This year's playoffs will begin...

...next Friday, which is also Halloween. (Who's responsible for this scheduling?) According to my next-door neighbor, we can expect to get a fair number of trick-or-treaters, so I need to decide what the heck I'm going to do: stay home and hand out candy or go to a game.

In the meantime, three contests immediately jumped out at me after watching last night's Football Pairings Show.

8A

No. 9-seed Warren (7-2) at No. 8 Loyola (7-2)
Don't underestimate the Blue Devils.

No. 5 Brother Rice (6-3) at No. 4 Naperville Central (7-2)
Crusaders coming off a big win over St. Rita; Central trying to rebound after a stunning loss to Wheaton Warrenville South. Could be my Game of the Week.

7A

No. 13 Mount Carmel (5-4) at No. 3 Batavia (8-1)
Last year's 7A champ travels to last year's 6A champ.

The days and times are expected to be announced by 3:00 tomorrow. I think it's safe to say that the Loyola game will be on Saturday so I should make that one. The other two could be on Friday or Saturday night or even Saturday afternoon, so I'll just have to wait.

A few other games that could be my backups are:

8A

No. 11 Oak Park and River Forest (7-2) at No. 6 Barrington (8-1)
Can Northwestern-bound quarterback Lloyd Yates turn it on for the playoffs?

7A

No. 15 Fenwick (5-4) at No. 2 Highland Park (9-0)
Will the Friars be Giant-killers?

No. 13 Wheaton Warrenville South (5-4) at No. 4 Lincoln-Way North (8-1)
You don't want to play a Ron Muhitch-coached team in the postseason.

6A

No. 16 Boylan at No. 1 Nazareth (9-0)
The Titans have been here before; could they surprise the Roadrunners?

And here are some interesting second-round games I'll be anticipating:

8A

Loyola at No. 1 Stevenson (9-0)
Great rematch from last year's semifinal game. Hopefully it won't be as COLD.

Barrington or OPRF at No. 3 Maine South (9-0)
How good is Maine South, really?

7A

No. 9 St. Rita (6-3) at No. 1 Providence (8-1)
Again?

6A

No. 6 St. Francis (7-2) at No. 3 Lakes (8-1)
Is St. Francis the most OVERLOOKED team in the whole tournament?

No. 3 Richards (8-1) at No. 2 Lincoln-Way West (8-1)
Wasn't I at this game last year? No, that was Lincoln-Way North.

5A

No. 6 Montini (6-3) at No. 3 Joliet Catholic (7-2)
Another great rematch from last year.

4A

No. 5 Phillips (8-1) at No. 4 Johnsburg (8-1)
Inner-city vs. exurb; great cultural contrast.

Oh, and what the heck:

In Round Three in 7A, Mount Carmel at No. 2 Lincoln-Way East (8-1)
Remember when the Caravan eliminated the Griffins, 34-31, way back in 2008? Coach Rob Zvonar does.

Let's hope I can work these all in.