Let's talk 6a bracket.
- Thread starter ODirty1
- Start date
Until someone beats CG out the North, they are the team to beat!!!
I think the FVC has been the north represented for the past 9 playoffs. With PR in 5a, anyone besides CG would be a complete surprise.
Antioch would like a word.
It all starts and ends with the fighting Sequoit‘s.
Since you’re all wondering…..The word “Sequoit” is a Native American word that means “smooth pebbles in the bed of a stream”.
2024 is the year for the smooth pebbles.
ESL and C-G on a collision course again.
Should be pretty chalky as far as seeds.
ESL vs Richards or Kank in the south semi.
C-G vs Geneva north semi. Maybe Libertyville or LF.
Should be pretty chalky as far as seeds.
ESL vs Richards or Kank in the south semi.
C-G vs Geneva north semi. Maybe Libertyville or LF.
Antioch gave up 56 points to something called G-R-A-N-T, the school that leads the state in only one category, public school with students enrolled from the most zip codes.
One of the problems on this forum is that it's difficult to separate the legit analysis of programs and upcoming games, vs. total homers who just declare "my team" will win just because.
Antioch has zero chance vs. Cary-Grove. Zero.
The only thing "all" are wondering about is how come Antioch was not pressured to change its nickname and logo when the Indian-themed nickname became persona non gratis.
Just keep your eye out for the Smooth Pebbles over the next few weeks.
Glenbard South is loving life right now, petitioning up to 6A, and drawing the Kankakee Kays round 1. Ball don't lie! The Smooth Pebbles better win round 1, as they also petitioned up, or they and GBS will fight for the biggest pretender award.
Colin, it’s great to see you supporting your team! But Antioch will not beat CG. CG -21.
Not so fast…
A CG vs Da Fighting Sequoit‘s would be a game to remember. Would be talked about for years in Antioch. No way the spread would be -21.
Genuinely, did Antioch (and perhaps GBS) petition up to avoid playing CCL teams?
I remember last year the Antioch coach went on a tear after they got clobbered by Carmel in R2 after beating some CPS team. Never heard any whining from GBS but they got smoked by Naz in R2.
Probably a sound strategy to be honest
Started laughing thinking about a potential esl / Kankakee matchup….sloches video on last years game & how much the Kays talked 
Yes absolutely the reason why was to avoid CCL teams, GBS got smoked by Naz 2 years in a row, and also clocked a CPS team in round 1.
I think the bigger issue is both these teams play very weak schedules and soon as they run into some good teams they fold like cheap suits. GBS had a 4 star WR and could not put up any points against NAZ. I believe their coaches record against teams ranked 150 or better is something like 1 win and 26 losses. IMO you need to play better competition to learn how to win, playing a bunch of clocked games only helps individual stats but does nothing to help a team learn how to play.
I think this is the case of be careful what you ask for there are some real dogs in 6A. But I understand what they are trying to do, not a ton of options for those small to mid publics.
I agree. I don't like the strategy and don't understand it either. Is there an example of a team having success after petitioning up when they have generally struggled in a smaller class?
Glenbard South is gonna get taken to the woodshed.
I was talking to my nephew who is a senior at Glenbard South. I told him I was happy to see them and Geneva both in 6a and asked him if GBS really did petition to play up (and, if so, why).
The only response he gave was, “because our coaches have no brains.”
While this very well may be the case, is there another reason for them wanting to play in 6a? Were there travel concerns? Looking at the brackets 5a seems infinitely more manageable for them than 6a.
No, I believe the only reason was to escape the gauntlet of CCL teams in 5A. Their hope was to get a winnable game 2 at 6A before they run into the buzzsaw of 6A teams. Backfired on GBS and Antioch better not sleep on GLN who played them tough during the season, because CG will be waiting around the corner making them wish they had Carmel again.
With the north/south set up in 5A a quick match up with Naz/SF was inevitable or PR or Sycamore or Rochelle. They wanted no part of that.
Here is your prize a Kankakee team that lost 37-30 to Naz in week 1.
Maybe it is their way of protesting. Maybe they are just trying to make a point that they believe private schools, or at least CCL/ESCC schools, should not be allowed in the same playoff brackets as public schools. The views expressed by the Antioch coach last year seemed to indicate that is what he believed. He thought the private schools had a huge advantage with respect to attracting talented players and that [fact in his mind] did not allow for a level playing field. Perhaps it is Antioch's way of saying: Cary-Grove, Geneva and Libertyville are just as good as Nazareth, Joliet Catholic and St. Francis, so our petition to move up a class demonstrates our concern is not that we might lose a game by a wide margin. Our concern is that the circumstances related to the private schools are sufficiently different (and advantageous) from the public schools that the competition is blatantly unfair. If the IHSA will not do the right thing by segregating the playoffs, then we will stand on principle and initiate a move ourselves (by petitioning up) that will separate us from the private schools.
Now then, I must point out two things. First, I am not saying I agree with the position expressed above. Second, I'm not saying the position expressed above is even true. It is pure speculation on my part as to what may have motivated their petitions.
The move certainly cannot be based on the thought that it would be easier to win a championship in 6A than in 5A. Defeating East St. Louis in most years is no easier than defeating Nazareth.
Now then, I must point out two things. First, I am not saying I agree with the position expressed above. Second, I'm not saying the position expressed above is even true. It is pure speculation on my part as to what may have motivated their petitions.
The move certainly cannot be based on the thought that it would be easier to win a championship in 6A than in 5A. Defeating East St. Louis in most years is no easier than defeating Nazareth.
No, but it can certainly be based on the thought that it might be easier to win one, two, or three games in the 6A bracket vs 5A. You don't have to worry about those pesky 6-3/7-2 CCL teams lurking mid-bracket.
So the point is they’d rather play a good public school than a good private school?
My opinion is they didn't want to get wacked by Naz again or SF...again just my opinion.
Last time Antioch had to play a legit team...Carmel last year they got smoked. Its ok to say that your team is a nice team, but not against the likes of CG. They are a true powerhouse in the state every year...period
I think they are suggesting that Naz, JC, SF etc should be 6A which I agree. The fact that NAZ was able to make it to state in both 6A and 7A while winning 5A going in at 4-5 is a very clear indicator that they should compete at the 6A level. In my opinion, schools should want to compete at the most challenging level. No, I don't think they are 7A/8A like the MC and Loyola's of the state however, 6A is a good landing spot for those second tier level private schools.
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Won't be worth remembering because for the C-G machine, it's just a home game en route to what is possibly going to be the North Suburban Conference's EIGHTH straight appearance in the 6A title game.
It's just fine to be a darn-the-facts diehard fan of your favorite team. On this forum, there's a guy who is a diehard for Warren, who picks them to win every big game because he bleeds blue/gold, so you are not alone in bleeding your favorite team's colors. It's totally acceptable.
But the facts ... well, in the past seven playoff seasons (no 2020), the North Suburban Conference has had a team in the 6A state championship game every year. In that same seven-year span, the Northern Lake County Conference (Antioch's league) has had a league team advance to the quarterfinals (by winning two playoff games) exactly ONCE. And in that year, 2018, Antioch won its second-round game by beating another team from the Northern Lake County Conference.
A guess here is that the Northern Lake County Conference can be thought of in terms of football strength for smaller schools the same way that the Central Suburban North is thought of in terms of bigger schools. That is, it's great to be in the playoffs and, no, there is no path forward that leads to playing at ISU on Thanksgiving weekend.
As for those who kind of are chuckling at Antioch, which could have been a 5A team this year but opted to play 6A in order to have a better chance to compete against public schools in the postseason rather than playing against private schools, my guess is that Antioch is very very happy to be in their current playoff location.
That is, they have a very winnable home game against a Northern Lake County foe they've already beaten this season in Round 1, and then when they get taken to the woodshed in Round 2 by Cary-Grove, they will be sad the season is over, but happy that they were taken out by a public school on a level playing field. Losing to a better C-G team is acceptable. Getting whipped by Carmel last November had to be frustrating for those associated with the Sequoits.
Plus, they can compare their final score vs. C-G with the final score of C-G's Round 3 and 4 playoff scores to see if they could have advanced further if the luck of the draw had kept them away from Cary-Grove for more than one round.
Yea would be an odd thought process. Im not sure how a 40pt loss to CG looks any better than a 40pt loss to Carmel.
The problem I see with Antioch is they rack up wins vs an incredibly weak schedule which makes them feel like as an 9-0 or 8-1 team, they deserve to go further in the playoffs.
You are talking about 3 schools that have enrollments under 800 without the multiplier. JCA (585) STF (685) Naz (715). You want them in 6A because they WIN? What about Rochester (754) who has won about 9 state titles the past 11 or 12 years in 4A. Why don't they move up to get challenged. There is no good system, but just cause teams are private doesn't mean that they should get penalized for winning. This should happen to all schools, regardless. CPS for basketball can play for any school in the city....is that fair??? Life is not fair, get better!!!
Cary -Grove and Prairie Ridge play in the Fox Valley Conference not the North Suburban Conference.
Rocky pebbles, because they will get the same beating this year but by a different team. Maybe their D coordinator can whine about having to play a tough team again...give me a break.
So, the point is, Antioch would rather play a really good public school team in the playoffs than play a really good private school.
YES! That's exactly it.
I'm not sure if it was the elimination of the 2020 season or an IHSA change in how football "enrollment" numbers for private schools were determined (multipliers, waivers, etc.), but I think that for reasons beyond my pay grade, some private schools have wound up with football "enrollment" numbers in the past few years that were lower than some expected.
If that happened, it would drop some private schools into a lower class for the playoffs and as a result would push a few public schools up in class.
Somebody more familiar with multipliers and waivers than I will know what seemed to cause the football enrollments of a few private schools to go "down" so to speak.
That, along with shrinking enrollments in some private schools (see Marian Central in Woodstock and St. Edward in Elgin) for two examples) have seemingly altered the placement of schools in the football playoffs.
It's a slightly less extreme version of the (upper ~third of ) the CPL, the biggest difference being CPL teams are well aware of their competitive disparities once they hit the state playoffs. The bottom half of Northern Lake County is truly atrocious football.
As a random, recent example, Grayslake Central finished middle of the pack in Northern Lake County at 3-4 in conference, with wins over Lakes, Round Lake, and North Chicago. They pulled off a one-point overtime victory over Bremen in non-conference play. Bremen went WINLESS and got pummeled by Taft, who is a good-not-great CPL red team.