How the Football Playoff Pairings are Determined — 2024

Selecting the Playoff Teams

The first step is to select the 256 playoff teams. The process proceeds as follows:

1. All champions of conferences with six or more teams receive a playoff berth. Two-team ties are broken on the basis of head-to-head competition when those teams have played during the regular season. Three- and four-way ties are broken by eliminating teams according to the following steps. If, after any step is applied, only two teams remain, the head-to-head matchup determines the champion.
   
   1. Most wins in all conference games.
   2. Any team that has defeated all the other tied teams.
   3. If all tied teams played each other, fewest total points allowed in those games.
   4. If all tied teams played each other, highest point differential in those games (from -14 to 14 points in each game).
   5. Fewest total points allowed in all conference games.
   6. Highest point differential in all conference games (from -14 to 14 points in each game).
   7. Most wins in all games.
   8. Random drawing by IHSA Office.
   
   
2. At the request of the Chicago Public League, all teams in the Red, White-North, and White-South divisions are eligible for the IHSA playoffs.
   Additionally, at the request of the Chicago Public League, the top two teams from White-Northwest, White-South Central, White-Southwest, and White-West divisions are eligible for the IHSA playoffs.
   
   
3. The remaining schools are sorted by three categories:
   1. First, by total wins
   2. Second, by combined wins of all opponents
   3. Third, by combined wins of all defeated opponents

   For example:

   School	Wins	Combined Wins of All Opponents	Combined Wins of Defeated Opponents
   Abingdon	9	30	30
   Ziegler-Royalton	9	27	27
   Staunton	8	37	30
   Elgin	8	37	29
   Chicago Vocational	7	40	30
   Byron	7	38	31
   Libertyville	6	43	30
   Johnston City	6	37	28

   
   
4. Starting at the top of this sorted list, the teams are added to the playoff field until the 256-team limit is reached. In the event of a tie for the 256th position, the following tiebreakers are applied:
   1. Head-to-head competition (if the teams have met)
   2. Number of teams played that qualified for the playoffs
   3. Number of wins by teams played that qualified for the playoffs
   4. Points allowed in games against teams that qualified for the playoffs
   5. Coin flip

   In practice, teams with 9, 8, 7, and 6 wins will always qualify for the playoffs. Teams with 5 wins are "on the bubble," and the tie is broken by the number of playoff points (the combined wins of all opponents).

The chart below shows the how the at-large cutoff was determined for the 256-team field over the past several years.

*In 2019, the number of teams with 6 wins and the tie-breaker were affected by games canceled because of the Chicago teacher's strike.

Determining the Classes

After the 256 qualifiers have been determined, the schools are broken down into 8 classes of 32 teams each, based on the school's classification enrollment (from last year's report to the Illinois State Board of Education, adjusted by the 1.65 multiplier where applicable).

The largest 32 schools based on the official enrollment figures are placed in Class 8A, the next largest in Class 7A, and so on down to Class 1A. If a tie should occur for the final spot in a particular class, a coin flip is used to break the tie.

It is important to remember that a school's classification is not determined until the 256-team field has been selected on the final day of the season. The classes used in the Associated Press polls are a best guess at the final determinations, but they are unofficial and can be misleading. The fact that the AP ranks a school all season in a certain class has no bearing on the school's ultimate classification in the state playoffs. This can be determined only at season's end, after the entire 256-team field is selected.

The chart below shows the enrollment cutoffs for the 256-team field. The multiplier on non-boundaried schools was implemented in 2005. Starting in 2011, any school that had not won a playoff football game in the past six years received an automatic waiver from the multiplier. Starting in 2015, this window was reduced to four years, increasing the number of schools with waivers. Starting in 2019, the window was further reduced to two years.

Grouping and Seeding the Brackets

Once the 32 teams in a particular class are determined, the teams in Class 1A through 6A are grouped by the IHSA Office into two halves of 16 teams each, based on the general location of the schools within that class. In Class 7A and 8A, the teams are not grouped.

Then the seeds are determined by sorting the teams by some of the factors used to determine playoff berths:

1. Total wins
2. Combined wins of all opponents, and
3. Combined wins of defeated opponents

If two or more teams are tied for a particular seed, the following tiebreakers are applied:

1. Head-to-head record (if exactly two teams are tied)
2. Random selection by computer

Then the teams are paired according to a standard bracket. In a 16-team field, the pairings are #1 vs. #16, #2 vs. #15, etc. In a 32-team field, the pairings are #1 vs. #32, #2 vs. #31, etc.

A school's ranking in the Associated Press poll has no bearing on its seed in the IHSA Football Playoffs. The only criteria used to seed the teams are those mentioned above.

Determining the Host Team and the Date and Time of the Game

In the first round, the higher seed hosts the game. In subsequent rounds, the school that has hosted fewer times during the current playoff series hosts the game. If both teams have hosted an equal number of times, the higher seed hosts.

When circumstances warrant, a site other than the designated host school's field may be requested by either school and may be used subject to the approval of the IHSA Board of Directors and the host school.

The game must be played on Saturday, unless both schools agree to play the game on Friday. Friday games must not be scheduled during school hours. Saturday games must start between 1 pm and 7 pm. The schools must agree on the starting time of the game. If they cannot come to an agreement, the IHSA Office will set the starting time.