
4:00 p.m. - Class 8A Game
7:00 p.m. - Class 7A Game
The telecast announcing crews, 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 Greg Bradshaw
Class 3A and 1A Games - Jim Spencer and Steve
Moews
Sideline Announcers: To Be Announced
For only the second time in the 29-year history of the Football Playoffs there will be eight classes. From 1974-79 there were five classes. From 1980-2001 there were six classes. A total of 550 teams began the 2002 season with a berth in the playoffs as their goal. There are 32 teams in each of the eight classes in 2002. This year 46.5 per cent of the football schools will be in the playoffs.