It’s playoff time, the road to a state title was revealed last night in the state playoff pairings. That makes these rankings officially even more irrelevant than ever! But it is still fun to judge schedules and make the best possible guess about where everyone stacks up regardless of class.
Week 9 always seems to provide some weird results and this weekend was no different. It was very hard to ignore Marist’s televised win against Loyola on Saturday. The Ramblers didn’t drop very far, that’s due to their playoff performance the last several years. But the win gets the Redhawks in. Here’s a look at the other teams that joined and the ones that dropped out...
Dropping out
Bolingbrook (6-3): Andrew knocked off the Raiders on Friday. The Thunderbolts have had a good season, but they lost to Lockport in Week 8. Picking up the third loss was possibly devastating to Bolingbrook’s playoff hopes. The Raiders are just the No. 21 seed and will have to play at Hinsdale Central in the first round.
Hersey (8-1): One loss and you drop out of the rankings? It’s a rough world. Hersey lost the MSL showdown to Rolling Meadows, which now joins the Super 25.
Oswego (8-1): It was a short one-week stay for the Panthers, who lost to Minooka.
Providence (6-3): I’ve shown a lot of faith in the Celtics this season, but losing 41-21 to Montini and picking up a third loss has knocked them out.
New additions
Marist (5-4): The record is not pretty, but the losses are to Notre Dame, Brother Rice, Mount Carmel and Nazareth. Nothing to be ashamed of there. And yes, the Saturday afternoon Week 9 games have a weird feel to them, coming just hours before the playoff pairings are announced. But a win against Loyola in Wilmette is always impressive.
Montini (7-2): The Broncos are back after knocking off Providence. They were ranked highly in the preseason and have a great shot at the Class 5A state title.
Rolling Meadows (9-0): Undefeated. It is going to be quite a year for Rolling Meadows’ sports apparently. The Mustangs beat Hersey and are in the Super 25 for the first time this season. They’ve only beaten three teams with winning records though, so there is still a lot to prove.
St. Rita (6-3): So the CCL/ESCC teams are pretty, pretty good. It’s doubtful that surprises anyone. The Mustangs took down Notre Dame on Friday (The Dons better get healthy quickly.)
Week 10’s Super 25
With record and last week’s ranking
1. Lincoln-Way East (9-0) 1
8A: vs. Plainfield South
2. Mount Carmel (9-0) 2
7A: vs. Eisenhower
3. Nazareth (9-0) 3
7A: vs. Libertyville
4. Glenbard West (9-0) 5
8A: vs. Downers Grove South
5. Neuqua Valley (8-1) 6
8A: vs. Conant
6. Warren (9-0) 8
8A: vs. Plainfield East
7. Loyola (6-3) 4
8A: at No. 10 Maine South
8. Homewood-Flossmoor (8-1) 7
8A: vs. Curie
9. Hinsdale Central (8-1) 11
8A: vs. Bolingbrook
10. Maine South (7-2) 12
8A: vs. No. 7 Loyola
11. Hillcrest (8-1) 15
5A: vs. St. Laurence
12. Batavia (7-2) 16
7A: vs. Thornwood
13. Simeon (6-1) 13
6A: vs. Lakes
14. Phillips (7-1) 14
7A: vs. Lincoln-Way West
15. Minooka (9-0) 17
8A: vs. Joliet West
16. Richards (8-1) 18
6A: vs. Washington, IL
17. Notre Dame (7-2) 9
8A: vs. Barrington
18. Montini (7-2) NR
5A: vs. Elmwood Park
19. St. Rita (6-3) NR
5A: vs. Glenbard South
20. Crete-Monee (9-0) 20
6A: vs. Bremen
21. Huntley (8-1) 22
8A: vs. Taft
22. Willowbrook (8-1) 23
7A: vs. Lake Zurich
23. Prairie Ridge (8-1) 24
6A: vs. Grayslake North
24. Rolling Meadows (9-0) NR
7A: vs. Lincoln Park
25. Marist (5-4) NR
8A: at Glenbard East
