Wednesday, October 22, 2014

In recent years, there's nothing...

...I've enjoyed more than attending a game between two undefeated teams in the last week of the regular season. (See: Morris at Kaneland, 2012, above.) Somebody's gotta win and somebody's gotta lose. One team will enter the postseason with a perfect 9-0 record while the other will have to content itself with a No. 1 or 2 seed in the playoffs.

Based on the AP rankings in the Sun-Times today, I count twelve unbeaten squads in the top four classes. Of these, seven are in the Chicago area and five are in "the provinces." And all but one are playing on Friday night.

Let's run through them real quickly:

Stevenson (8-0) at Libertyville (6-2)
Can the Wildcats upset the Patriots at home?

Glenbard West (8-0) at York (4-4)
Hilltoppers should finish at 9-0.

Maine South (8-0) hosts Waukegan (2-6)
Will this game even take place? Waukegan forfeited last week due to a teachers' strike.

Cary-Grove (8-0) at Crystal Lake South (4-4)
Trojans should win this one.

Highland Park (8-0) at Glenbrook North (4-4)
Don't be too surprised if the home team Spartans pull off an upset.

Lemont (8-0) at Hillcrest (0-8)
Biggest mismatch of the bunch?

And if you feel like driving a little:

Sacred Heart-Griffin (8-0) hosts Rochester (7-1)
SHG was last year's 5A champ while the Rockets won the 4A title.

Peoria Notre Dame (8-0) hosts Rock Island (3-5)
Another mismatch?

DeKalb (8-0) hosts Geneseo (8-0)
Come on; it's only an hour away. Could be my Game of the Week.

Normal University (8-0) hosts Cahokia (4-4)
Pioneers could end up as the only unbeaten team in 5A.

And, finally, on Saturday:

Nazareth (8-0) hosts St. Viator (5-3)
Roadrunners can't let up against the Lions.

Where will I be this weekend? Check back tomorrow.

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