Schmit: Intriguing 4-5 teams and other fun facts from the opening round of the IHSA football playoffs

Maybe we’ve been looking at this the wrong way.

As we enter a new era of expanded IHSA football playoffs, most of the focus has been on the 2-7 teams sneaking into the field. There’s a significant percentage of fans who believe they don’t belong.

For decades, though, we’ve mourned the loss of talented 4-5 teams that just missed out on the pre-expansion field of 256. The drive for five wins was no joke. Anyone who was involved in a Week 9 showdown between 4-4 teams can attest to that.

But now, 4-5 teams are welcomed with open arms. Forget the drive for five.

So as we look at some fun facts heading into the opening round of the playoffs this weekend (the first round, technically, is next week when the top seeds join the fray), let’s start by analyzing how the 4-5 teams might make an impact on the brackets.

Four for more

More than 60 teams with 4-5 records are in this season’s field of 384. Our area’s four-win qualifiers represent a particularly fascinating bunch.

There’s defending Class 5A champion St. Francis and Lakes, which eked into the field at 5-4 in its previous three appearances. Lisle — back playing varsity football after a year of regrouping at the junior varsity level — returns for the first time since 2022.

A year ago, all those programs and more would have been heartbroken outsiders. Last week St. Francis lost 28-24 to fellow defending champ Montini. Lakes, after starting 1-5, recovered to win three straight. That’d be a tough way to go out.

In the past there was a true sense of “what if” when certain 4-5 teams just missed out. All these four-win teams yearn for a shot in the second season.

That sense of “what if” doesn’t exist with the 2-7 teams left out of the playoffs this season. The reality is far more clear for them.

Private school bonanza

Speaking of 4-5 teams, Nazareth enters Week 10 with the same record it had in 2023 when the Roadrunners became the first state champion with five losses.

Nazareth and its Chicago Catholic League colleagues will receive a huge boost with playoff expansion. After playing some of the toughest schedules in the state, the CCL qualifiers will be dangerous in every bracket regardless of their record.

Of the 24 CCL teams across six divisions, 21 qualified. St. Francis and Nazareth have four wins, while Carmel, Marmion, St. Laurence and DePaul Prep have three. Benet was the lone two-win qualifier from the CCL.

Private schools are again expected to win a large chunk of the state titles next month. But even the teams not favored to hoist hardware will cause damage in the brackets.

Do you think Kaneland, after enjoying a bye this weekend as the second seed in the northern Class 5A bracket, likes the possibility of facing St. Francis right off the bat?

Pirate pride

Congrats to another area 4-5 team, Palatine, for extending its playoff streak to six seasons in a row. Now comes the bad news.

In 15 appearances since 2007, the Pirates have always been in Class 8A. That changed this year, when they wound up as the largest school in 7A with an enrollment of 2,322.

Palatine missed out on 8A by six students. The term “missed out” is appropriate because the last place you want to be this postseason is Class 7A.

In addition to usual suspects like Brother Rice, Batavia, Glenbard West and Downers Grove North — not to mention Mid-Suburban League powers Hersey and Prospect — nationally ranked East St. Louis petitioned the IHSA to play up in 7A after spending the last six appearances in 6A.

Class 8A looks pretty good compared to the 7A minefield.

Conference call

The CCL wasn’t the only deep league to benefit from playoff expansion.

All eight DuKane Conference teams qualified, along with nine of the 10 Fox Valley Conference teams. All but two MSL teams are in and seven of the eight North Suburban Conference teams.

The list goes on and on, from the West Suburban to the DuPage Valley. Now it’s time to find out which conferences reign supreme.