Schmit: Playoffs? There’s still unfinished business in Week 9

On to the playoffs … or maybe not quite yet.

It seems like the Daily Herald neighborhood is divided into two camps — those focused on Friday’s Mid-Suburban League East showdown between Hersey and Prospect, and those waiting for the playoffs to begin next week.

Believe me, we’re all anxious to see how the expanded IHSA playoffs work out. How stir crazy will the top 16 seeds in each class get with a week off?

It offers a chance to heal up, but it’ll be extremely odd. It’s a far cry from the days of the Wednesday first-round games and struggling to get through three games in seven or eight days.

But I digress. My point is, we can’t look at the playoffs until we deal with unfinished business in the final week of the regular season. That is, unfinished business beyond George Gattas Memorial Stadium in Mt. Prospect.

Let’s hit some of the high points of Week 9 around the area.

Win and in?

The Central Suburban North boasts the area’s most intriguing Week 9 game.

Vernon Hills and Maine West face off in a matchup of 2-6 teams. Because three-win teams are a virtual lock for the expanded playoffs, the winner of that game is likely in the field.

The loser? Wait and see how many two-win teams get in.

Keeping hope alive

The expansion to 384 qualifiers means a bunch of two-win teams will make the playoffs. How many? We won’t know until this weekend’s games are done.

Two-win teams with the most playoff points (the total number of wins by opponents) will get the nod. So the tougher your schedule, the better chance you have.

In our area, Lake Park and Benet are teams to watch if neither gets a third and clinching victory Friday. The Lancers play St. Charles North (4-4), while Benet faces St. Patrick (5-3).

Lake Park and Benet, respectively, have 45 and 44 playoff points, the third and fourth most in the state among two-win teams. Five one-win teams have at least that many points.

It’s something to keep an eye on this weekend.

The others

There are a handful of other two-win area teams in more need of a third victory to seal a playoff berth. Additional tiebreakers are ready if teams have the same number of playoff points.

Two-win teams Crystal Lake South (38 playoff points), Rolling Meadows (38), Round Lake (37) and St. Edward (36) definitely have unfinished business. Respectively, they play Jacobs (7-1), Elk Grove (3-5), North Chicago (1-7) and McNamara (6-2).

That Round Lake-North Chicago game is interesting. If the Panthers earn that third victory in a winnable game, they’ll likely qualify for the first time since 2001.

One-win area teams include Bartlett (42), Schaumburg (38) and St. Viator (33), but they’ll struggle to qualify even with a second win.

By the numbers

The field expanded from 256 teams, still spread across eight classes. Thirty-two teams will play opening-round round games in each class next week, with the winners advancing to face the top 16 seeds the following week.

According to the IHSA, 287 teams have clinched playoff berths. There are 154 hopefuls vying for 97 remaining spots.