Seeding week is here. By the end of this week all the sectional seeds will be in place and the brackets revealed as we prepare for the sprint to Champaign a month from now.
Coaches from around the state will seed the sectionals online beginning Wednesday.
This specific annual exercise of mine is always in preparation for those sectional seeding debates –– a cheat sheet, if you will.
There are five criteria I look at and combine in seeding these sectionals:
- Team records
- Strength of schedule/quality wins
- Head-to-head results with sectional opponents
- How a team is currently playing
- When in doubt or debate, the eye test comes into play
In addition to the provided sectional seeds, I try to give an overview as to why those seeds were given for each sectional.
There is always going to be debate. We will see what happens this week, but after watching and evaluating all season long, and then scouring through the individual team’s résumés, here is how I would seed the Chicago area sectionals.
Elgin Sectional
1. Barrington (18-4)
2. Lake Zurich (17-7)
3. Palatine (20-8)
4. Stevenson (17-8)
5. Prospect (20-6)
6. Rolling Meadows (19-7)
7. Conant (14-10)
8. Fremd (15-8)
Overview: This is a sectional with a whole lot of equality in terms of records and who they’ve played.
You always wonder if a heavy dose of teams from one conference –– in this case the Mid-Suburban League –– pushes the needle for teams in that league when it comes to the seeds. I have six of the top eight teams in this sectional from the MSL.
Barrington has been hot. The Broncos have only lost once since December, and that includes an impressive win over New Trier. Plus, Barrington has sectional wins over Palatine, Fremd and Rolling Meadows. That’s all enough to easily earn the first seed in this sectional.
Lake Zurich is even better than its record. The Bears have played the best schedule in the sectional, a slate where they’ve faced ranked teams Loyola, New Trier, Waubonsie Valley, Warren, York and Lake Forest and played them all tough. In five of those losses the point differential has been a grand total of just 17 points. The Bears are deserving of a No. 2 seed.
Then it becomes a challenging sectional to seed. There are five teams –– Palatine, Fremd, Rolling Meadows, Stevenson and Prospect –– who you could all debate where they belong. Let’s try and sort it out.
Palatine has played nine teams that have been ranked at one point this season. The Pirates have gone 3-6 in those games. Those results include: an overtime loss to Glenbrook South; one-point loss to Warren; two-point loss to Barrington; and single-digit defeats to Downers Grove North and Bolingbrook.
Plus, Palatine has beaten Lake Forest, Riverside-Brookfield and Yorkville, three teams that have been ranked at some point this season.
Stevenson, Prospect and Rolling Meadows are all in the mix for the four through six seeds. Stevenson, though, has wins over highly-ranked Warren, Lake Zurich and York to push them ahead. Plus, the Patriots walloped Prospect 61-42 in January. Stevenson nabs the No. 4 seed.
Rolling Meadows and Prospect have split their two games. They have played similar schedules and have nearly identical records. It’s a flip of the coin. Prospect won the most recent meeting and has won 11 of 13 with the only losses coming to Stevenson and ranked Downers Grove North.
Conant has played its best basketball since the calendar turned to 2024 and beat Fremd convincingly back in December. So it’s Conant at No. 7 and Fremd at No. 8.
East Aurora Sectional
1. Bolingbrook (20-4)
2. Downers Grove North (22-4)
3. Benet (20-5)
4. Waubonsie Valley (23-1)
5. Metea Valley (17-9)
6. Oswego East (18-9)
7. Neuqua Valley (20-7)
8. Yorkville (16-10)
Overview: This is going to take awhile.
This is a deep sectional with what appears to be as many as seven or eight teams who could enter regional play with 20-plus wins. This is also, from top to bottom, the most difficult sectional to seed. And that starts at the top.
Waubonsie Valley was humming along, winning game after game after game, before losing its first one this past weekend to Bolingbrook, 71-56. A win over Bolingbrook and there is no way anyone could have seeded the Warriors anywhere but No. 1.
The drop to No. 4 as a result of one loss almost seems unfair. But the combination of losing to a sectional foe by 15 points days before seeding, along with the fact the Warriors have not played near the schedule the other three teams they are battling against for the top four spots, and it starts to become more clear.
Waubonsie’s best win of the season came over Normal. But both Downers Grove North and Benet beat Normal. Thus, the win becomes a wash when comparing schedules. The next best wins are over the likes of Neuqua Valley, DeKalb, Metea Valley and Lake Zurich. All are solid teams but none have been a constant in the rankings and none are currently ranked.
So who’s No. 1?
Again, this is the most difficult top-of-the-sectional to seed of any in the state. Bolingbrook, Benet and Downers Grove North could all have a legitimate claim to be the No. 1 seed. All three have had their chances to secure it but are lacking the big, signature win that separates them from the other two.
Benet has lost to Curie, Thornton, Mount Carmel and Marist –– four teams ranked all season, including three that are currently in the top five. But an upset loss to Marian Catholic this past Sunday came at an inopportune time. The best wins are over Marist, Bloom and Normal.
Downers Grove North has lost to highly-ranked Curie, Metamora and Homewood-Flossmoor, along with a loss to Hinsdale Central without star Jack Stanton. DGN’s best wins are over Metea Valley, Palatine, York, Prospect and Normal.
Bolingbrook’s four losses have come to Warren, Metamora, Homewood-Flossmoor –– three teams who have been among the state’s best –– and to Oswego East at the buzzer. The Raiders have beaten five 20-plus win teams: Decatur MacArthur (21-3), York, Palatine, Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley. Plus, the win over Waubonsie Valley was big, convincing, on the road and recent.
What we have here are win totals and losses that are almost identical between the three. There are even several common opponents each team has beaten and lost to this season. So for me, all things equal, it comes down to the look test –– who I think would beat the other –– combined with who is playing the best right now.
Bolingbrook looked awfully impressive in beating an unbeaten, highly-ranked team on the road. They played terrific in a heavyweight matchup with Metamora, losing in overtime. With some significant help from Marian Catholic, which beat Benet on Sunday, the Raiders secured the top seed.
Metea Valley has a nice win total, split with Neuqua Valley but winning the most recent matchup, and has beaten Oswego East. The Mustangs, who do play Yorkville on Tuesday, get a slight edge as the No. 5 seed.
Oswego East owns a significant win over Bolingbrook and has also beaten sectional teams Yorkville and Neuqua Valley, a team that has scuffled of late in losing three straight games. But Oswego East’s loss to Metea has to matter with both teams playing similar schedules and having near-equal win totals. The Wolves grab the sixth seed. Neuqua Valley then settles in at No. 7.
The No. 8 seed comes down to Yorkville, Downers Grove South and West Aurora. Yorkville gets the edge.
Since its 3-5 start to the season, Yorkville is 13-5 over the past two months. The Foxes lost to West Aurora back in early December but did so while playing shorthanded. Even with a Yorkville win Tuesday night over Metea Valley, the belief here is Metea has done enough work within the sectional –– beating both Oswego East and Neuqua recently –– to maintain that No. 5 seed.
West Aurora has skidded badly the past two weeks. Downers Grove South has the win total but a strength of schedule, with a win over Leyden as its most impressive win, that keeps DGS out of the top eight.
Rich Sectional
1. Homewood-Flossmoor (24-3)
2. Marist (21-4)
3. Rich (18-7)
4. Bloom (14-8)
5. Joliet West (17-9)
6. Romeoville (18-9)
7. Lincoln-Way East (15-9)
8. Eisenhower (20-6)
Overview: The south suburbs heats up with everyone trying to take down the top team, Homewood-Flossmoor. The Vikings are the overwhelming top seed.
Marist’s huge win over Benet this past weekend vaults the Redhawks past a jumbled group of teams vying for seeds two through five.
There is a logjam after H-F and Marist. The group of Bloom, Rich, Lincoln-Way East and Joliet West must settle the next four seeds. The only head-to-head is Rich’s win over Joliet West.
Bloom has that big, huge Thornton win from early December. That carries a lot of weight when considering the upside of a team. But since that impressive 5-1 start, the Blazing Trojans are just 9-7. The schedule, however, has been a rugged one and helps land the fourth seed.
Joliet West is playing the best basketball among Lincoln-Way East and Romeoville and easily nabs the fifth seed. Romeoville started the year 12-1 but is just 6-8 since. However, the Spartans have won three of their last four while Lincoln-Way East has dropped four straight games.
Eisenhower has won eight straight since playing Brother Rice tough in an early January loss. Plus, three of its six losses have come to highly-ranked teams in Brother Rice, Homewood-Flossmoor and Marist. That’s good enough for an eight seed.
Stagg, which has played a tough schedule, jumped off to a 11-2 start but has gone 5-8 since late December and settles just outside the top eight.
Riverside-Brookfield Sectional
1. Curie (24-2)
2. Kenwood (20-6)
3, Riverside-Brookfield (22-4)
4. Lincoln Park (17-8)
5. Young (15-11)
6. Simeon (13-12)
7. St. Ignatius (14-11)
8. Oak Lawn (18-6)
Overview: This is such a different looking sectional in comparison to what we’ve grown accustomed to over the years. Simeon and Young together but a combined 24-23 on the year? Bizzaro world.
With that being said, it’s truly one of the easiest sectionals to seed, even with some prominent teams playing in the Chicago Public League playoffs Tuesday night. There is a definitive No. 1 and enough head-to-head results within the sectional to figure this out.
Curie is without question the team to beat and the No. 1 seed.
Kenwood’s win total, schedule strength and how they’ve been playing of late earns the Broncos the No. 2 seed, while Riverside-Brookfield, which owns a January win over Lincoln Park and has beaten St. Ignatius, checks in as the third seed.
Look for a Red North-West rematch in the regional final –– only this time Lincoln Park will be traveling to Young. These two should settle in as the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds. Lincoln Park beat Young back in December.
Probably the biggest debate is whether Simeon or St. Ignatius is the sixth seed. The win totals and the schedule strength are very similar. But Simeon’s recent play has been better, losing to highly-ranked Curie by just three and beating Hyde Park and Lindblom.
Oak Lawn has a nice win total but without the schedule that Simeon and St. Ignatius have played.
Addison Trail Sectional
1. Lake Park (24-3)
2. York (21-6)
3. Batavia (16-8)
4. Glenbard North (17-9)
5. Proviso East (15-10)
6. Glenbard West (13-12)
7. Wheaton North (15-10)
8. Wheaton South (13-14)
Overview: What an opportune time for some teams without historical postseason success. This is one of those soft sectionals where a run can be made while the two favorites, Lake Park and York, look to hold everyone else off.
York and Lake Park met this past weekend. Lake Park beat York in a tight one to settle things at the top.
Batavia and Glenbard North are in the DuKane Conference but have yet to play one another. Both have been up and down of late. Glenbard North is just 9-9 since the 8-0 start to its season.
Proviso East doesn’t have a single win that you would call a “quality” win. But in this sectional, 15 wins gets you something no matter who you’ve beaten.
Glenbard West throttled Wheaton North 62-31 just two weeks ago, while Wheaton North knocked off a scuffling Wheaton South last weekend.
Yes, Wheaton South did some damage in the early part of the season, including wins over Glenbard West and Wheaton North en route to a 6-3 start, but the Tigers have uncharacteristically really struggled over the past month.
Bartlett is 14-5 since its rough 1-6 start to the season, but the Hawks haven’t beaten anyone to rise above the No. 9 seed.
Maine South Sectional
1. Loyola (23-5)
2. Glenbrook North (21-5)
3. New Trier (22-6)
4. Glenbrook South (20-6)
5. Niles North (19-6)
6. Evanston (19-9)
7. Lane (17-10)
8. Niles West (17-9)
(NOTE: If Glenbrook South were to beat New Trier Tuesday night, the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds would be swapped.)
Overview: There is always a ton of familiarity on the North Shore with so many teams from the Central Suburban League always among the top eight seeds. More often than not, it’s a tricky sectional to seed. This year is no exception.
Before this past weekend, Glenbrook North, Loyola and New Trier could all make a claim for being the No. 1 seed. They have all played one another. They all have nearly identical records. But recent results matter, and New Trier falling to Evanston and Glenbrook North’s loss to Maine South were ill-timed defeats.
Loyola, meanwhile, has won 15 of its last 17 games, including wins over Glenbrook North and Evanston. The loss to New Trier came all the way back in November –– and it came with Loyola missing three of its top seven players due to football. The Ramblers have earned the top seed.
Glenbrook North, the No. 2 seed, beat New Trier a month ago and also owns a recent win over Glenbrook South.
New Trier has played a strong schedule. But recent losses to Barrington, Evanston and West Aurora dropped the Trevians to the third seed. But the split with Evanston and wins over Glenbrook South, Lake Forest, Bloom, Joliet West and Kenwood solidified this seed — for now. A loss to Glenbrook South Tuesday night would drop them to the four seed.
Glenbrook South has some nice wins on the year, beating York, Palatine, St. Laurence, DeKalb, Rolling Meadows and Neuqua Valley. And the January win over Evanston elevates the Titans to the No. 4 seed.
Niles North has beaten Niles West, Lane and Evanston and grabs the No. 5 seed.
As well as an improving Evanston has played of late, it’s been a little bit too little, too late for seed purposes. The Wildkits just don’t have the sectional wins, losing to Loyola, Glenbrook North, Glenbrook South and Niles North in the past month.
The 7-8-9 seeds come down to Niles West, Leyden and Lane. It’s Lane that is currently playing its best basketball of the year –– and the most dangerous –– while playing the toughest schedule of the three, leaving Niles West and Leyden as the 8-9 seeds.
Class 3A
Hinsdale South Sectional
1. Mount Carmel (25-3)
2. St. Laurence (16-10)
3. De La Salle (17-9)
4. Hyde Park (16-8)
5. Lindblom (16-10)
6. St. Francis (16-10)
7. Hinsdale South (12-15)
8. Glenbard South (16-11)
Overview: Mount Carmel is the overwhelming top-seeded team. Then it’s the Chicago Public League and Chicago Catholic League with a bunch of nearly identical records filling the next five lines.
St. Laurence has wins on its résumé that are impressive, beating Rolling Meadows, Bloom and, most importantly, De La Salle. Plus, the schedule has included tough non-conference matchups, including a loss to Downers Grove North and to Marist in overtime.
Lindblom has been a bit of a yo-yo. The season includes a marquee win over Curie. But it also has the same win total as Hyde Park and lost to the Thunderbirds earlier this season. Hyde Park gets the nod as the higher seeded team as the two Public League foes should battle it out again in No. 4 vs. No. 5 regional final.
Hinsdale South has played a tougher schedule than Glenbard South and owns a win over them to earn the No. 7 seed.
Fenwick Sectional
1. St. Patrick (17-9)
2. Fenwick (14-9)
3. Westinghouse (18-7)
4. Payton (9-14)
5. Clemente (16-10)
6. Little Village (18-9)
7. North Grand (7-10)
8. Prosser (13-14)
Overview: Quite a sectional we have here without a single team currently with 20 wins on the season.
St. Patrick and Fenwick are locked in as the top two seeds and there isn’t even a debate.
The debate comes at No. 3 and No. 4. Westinghouse has a much better record, tied for the top spot in the Public League’s Red North-West, and has played a much tougher schedule. But the Warriors were upset by Payton in January. Nonetheless, we are counting that as a one-off and awarding Westinghouse the No. 3 seed as a result of beating Lane, Stevenson, Niles North and Lincoln Park.
Payton receives the No. 4 seed and then it’s up for grabs, though it’s Clemente that slides into the No. 5 seed. The Wildcats have played the better schedule of the remaining teams and own a win over Little Village.
Little Village beat North Grand. North Grand beat Prosser.
St. Viator Sectional
1. DePaul Prep (24-2)
2. Lake Forest (20-5)
3. Deerfield (13-12)
4. Notre Dame (13-14)
5. Fenton (23-4)
6. Wauconda (15-10)
7. Grayslake Central (17-8)
8. St. Viator (15-13)
Overview: This is a hodgepodge of a sectional with different teams from a wide range of different conferences and, to a degree, different geographical locations.
DePaul makes the jump to Class 3A and secures the top seed while Lake Forest is the clear No. 2 seed. That much we are certain of in this sectional.
Then you really need to take into account schedule strength. The records of Deerfield and Notre Dame aren’t going to wow anyone, but they have played by far the best schedules among the next six potential seeded teams.
Notre Dame has beaten St. Viator and Marian Catholic, and they have played Marist, Benet, Prospect and Loyola very tough in defeat. Deerfield took care of sectional teams Grayslake Central, St. Viator and Wauconda while playing in the rugged Central Suburban League South. All of that pushes these two above teams with more impressive win totals.
You have to love the season Fenton has put together. It’s been another record-breaking effort from the Bison for school wins. But the best win of the year came over Fremd –– and it came way back in November.
Wauconda and Grayslake Central are battling it out for the top spot in the Northern Lake County Conference. Wauconda beat Grayslake Central by 18 points in January to earn the No. 6 seed.
Thornton Sectional
1. Thornton (23-3)
2. Brother Rice (23-3)
3. Marian Catholic (18-8)
4. Evergreen Park (18-9)
5. Hillcrest (14-11)
6. TF North (12-9)
7. Lemont (15-10)
8. Crete-Monee (12-13)
Overview: There isn’t much to debate with the top three or the order they’re in. It’s Thornton’s sectional to lose with Brother Rice and Marian Catholic battling for a right to get a shot at the Wildcats.
Evergreen Park, which is approaching 20 wins and is fresh off beating Hillcrest last weekend, lands the fourth seed.
Hillcrest, the No. 5 seed, is an uncharacteristic 14-11, but the Hawks have played their typical strong schedule and have won 10 of their last 12. Plus, they have a win over Lemont.
TF North picked up a win over Lemont last week.
