One Year Later, a Push to Undo the Expanded IHSA Football Playoffs

Not so fast…

The expanded IHSA football playoff field — the one that let 131 losing-record teams into the 2026 postseason — could turn out to be a one-year experiment.

Proposal Submitted To Undo IHSA Playoff Football Expansion

The amendment was confirmed on WRMJ Sportsline this week, and IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson discussed it on the program alongside the association’s legislative session, which runs through December — when member schools would vote on it.

WRMJ Sportsline: IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson Previews By-Law Amendment Session

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Spotify – https://t.co/lOz5P6kT3r pic.twitter.com/qYfj35qLdU
— Ty Taylor (@TyTaylorWRMJ) October 24, 2026

The proposal comes from Camp Point Central football coach and athletic director Brad Dixon, who announced on WRMJ’s Week 5 show that he would author it. Dixon has been the expansion’s most vocal critic from the start: he opposed the original proposal, while Paxton-Buckley-Loda coach Josh Pritchard supported it.

The backstory: in December 2025, IHSA member schools approved 12 bylaw amendments, including the playoff expansion from 32 to 48 teams per class, submitted by Monticello High School. That vote was 377-252, with 96 abstentions. The package also moved Week 1 up a week, eliminating the Week 0 scrimmage. In January 2026, the IHSA board reviewed letters from administrators at Camp Point Central and Coal City objecting to the expansion vote. A February special vote then moved the 2026 practice start to Aug. 5, with 12 required practice days, after safety concerns about the compressed calendar — that measure passed 290-245-67.

This year’s expanded field is the one that produced the numbers Illinois fans have been following all month: 131 at-large teams with losing records qualified, and they finished the Opening Round 42-89, with 28 wins over winning-record opponents. The 42 survivors are playing in the First Round this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 30-31.

There is one local hook in all of this: Camp Point Central itself is in this year’s field at 8-1, the No. 5 seed in Class 1A South, hosting Winchester West Central (7-3) on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 1 p.m.

What the full text of the submitted amendment covers beyond the qualifier count — whether it also touches the Week 1 date or practice rules — has not yet been published. That detail will matter when the proposal reaches a vote in December.

I agree with this. Just add in a ratings system mix and if we aren’t gonna seed 1-32 we use the ratings system to correctly seed in both north and south brackets respectively. https://t.co/ZkTdlCQqG6
— WIVC FOOTBALL (@WIVCFootball) October 28, 2026