Michael O'Brien of...

Bishop Amat.

...the Sun-Times is unhappy about the state of interstate football play. He wrote on Sunday:

Speaking of the difference between basketball and football, take a look at where and who the Super 25 football teams are playing in Week 2.

No. 5 Loyola is hosting a California team. No. 7 Homewood-Flossmoor is playing in North Carolina. No. 8 Marist will be in Indiana and No. 12 Stevenson is hosting a Michigan team.

That just isn’t good for the sport. As Week 1 showed, nothing is better than the best local teams playing each other.

Football scheduling is a mess. Athletic Directors and coaches have numerous problems getting schedules worked out. Sometimes it is a conference issue. Powerhouse programs have trouble getting games because teams need their five wins to get into the playoffs. That leads to scheduling out of state games.

The number five is meaningless. The IHSA needs a new formula to determine which teams make the playoffs, a way to reward teams for playing the best competition. Mount Carmel should have made the state playoffs last year, who cares about five wins. Fix it.

I have no idea about that last paragraph, but as for interstate play, I'm all for it. I for one am curious as to how Illinois football stacks up against other states. Having said that, here's a quick take on those opponents Mr. O'Brien alluded to in the second paragraph.

Bishop Amat (La Puente, CA) at Loyola. The Lancers are 0-1 after having lost, 31-7, last week to Mater Dei. (The Monarchs are ranked No. 1 in the state of California by MaxPreps.) Bishop Amat was 7-4 last year and ranked No. 33 by MaxPreps; the Lancers are currently ranked No. 20.

Homewood-Flossmoor at Southern Durham (Durham, NC). The Spartans are 0-2 and ranked No. 193 in the state of North Carolina by MaxPreps. Last year Southern Durham was 7-5 and ranked No. 125 in the state.

Marist at Mishawaka (Mishawaka, IN). The Cavemen (Cavemen?)* are 1-1 and ranked No. 52 in the state of Indiana by MaxPreps. Last year Mishawaka was 10-3 and ranked No. 23 in the state.

Muskegon (Muskegon, MI) at Stevenson. The Big Reds are 1-0 and ranked No. 6 in the state of Michigan by MaxPreps. Last year Muskegon went 12-2 and also No. 6 in the state.

So whaddaya think for this weekend? I'd say Loyola and Stevenson are underdogs, H-F should be favored with the Marist game a push. If the Illinois teams finish 2-2 that wouldn't be so bad. But if they should happen to go 3-1 or even 4-0 that would have to say something about local football, wouldn't it?

* Isn't the whole state of Indiana populated by cavemen? (Sorry; couldn't resist.)