October 14, 2003
BLOOMINGTON - Pairings in the 2003 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. 25. The Chicago-Midwest Emmy nominated show will
originate from Memorial Stadium on the campus of the University of
Illinois where the eight championship games will be played Nov.
28-29. All eight games will be televised live as they have been
since 1982. COUNTRY Insurance and Financial Services is a primary
sponsor of both network telecasts.
Pairings Show
The distribution of teams into the four quadrants and their subsequent pairings in each of the eight classes will be announced on the television show before they are released on the World Wide Web. The blind draw to place each of the four quadrant winners on the semifinal bracket, and the resulting championship game match-up, will be done live at Memorial Stadium for each class. Following the blind draw to match the quadrant winners, the IHSA Office will complete the pairings and post them on the IHSA Web site at www.ihsa.org. Pairings will be made beginning with Class 8A.
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 immediately.
Hosts for the Pairings Show will be the same Emmy nominated team as in 2002. They are Dave Bernhard, Jack McInerney and Lanny Slevin. Bernhard and McInerney hosted the inaugural Football Pairings Show in 2001. Members of the news media will do the actual drawing of quadrant pairings from a large helmet. Cheerleaders from local schools will assist.
This year's playoff pairings show again will feature game video, coach's comments 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 2003 Playoff Pairings Show will be put together:
8:00 p.m. - Opening of the Show
8:08-9:08 p.m. (Approx.) - Pairings beginning with Class 8A and descending order to Class 1A. Once the pairings in a respective class have been drawn on the show and announced on television they will posted on the IHSA Web site.
9:09-9:59 p.m. (Approx.) - Recap of the match-ups, comments from the coaches, video highlights and analysis.
9:59-10:00 p.m. (Approx.) - Closing of the Show
Championship Games
All eight of the 2003 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, alternates each year. Friday games in Class 1A-2A and 3A-4A alternate each year. Saturday games in Class 5A-6A and 7A-8A alternate each year. In odd number years the games are played in order from 1-8. In even number years the first two games each day and the last two games each day flip flop. The 2003 games will be played and televised live as follows:
Friday, Nov. 28
10:00 a.m. - Class 1A Game
1:00 p.m. - Class 2A Game
4:00 p.m. - Class 3A Game
7:00 p.m. - Class 4A Game
Saturday, Nov. 29
10:00 a.m. - Class 5A Game
1:00 p.m. - Class 6A Game
4:00 p.m. - Class 7A Game
7:00 p.m. - Class 8A 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 third time in the 30-year history of the Football Playoffs there will be eight classes. From 1974-79 there were five classes. From 1980-2000 there were six classes. A total of 556 teams began the 2003 season with a berth in the playoffs as their goal and 256 qualify for the playoffs. There are 32 teams in each of the eight classes in 2003. This year 46.0 per cent of the football schools will be in the playoffs.