Maybe it's not a big change
Welcome back, football.
We missed you.
We missed the sights, the sounds and the smells ... especially from those concession stand grills.
Eyes on Five returns with a look at some of the stories affecting DuPage County football heading into the 2015 season.
1. Valleys in the Valley:
The addition of Metea Valley, Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley gives the DuPage Valley Conference a bunch of firepower in its claim as the state's toughest football league.
But what's the actual impact? Quite honestly, it's not going to affect the traditional DVC teams much at all.
Look at Wheaton Warrenville South. Last season in nonconference play the Tigers faced Class 7A semifinalist Glenbard West, perennial Class 8A power Maine South and Morgan Park, a Class 6A qualifier. They filled out their schedule by playing DVC rival Naperville Central twice.
It's tough to make an argument that WW South has a tougher schedule with Metea, Neuqua, Waubonsie and Upstate Eight Conference crossover opponent West Chicago instead of those four teams.
That's not to say the Tigers will roll through their schedule. These are good teams.
The point, though, is that the traditional DVC teams typically played brutal nonconference schedules in the past because no one else would play them.
Last year Wheaton North played Class 7A finalist Cary-Grove, 8A semifinalist Simeon and Joliet Catholic. Naperville Central already had Neuqua and Waubonsie on its nonconference schedule.
The impact of the Metea, Neuqua and Waubonsie additions will be felt mostly by those three schools because the grind of the DVC is unlike anything they experienced in the Upstate Eight.
How the three newcomers respond to the grind will be interesting to watch. That response will help define the DVC's reputation as a top football conference moving forward.
2. What's next?:
While the three District 204 schools add stability, what's going to happen to the nine-school DuPage Valley Conference moving forward?
An odd number for a football conference is not good because as eight teams play each other every week, one team is left searching for a nonconference game. And trying to schedule nonconference games deep in the season is never easy.
It's not a problem this year because the DVC is crossing over with the also-odd Upstate Eight Conference for bye weeks. But the crossover's only for one year, which means next season the teams with bye weeks after the first two games will be scrambling for opponents.
Solutions aren't evident, unless you consider a road trip to Michigan a solution. So the DVC is left looking for a 10th member so it can split into divisions and solve its scheduling problems.
Any options out there? Few are realistic.
One school that keeps coming up in conversation is Oswego. The DVC sent an invitation that was warmly received, but there are hurdles to the Panthers joining the league.
One of the taller hurdles is what happens with Oswego East? The DVC would love to add Oswego while the Wolves join the Upstate Eight to bring an even number to that conference. They might be in different leagues, but they could still play each other in nonconference competition.
For now it sounds like it's quiet on that front, but something could heat up soon.
We'll keep you updated.
3. Straight seeder:
Prep football fans from near and far celebrated the IHSA's decision to return to straight 1-to-32 playoff seeding in Class 7A and 8A. The change will take effect this postseason.
It means an end to the dreaded system of geographic playoff quadrants that forced groups of eight nearby schools to play each other regardless of the abundance of strength in the quadrant. Whether you had nine wins or five, you knew you'd be stuck playing the same teams year after year.
That all changes this season, and it suddenly makes the regular season a little more important. Get that 9-0 record and a potential No. 1 seed, and you earn the advantage of playing the 32nd-seeded five-win team with few playoff points.
Sure beats facing battle-tested DVC or Chicago Catholic Blue schools in a geographic quadrant.
4. Play Smart, Play Hard:
That's the name of the program initiated this year by the IHSA in an effort to improve athlete safety. It's part of a bigger effort to make sure prep football in Illinois becomes as safe as possible.
While an emphasis on better tackling technique is paramount, the elimination of dangerous hits also looms large.
Last week at the West Suburban Conference preseason meeting, the coaches watched a video sponsored by the National Federation of State High School Associations that featured a montage of plays demonstrating unnecessary and dangerous hits - hits the NFHS wants officials to start flagging as illegal.
While many of the plays were obvious cheap shots, other plays featured hits deemed legal in the past. In fact the players in the video were probably lauded by coaches when they watched the film.
Not anymore. Specifically, peel-back blocks where players are blindsided by an opponent are to be flagged by officials. Even though it's a hit in the front, above the waist and not at the head, the NFHS views it as unnecessarily violent and dangerous.
That's not to say officials will start flagging those plays. It's still a judgment call.
It's a signal, though, that change is coming.
5. Stat time:
Fourteen teams in DuPage County made the playoffs last season.
What will be the magic number in 2015?
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