Schmit: There’s a playoff football bracket of death, and it’s not Class 8A

Imagine you’re Hersey, Prospect or Downers Grove North, just minding your own business in the midst of an unbeaten prep football season.

It’s looking pretty good, right? You already know it’s a playoff season, one where you’re destined to be among the top seeds in your class. Even with a potential loss in the next few weeks, the future looks bright.

But then you remember those other hopefuls. The ones who, for various reasons, petitioned the IHSA to play in a class (or two) above their official enrollments.

The ones who now stand as the biggest challenges in the approaching postseason. Welcome to the looming bracket of death in Class 7A.

Welcome to Batavia, which last year accepted the IHSA’s two-year commitment for a chance to move up with a football enrollment fluctuating between 6A and 7A. The Bulldogs have fared well in both through the years, claiming a 6A title in 2013 and a 7A crown in 2017.

If the Bulldogs win their last three games, they’ll finish at 7-2 with losses to Rochester and Geneva. It’s a team that might love an early road playoff game or two so they’d host those coveted later rounds in Batavia.

Welcome Brother Rice to 7A as well. The multiplier’s boosted the Crusaders up with the bigger boys, although not far enough to push them into 8A with other private school powers like Loyola and Mt. Carmel.

Brother Rice is the defending 7A champion after beating South Side rival St. Rita in last year’s final. Not only is St. Rita multiplied, the Mustangs also asked the IHSA to play up in 7A for two years. Another addition to the minefield.

Finally — although this list is far from exhaustive — welcome to the kings of playing up. The worst news for everyone in the bracket is the decision by East St. Louis to play in 7A.

The Flyers, with a 5A enrollment, were in the midst of a two-year commitment to play up in 6A when last month they were granted another bump from the IHSA. East St. Louis begins its shift to 7A this season.

The Flyers, winners of 11 state titles, hold crowns in three classes throughout their illustrious football history. It’s traditionally the program everyone hopes to avoid in November.

Cary-Grove beat the Flyers twice in the last five years in the 6A final, and Fenwick beat them last year. But East St. Louis remains ridiculously talented and nationally ranked. It’s six straight title games and counting for the Flyers, who last won the 7A championship in 2016.

So where does that leave everyone else, the teams like Hersey, Prospect, Downers North, Glenbard West and the other 7A contenders? They won’t back down from anyone, and they never have. All four of those programs have championship hardware in their trophy cases.

But it does leave them with a task arguably more daunting than in Class 8A. With the surge in 7A power, the IHSA’s eight football classes now look awfully top-heavy.

Can the Mid-Suburban League win its first title in 20 years? Will the West Suburban Silver return to the podium for the first time in a decade?

With the most likely roads leading through 7A, it won’t be easy.