Is Kaneland 3A or 4A?


The Kaneland football team has made the playoffs again this year, for the third year in a row. However, will they be 3A or 4A?

Currently there is a lot of confusion whether this year's football team is 3A or 4A. Thanks largely to an extremely confusing IHSA system to determine playoff seeds.

So, turn off the TV and put on thinking hats, because here is an explanation of how the playoffs work and how it effects Kaneland.

STEP 1 - (Understanding the classes)

IHSA Football is divided into 6 classes. From 6A, which consist of the larger schools to 1A which are the states smaller schools. 32 teams make the playoffs in each of the six classes.

The problem is that you play the whole season not knowing which class you are going to qualify for if you make the playoffs. That is determined after the regular season ends.

STEP 2 - (Determining which teams made the playoffs)

Of the 544 football schools in Illinois the top 192 (6 X 32) make the playoffs. This is accomplished by first selecting the conference winners. Then the remaining teams are sorted by their win-loss record (number of wins) and then by "playoff points" (the number of wins by all opponents). Ties are broken by a number of different ways that will only add to the confusion, and should not effect Kaneland.

What this means is, a team will make the playoffs if they have won the conference, gone undefeated, or have just one loss. Teams with two losses usually make the playoffs also. Which means it's the teams with three losses that will be fighting for the last playoff berths.

STEP 3 (Determining Classes)

Once the 192 teams are decided, they are ranked by a, "Football Enrollment Number" to determine the class they are in.

The football enrollment number is the larger two figures. Either the schools' official enrollment (in Kaneland's case is 619), or the average enrollment of all opponents, throwing out the largest (Glenbard South) and the smallest (Westmont). This results in a 798.57 number for Kaneland.

Therefore, even though Kaneland is clearly a 3A school in size (between 496-775 using 1995 figures), the Knights football enrollment number balloons to 798.57, purely because the Knights play larger schools.

Then using the football enrollment number the largest 32 schools are assigned Class 6A. The next highest 32 fall into class 5A, and so on.

STEP 4 - (What does this mean to Kaneland)

Of the 192 schools that make the playoffs, 96 or more have to have a football enrollment number higher than 798.57 for Kaneland to be bracketed in 3A.

So what are the chances of that happening? Well, even thought Kaneland is clearly on the bubble, the chances of making 3A are pretty good.

That's because comparing this years football enrollment numbers to last years class rankings - the projected break off point for 3A is 833, placing Kaneland well within the 3A range. Schools larger than Kaneland like Lemont (832.14), Elmwood Park (822), Ridgewood (801) and a half a dozen others where all 3A last year.

Another positive sign is that after the first three weeks of play, Kaneland was 103rd largest school of the top 192. Remember 97th and above puts the knights in 3A.

But to show the faultily of the system, after week 4 Kaneland was 96th - the last 4A school.

CONCLUSION:

So why is Kaneland ranked 4A in all the rankings like the AP polls? That's because the IHSA in all it's infinite wisdom, used THIS year's football enrollment numbers and ranked (estimated) the schools based on LAST year's class breakdown. In essence, mixing apples and bananas. Therefore AP and most everyone uses the IHSA football manual as their guide.

So why is being ranked 3A so important for Kaneland? Because it can be the difference between winning a state championship or not. In 3A Kaneland would be playing schools it's size and may even be the favorite, verse 4A where schools are two to two and half times larger. Also there is a school in 4A called Providence and they are ranked 2nd in the entire state.

Thus this all comes down to 6:30 p.m. on October 25th, when the IHSA gets together to determine the seeds.


Return to the beginning of Football