High school football: IHSA expands football playoffs to include a total of 384 teams

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The Illinois High School Association approved 12 amendment proposals on Tuesday, with one of the proposals expanding the number of teams in the high school football playoffs by over 100 teams.

What we know:

The IHSA's approved proposal expands the IHSA football playoffs to 48 teams per classification, starting in the 2026 season.

In the 2025 season, there were 32 playoff teams per classification. This means there will be 128 more teams in the IHSA playoffs next season, for a total of 384 teams. 

Also included in this change is an amendment to the start of the season. The official start of the ISHA football season remains the same. In 2026, the season opens on August 10. However, the first slate of regular-season games has been moved up. Teams will play a week earlier. In 2026, that's August 20. This eliminates the Week 0 scrimmages.

In a statement, the IHSA recognized how this might cause short-term issues for some schools and conferences. But, the hope is it will stabilize scheduling in the long-term.

Also included in the 12 approved amendments is the establishment of a "No Contact Week" which will fall during Fourth of July week. This means schools can't practice, scrimmage, have open gyms or allow training during this week. The IHSA will also move the start of the boys volleyball season up one week. 

What they're saying:

"Too often throughout the years, football decisions have negatively impacted other sports at IHSA schools," IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said in a statement. " We are hopeful that this football playoff expansion will provide intended relief to our schools by stabilizing conference movement and eliminating the difficulty of scheduling football games that many of our schools face each year. It may create some short-term complications for some schools, conferences, and coaches, but we remain optimistic it will create long-term stability in football and beyond."