At the beginning of the season it was largely expected that three teams were the most viable contenders to win an always deep Class 8A bracket.

That conversation started with three-time defending champion Loyola, who despite losing key players to graduation has proven they can’t be counted out of any postseason conversation.

Mount Carmel, whose consistent success at the 7A level moved them up to the Class 8A ranks, and Lincoln-Way East, whose powerful offense made them a legitimate threat to be in the mix, were two of the three.

But a series of unexpected circumstances led to a maximum of one of the trio ultimately potentially making it to the state finals.

Mount Carmel and Loyola will face off in the first round and due to a litany of injuries Lincoln-Way East dropped its last two games of the regular season and slipped into a seed position that will limit a maximum of one of the trio to reach the finals.

First-round matchups

Mount Carmel vs. Loyola: Unexpectedly, the two CCL/ESCC titans are locking horns for the second consecutive week after Loyola scuffled through the regular season and were shortchanged one regular-season game to make playoff qualification difficult. Mount Carmel has been as good as advertised and needs to keep its focus against a Loyola team that gave the Caravan a pretty good punch before succumbing 35-24. Mount Carmel is the favorite in Class 8A but this game is exactly the kind of game that could prove to be problematic if the Caravan isn’t sharp.

Pick: Mount Carmel

West Aurora vs. Belleville East: West Aurora is in the midst in of a five-winning streak and hopes to pick up at least one playoff victory for the second consecutive year. The Blackhawks will likely lean heavily on its offense that has scored at least 35 points in every game since a Week 1 loss to Hinsdale Central. Belleville East has beaten just two winning teams all season, both having netted just five victories.

Pick: West Aurora

Whitney Young vs. Palatine: Whitney Young had another strong regular season, but the Dolphins don’t typically step out of the Chicago Public League for any games so it’s hard to detect whether they can be viable outside of CPL contests. Palatine, on the other hand, can’t be connected to a less than spectacular schedule as there wasn’t a single team in the state with more opponent victories as the Pirates had 56 of them.

Pick: Palatine

Lincoln-Way East vs. Stevenson: Lincoln-Way East has labored through the last two of its games in the regular season after completely dominating the first seven games. Those last two games were played without several key players most notably USC QB recruit Jonas Williams. Williams and others are expected to return for the postseason and not a moment too soon. Stevenson would probably have preferred a different path after running into Lincoln-Way East in last year’s quarterfinals and walking away with a 45-0 loss.

Pick: Lincoln-Way East

Fremd vs. Huntley: Fremd has been practically unstoppable behind QB Johnny O’Brien and its lone loss to Barrington came without him under center due to injury. If Fremd has its full arsenal they certainly seem like a team that can make a deep run. Huntley is a 8A regular playoff combatant, but struggled to get to the five-win mark. On the flipside the Red Raiders gave most of the top teams in the Fox Valley a great fight before eventually succumbing.

Pick: Fremd

Lyons vs. York: Lyons upended York just a week ago in the regular-season capper as Lyons junior running back EJ Kuhlman set a single-game program rushing record. This matchup is an example of how cruel a very deep Class 8A bracket can be as both of these teams look like they have the components to be factors in this bracket but one of them is going home after round 1. A re-pairing of two conference rivals a week after they previous locked horns is certain something that there should be a failsafe to avoid in the current bracketing system.

Pick: Lyons

Warren vs. New Trier: The coupling of a very staunch defense and bruising running back Aaron Stewart has simply been too much to handle for most of the Blue Devils opponents. Warren looks like it has the blueprint for success in a playoff system that benefits those that can produce when the weather turns. New Trier beat Naperville North in Week 1, but hasn’t managed to beat a playoff-bound team since.

Pick: Warren

Bolingbrook vs. Oswego East: Few teams are playing better than Bolingbrook right now and a six-game winning streak speaks to that. Even more evidence comes in the form of a 32-7 Week 5 victory over the same Oswego East team that they are squaring off against this week. Oswego East has been very good defensively for most of the season but that effort has been a little wobbly over the final third of the season as the Wolves have back-to-back losses to try to recover from.

Pick: Bolingbrook

Barrington vs. Elgin: Few teams bring the level of offensive consistency that Barrington does as the Broncos seem to be putting up massive points totals nearly every week. That’s a good formula at least for the early rounds of the playoffs and should certainly be enough to overcome an Elgin team which is making its first playoff appearance since 2020 and the Maroons will be hard-pressed to capture the program’s first playoff win since 2000.

Pick: Barrington

Glenbrook South vs. Minooka: Glenbrook South raised eyebrows with a win over York all the way back in Week 1. Since then, the Titans have been pretty solid on defense excluding a rough go of things against Barrington in Week 3, and have limited the majority of their opponents to single digit scoring. That presents an interesting dilemma for Minooka, who has had multiple games decided in either direction by less than a touchdown. Minooka’s goal seems to be to put the game in the hands of their playmakers late and hope that they can find a way to squeeze out a narrow victory.

Pick: Glenbrook South

Curie vs. Homewood-Flossmoor: Curie plays in a mid-level Chicago Public League division and certainly doesn’t look like it can make a serious run at a non-CPL team. Homewood-Flossmoor coach Troy McCallister certainly has a handle on what to expect from Curie, having built a powerhouse program at Phillips in the CPL in a previous stop before landing with the Vikings.

Pick: Homewood-Flossmoor

Sandburg vs. Lockport: Lockport went to its roots leaning heavily on its ground-based offensive attack and sturdy defense to seize control of a regular season matchup between these two teams back in Week 7. Lockport emerged with a 28-7 win in that game but in fairness to the Eagles, they played a large chunk of that game without their starting quarterback who has since returned to under center.

Pick: Lockport

Maine South vs. Downers Grove South: Maine South looked overwhelmed in Week 1 in a 40-0 drubbing at the hands of Lincoln-Way East. But while the Hawks may have looked overmatched in that game, they’ve looked anything but since. Nobody has come closer to them than 20 points as they’ve won eight straight games and scored an average of over 40 points per game in getting there. Downers Grove South lost four of its first five games and needed a four-game winning streak against sub .500 teams to finish its season with enough juice to earn a spot in the playoff field.

Pick: Maine South

South Elgin vs. Hinsdale Central: South Elgin beefed up its nonconference schedule and started the season 0-2 with losses to Barrington and Batavia and quietly slipped off the radar. Back in Upstate Eight Conference play, things returned to normal for the Storm who have owned this conference for several seasons. South Elgin’s offense found its footing again in league play, but the playoffs will provide much more resistance and Hinsdale Central might be the team that can provide it. The Red Devils have already made a strong case for their return to relevance with wins over West Aurora and Lyons and a playoff win or two will complete that vision.

Pick: Hinsdale Central

Lane vs. Perspectives: Lane has been a defensive dynamo this season allowing just 45 points for the entire season. 16 of those points were allowed in Lane’s only loss of the season to Payton. And the Champions have been extremely stingy otherwise, recording five shutouts, and added two wins over non-CPL teams to start the season a relative rarity for nonconference games. Perspectives really seemed to catch a little wind in its sails midseason, but a 3-0 loss to Corliss seemed to take away some of those gains.

Pick: Lane

Oswego vs. Naperville North: Oswego started fast this season and earned what now looks like a pretty impressive lopsided win over Bolingbrook in Week 3. The defense has been a constant for the Panthers and it will likely be the reason that Oswego makes a run if they do. Naperville North drew interest by handing Lincoln-Way East its first regular season loss in four years, but the Huskies have done a very good job all season of largely being able to figure out how to win in close games which is a valuable postseason skill to employ if you can.

Pick: Oswego