There were no five-alarm fires or any significant eyebrow-raising coming out of the Illinois High School Associations’s release of the sectional seeds and pairings on Thursday and Friday.
In fact, there was hardly a blip on the radar when it came to comparing my own sectional forecast and seeds to what the coaches actually formulated on their own.
In Class 4A, the top eight seeds in the Hinsdale Central and St. Charles East sectionals were identical to my predictions. The top seven seeds in the Benet Sectional were the same. And the sectionals at Schaumburg, Rich and New Trier were very close to matching up.
Here are several takes from the release of the Class 4A and 3A sectional seeds and state tournament brackets.
The matchups in Champaign
Let’s just get right to it.
If the top-ranked favorites all take care of business, here is how the Class 4A semifinals in Champaign will look on March 14: Quincy vs. Evanston and Kenwood vs. Fremd.
Quincy and Kenwood both would be expected. But the casual fan reading this and seeing Evanston and Fremd, who are both No. 1 seeds in their respective sectionals, is likely surprising.
The above scenario is Quincy and Kenwood essentially knocking out all the contenders we’ve talked about all year long (Bolingbrook, Waubonsie Valley, Benet, Hinsdale Central, Simeon, Lincoln Park, H-F, Marist and Rich) along the state tournament trail. Evanston and Fremd would be making the most of favorable roads.
In Class 3A, there is a real possibility of a Catholic League Conference Tournament in Champaign.
DePaul Prep has another pretty smooth path. The defending state champs would get Centralia if the seeds and rankings hold up.
The other semifinal is really up for grabs. Brother Rice, Morton, Lemont, Peoria, Metamora and Kankakee are all vying for one spot.
St. Laurence and Mount Carmel, who could meet in the sectional championship, are favored to take the other spot.
Yes, there is a real possibility of having three Catholic League teams — Brother Rice, DePaul Prep and either St. Laurence or Mount Carmel –– in the 3A state semifinals. Based on the seeds: DePaul Prep vs. Centralia and Brother Rice vs. St. Laurence.
The rugged roads
While there are teams that could go through an entire sectional without facing a ranked team, here is what’s in store for those teams in the Hinsdale Central Sectional.
It starts with brutally tough regional finals, starting with St. Ignatius at Simeon in a likely regional final, Hinsdale Central traveling to Curie, and Lincoln Park playing at Young. Those are all teams that have been ranked virtually all season.
The reward for the winners? The Hinsdale Central-Curie winner gets the Lincoln Park-Young winner in the sectional semis. And the Ignatius-Simeon winner will have No. 1 ranked Kenwood waiting. That’s an awfully early grind.
The nicely paved roads
You can only play the teams that are placed in front of you.
Glenbard West is the top seed in the St. Charles East Sectional. The Hilltoppers are also the only ranked team in the 18-team field.
Geneva is the only other team in the St. Charles East Sectional that has been ranked at all this season, climbing into the Super 25 after its 10-0 start. But the Vikings then stumbled twice over the holidays, losing to Grayslake Central and Cary-Grove, and haven’t returned.
Surprisingly, the New Trier Sectional also only has one ranked team among the 18 teams — Evanston.
Traditionally, this sectional has been a minefield to get through. And while Loyola, Niles North and New Trier have all been ranked at some point this season, that trio is currently unranked and are a combined 0-4 against the Wildkits this season.
Back in November no one would have imagined Evanston being a heavy sectional favorite and the pick to be playing in Champaign.
The importance of No. 1
There were two sectionals where earning the top seed was more critical than others: at Benet and Hinsdale Central.
Kenwood was the easy choice at No. 1 at Hinsdale Central. But why it was so important to secure the top spot is that it avoided having to play a ranked team, likely on the road, in the regional final.
The Hinsdale Central Sectional is the deepest and best in the state, so while seeds two through seven have to play ranked teams in regional championship games, No. 1 Kenwood will play unranked Riverside-Brookfield.
Riverside-Brookfield is never fun to play on the road, and the Bulldogs have won 12 of their last 13 to get to 20 wins yet again. But R-B is 0-5 against teams that have been ranked this year.
Bolingbrook went out and earned the top sectional seed at Benet by compiling its record against the quality schedule it played, outdistancing a talented one-loss Waubonsie Valley.
The importance in this top seed is that this sectional is extremely top-heavy. There is a significant drop after the top three seeds.
With that in mind, Bolingbrook gets to avoid having to play Benet in the sectional semifinal on Benet’s home floor. Waubonsie Valley will now have to beat Benet on the road before it even gets a crack at top-seeded Bolingbrook.
Sub-sectionals create early regional showdowns
Throughout the state there are several sub-sectionals, splitting up the sectionals where geography becomes a hindrance. Those sub-sectionals, though, leave us with some high-powered matchups early in the postseason.
Metamora and Morton are two of the best 3A teams in the state, ranked No. 6 and No. 7, respectively, in the latest AP state rankings. They split during the regular season but will square off in the Dunlap Regional final. The winner will likely face Kankakee in the sectional.
In Class 4A, Wharton Fieldhouse will be rocking when rivals Moline and Rock Island meet in a regional title game. And down south, Edwardsville and Alton, two teams outside St. Louis that split their two games this season, will play a regional championship at Alton.