What you need to know ahead of the IHSA football playoffs selections for 2023

On Saturday night, the 256 high school football teams in the 2023 Illinois state playoffs — 68 conference champions and 188 at-large teams — will know who and where they play to open the postseason.

But you have questions.

We have answers.

Here is a look at some of the frequently asked questions about the Illinois High School Association playoffs and how the eight-class field is set.

Looking for the brackets? You can find them here

Who's already in the IHSA football playoffs?

Heading into Week 9, there are 219 teams with five or more wins and another 73 with four wins. Officially, as of Friday morning, a total of 149 teams have earned berths via conference championships or by winning six or more games. The final 107 playoff teams will be those who win their sixth game this weekend and the remaining five-win teams with the highest playoff points. If there are still open spots after five-win teams are in, the four-win teams with the highest number of playoff points complete the field.

What are IHSA playoff points?

Add the number of victories by the nine teams on your schedule: those are your playoff points. The higher the number, the tougher the schedule and the more likely a team with fewer than six wins makes the field. They also help determine seeds within a class.

Behind the scenes: The not-so-secret formula behind the Illinois football playoff process

How many IHSA playoff points does a team need?

If history is any indication, between 35 and 37 points gets a five-win team in the field; last season a five-win team with 27 playoff points got in. That low threshold for inclusion could continue this season as more programs drop to 8-player football and four-win teams again make the field. Four-win teams need a much higher playoff point total to qualify.

Wait. Teams with losing records could get in?

Yep. For the first time since the IHSA expanded to eight classes in 2001, the field of 256 last season included an at-large team with four wins — Buffalo Grove. This is largely because of the dwindling number of programs caused by schools combining to join co-ops or programs shifting from 11-player to 8-player football. Heading into Week 9, IHSA bracketologist Steve Soucie of Friday Night Drive projects four teams with four wins will earn at-large berths this season: Chicago Brother Rice, LaGrange Park Nazareth, Glenview Glenbrook South and Chicago Taft.

How do we know who is in each class?

First, forget everything about polls or playoff outlooks. A school's in-season classification is strictly a guideline and has no bearing on its postseason class. The IHSA will take the 256 teams that qualify and place them in order of football enrollment (including non-boundaried multipliers, teams playing up and success adjustments). The 32 qualifiers with the lowest enrollments will make up Class 1A, the 32 with the next highest will be 2A, and so on, through all eight classes.

What are 'playing up' and 'success adjustment'?

Programs have the option to “play up” into a larger class than their enrollment dictates, an option exercised this season by two schools: East St. Louis (6A) and Chicago St. Rita (7A).

For the first time since 2019, a team will be bumped up a class by the "success adjustment." Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin will play in Class 5A after it won the Class 4A championship last season.

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How are the pairings determined?

For the six smallest classes (1A through 6A), the IHSA will divide each 32-team field into 16-team halves based on geography. Seeds within each half are based on: 1) wins, 2) wins by opponents, 3) wins of defeated opponents. After that, ties are broken based on: 1) head-to-head results and 2) random selection by computer. Teams will be paired 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, and so on. Class 7A and 8A will be fully seeded as 32-team fields (1 vs. 32, 2 vs. 31, etc.)

Who gets to host playoff games?

In the first round, the better seed is host. In subsequent rounds, the team that has hosted fewer times during the current playoffs series is host. If both have hosted an equal number of times, host site defers back to the better seed.

When are Illinois high school football playoff games?

First-round games are the weekend of Oct. 27-28. Playoff games must be played on Saturday unless both schools agree to play on Friday. Friday games must not be scheduled during school hours, and Saturday games must start between 1-7 p.m. The schools must agree on the starting time of the game; if not, the IHSA will set the kickoff time.

How can I watch the IHSA playoff pairings show?

In some statewide markets, the IHSA football pairings show will air live from 8-9 p.m. Saturday through the IHSA TV Network, on the NFHS Network and live on ihsa.org. In Peoria, because of an agreement to air ACC football that was signed in August, the pairings show will air on a one-hour tape delay, starting at 9 p.m. on WEEK's CW (channel 25.3). IHSA TV announcer Dave Bernhard and Matt Rodewald will reveal the first-round matchups.

Where are Illinois state title football games?

At Hancock Stadium in Normal. The 1A through 4A title games will be on Friday, Nov. 24. The four largest class title games will be on Saturday, Nov. 25.

Wes Huett is Journal Star sports and news editor. Email him at whuett@pjstar.com. Follow him on X @WesHuett.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA football playoffs: Guide to Illinois high school bracket picks