Plenty of changes coming to IHSA football in 2026 including shakeup to MSL, CSL schedules

It’s December and athletic directors and high school football coaches are still trying to sort out the new meaning of the increases in state playoff qualifiers.

And even before that, there was a confluence of changes to the high school football landscape, especially in the suburbs.

On Tuesday, the Illinois High School Association announced its membership had passed an increase on playoff teams from 256 to 384. To accommodate that change, an earlier start to the season is needed with games beginning Aug. 21 instead of Aug. 28.

That earlier start will not only have athletic directors changing their football calendar, but it could force changes in other sports schedules that use football stadiums like boys soccer, girls flag football and band.

In addition, the earlier schedule could cause changes for football coaches to next summer’s practice schedules and heat acclimation period.

There was another change that had taken place before Tuesday’s IHSA announcement, the formal dissolution of the agreement between the Mid-Suburban League and the Central Suburban League. The agreement had teams playing two games each year between the conferences.

The MSL had dominated play since the series began in 2019, going 94-33. Last season may have been the last straw for the CSL. The MSL won 19 of the 24 games with Maine South winning two of those games.

There have been waves of ramifications because of that decision. MSL athletic directors led by AD coordinator for football Kirk MacNider of Elk Grove three times with other MSL AD’s to fill the gap.

“Everybody's just looking for parity,” MacNider said. “And games that put kids in a good position. Football is one of those sports that we all have a responsibility that you can't put kids in danger more than the natural situation. We all want games that are good, safe, appropriate, and that's what a lot of our conversations have been around.”

The DuPage Valley reached out to the MSL almost immediately. Five of the six DuPage schools agreed to play one game next season with DeKalb the only school not opting in.

That left a schedule for next season of Prospect vs. Naperville Central, Hersey-Neuqua Valley, Barrington-Naperville North, Fremd-Metea Valley and Palatine-Waubonsie Valley. The games will be played week three of next season with that agreement in place for one year.

Nearly all the MSL teams have filled their 2026 schedule with some teams playing other MSL teams. Week four in the MSL will be the traditional crossover games.

Barrington is still searching for week one and two games for its schedule. Other schools like Prospect and Hersey have replaced CSL teams with quality opponents. Prospect has scheduled a game with 4A state power Rochester for next season while Hersey will take on state power Carmel.

Over in the CSL, there were already huge changes to the conference makeup ready to take effect before the IHSA changes to the playoffs and start date: the CSL is due to revamp divisions this year.

But that could take a different turn with the conference considering to go with a quad system. That plan would have three divisions made up of four teams.Teams would play a game each within their group and then crossovers with one team in each division for five games.

Meanwhile Elk Grove, which won four games in 2023 and 2024 and three games this past season, is looking towards the new playoff configuration.

“I think the pressures that have existed around football are real,” MacNider said. “On kids and schools and conferences. So I just appreciate that this conversation has continued. This is a progression of getting football kind of on par with all the other sports.”

MacNider feels the ability for schools like Elk Grove to qualify for the playoffs with a losing record should help the Grenadiers grow their program.

“We’re working on building a culture of excellence,” MacNider said. “Our staff inherited a program that went to the playoffs the previous season. And our kids and coaches worked very hard for a long time to get back there. There is so much playoff pressure. So, I'm excited that this should alleviate that conversation, and now we can really just focus on week to week growth.”