Every year at this time...

...I complain about the way the IHSA structures the high school football playoffs. And every year at this time my son reminds me that it's not about me (wha-a-t?); it's about the kids and their parents -- everyone wants to play in the postseason. Fair enough. But humor me for a moment, and imagine that it is about the fans.

The IHSA constructs the playoffs, essentially, as follows (if you really want to read their Byzantine rules, click here): the top 256 teams out of 549 are selected for the postseason. Basically, everyone who is 5-4, or better, is chosen. The schools are then ranked in order of enrollment (with some tweaking) and the top 32 are classified as 8A, the next 32 are 7A, and so on. (And don't get me started on the "A" part.) Then comes the seeding, which is relatively straightforward, the geographical constraints (makes sense; no need to pair a school from the city with one from downstate in the first round) and who gets to play at home, etc. (I'll let you read about that.)

On the face of it, it all seems reasonable. But before we get into the actual brackets, let's have one last look at the Top Ten rankings from the Chicago papers, shall we?

Tribune:

1. Maine South
2. Glenbard West
3. Loyola
4. Lincoln-Way East
5. Bolingbrook
6. Lemont
7. St. Rita
8. Batavia
9. Crete-Monee
10. Nazareth

Sun-Times (as of this writing):

1. Maine South
2. Glenbard West
3. Lincoln-Way East
4. Loyola
5. Downers Grove South
6. St. Rita
7. Prairie Ridge
8. Bolingbrook
9. Crete-Monee
10. Batavia

Pretty similar, huh? And I imagine the Sun-Times will drop Downers Grove South and Prairie Ridge after last weekend's losses. Whatever. It's safe to say that both papers agree on which are the best teams in the state. Great! So let's see them play each other and determine who is the best team in Illinois. As a fan, I'm psyched!

But not so fast, BOWG. It seems that while Maine South, Loyola, Downers Grove South and Bolingbrook are in 8A; Glenbard West, Lincoln-Way East and St. Rita are in 7A; and Lemont, Batavia, Crete-Monee, Nazareth and Prairie Ridge are in 6A. I know what you're thinking: But Loyola and St. Rita are in the same conference, as is Bolingbrook and Lincoln-Way East. (And the Griffins even beat the Raiders during the regular season; I was there.)

So let me see if I've got this straight: it's impossible for the top two teams in the state, Maine South and Glenbard West, to play each other in the postseason. How, then, are we to know which one is truly the best? Answer: we can't. (Last year the 7A champion, Wheaton Warrenville South, had already beaten the 8A champion, Maine South, in the regular season, while St. Rita, which lost in the 7A semis, had beaten the other 8A finalist, Mount Carmel. Go figure.)

I'm all for letting the most kids play in the postseason, but I'd also like to see the postseason determine something. For the love of God, gimme some closure!

Let's move to the actual brackets, starting with 8A. No. 1-seeded Loyola (9-0) opens up against No.16 Evanston (5-4). The Ramblers already crushed the Wildkits, 40-0, at Evanston in the first game of the season (above). Do they really need to play each other again? (I didn't even go to the first game; I knew it would be a blowout. Why would I want to go to this one?) Besides the Loyola game, Evanston lost to Glenbrook South, 26-7, Maine South, 48-7, and New Trier, 24-7. They didn't beat one winning team this year, for crying out loud. Do they really deserve to be in the playoffs?

I have an idea, let's scrap the seven 5-4 teams that made the playoffs in 8A. Or better yet, let's take the 19 teams with 5-4 and 6-3 records in 8A and swap them with the 19 best teams in 7A. That way, teams like Glenbard West, Lincoln-Way East, St. Rita, East St. Louis, Lake Zurich, Geneva, Elk Grove, Crystal Lake South and Addison Trail could play the other best teams in Illinois. And then, maybe, fans like me would get some satisfaction.

Really, there aren't that many matchups in the first round that I'd like to see. Okay, maybe Marist-Homewood-Flossmoor, Mount Carmel-Hinsdale Central, or Brother Rice-Sandburg in 8A; or Lake Zurich-Geneva or Addison Trail-Carmel in 7A; or Nazareth-Deerfield or Cary-Grove-Crystal Lake Central in 6A. But that's about it. There are a lot of mismatches.

Oh, well. There are four more rounds after this weekend. Plenty of good football to see. I think I'll go visit my mother instead.

Next: BOWG analyzes 6A.