Playoff Expansion and Realignment
The Illinois High School Association is set to expand the state football playoffs from 256 to 384 teams for the 2026 season, marking the first increase in the tournament’s 25‑year history. The change brings a 50 % growth in participants and introduces byes for the first time in the 52‑year playoff tradition.
Practice sessions will begin on August 20, the earliest start date ever, to accommodate the larger bracket and the new postseason structure. The opening round will be played on October 23‑24, with roughly two‑thirds of the teams taking the field, and the winners will then meet the bye teams on October 30‑31.
Analyst Steve Soucie predicts that every team with three wins and any two‑win team that has faced a strong schedule will secure a playoff spot, meaning the new thresholds will reshape how programs schedule non‑conference games throughout the regular season.
Conference realignments are also reshaping the landscape. The SouthWest Suburban and DuPage Valley football leagues have split into separate entities, restoring rivalries that were paused during a previous merger. The 24‑team Catholic League is no longer co‑branded with the East Suburban Catholic Conference, and divisions have been reorganized, with Montini moving to the Green division alongside reigning 5A champion St. Francis, 7A runner‑up St. Rita and 6A semifinalist Nazareth.
The Public League will be restructured into two top‑tier divisions — Red Star and Red Shield — plus a second‑tier Red division and a new White division, providing clearer pathways for teams at different competitive levels.
On the sidelines, Loyola High School welcomes back John Holecek as head coach after a three‑year absence. Holecek, who previously coached the team from 2006 to 2022, amassed 185 wins, three state titles and four runner‑up finishes. He replaces Beau Desherow, who has been promoted to general manager of the football program and assistant head coach after guiding Loyola to back‑to‑back state championships in 2023 and 2024.