Schuckman: ‘Broken’ IHSA system needs fixing, but finding right solution remains hardest part

QUINCY — The final word of a social media post made last Friday by Chicago Sun-Times high school sports reporter Michael O’Brien sparked debate and had a number of people conjuring up solutions.

O’Brien called the Illinois High School Association football playoff system “broken.”

The results of the eight state championship games seems to suggest so. Private and non-boundaried schools won seven titles in blowout fashion, outscoring their public school counterparts 283-76 in the process. It is the largest number of private school champions ever, and coupled with recent results, it suggests a trend is forming.

In 2022, six private schools won state championships. In 2023, three private schools won titles, but six others played in either the semifinals or finished as the state runner-up.

Is that enough evidence to say the playoff system is broken? Maybe. Maybe not. It could be seen as an anomaly.

What suggests the system is truly broken is the bouncing between classes of private schools, especially in the four smallest classifications.

In 2012, Belleville Althoff finished as the state runner-up in Class 2A. Three seasons later, the Crusaders were the state runner-up in Class 4A. This year, Althoff won the Class 1A state championship by dismantling Lena-Winslow 57-14 as University of Oregon-bound running back Dierre Hill Jr. rushed for 438 yards and seven touchdowns.

Because of the IHSA’s enrollment multiplier and success factor, Althoff will be at least a Class 3A school next fall. It will be the fifth different classification for Althoff in the last 20 years.

The Crusaders aren’t alone in riding the IHSA yo-yo.

Quincy Notre Dame has been a playoff team in Class 2A, Class 3A and Class 4A over the last two decades. Breese Mater Dei has participated in the same three classes. Decatur St. Teresa has a state runner-up finish in Class 1A, a state championship in Class 2A and a pair of Class 3A playoff appearances all within the last decade.

That explains a broken system as well as anything.

So how do you fix it?

Ditch everything designed to level the playing field that has been used until now. Gone is the enrollment multiplier. Gone is the success factor. Gone are the gadgets and gizmos administrators use in an attempt to please everyone.

With that done, the IHSA is left with two options.

Adjust the football playoff system for six public school classes and two private school classes. Or base all classifications on population density and not enrollment.

According to the school directory on the IHSA website, there are 114 private schools and 87 non-boundaried schools with IHSA membership, which totals more than 800 schools. Much like the public schools, not all private schools compete in every sponsored sport, including football.

And much like the public schools, it’s not fair to lump the small private schools with the larger ones. The rules may be the same for both, but the reality is much different.

The IHSA allows private or non-boundaried schools to enroll students who live within a 30-mile radius of the school’s location. Students living outside the 30-mile radius are not eligible to participate in IHSA-sanctioned events.

That 30-mile radius is quite different for schools from Chicago and the St. Louis metro areas than it is for Quincy Notre Dame, Effingham St. Anthony and Breese Mater Dei based solely on population density.

That’s why there would be a need for separate private school classes, based on an enrollment and population density.

Now, should the IHSA not want to split private schools from public schools, then base all classifications on district population. All private and non-boundaried school will have their class determined by the population within the geographic district they reside.

They can continue to draw from a 30-mile radius for eligibility purposes, but no longer would a team from Pleasant Hill have to worry about facing a team from Alton.

That could be an across-the-board solution. This fall, 17 of the 30 state champions crowned across 10 sports were private or non-boundaried schools. When those schools make up less than 25 percent of the IHSA’s total membership but win more than 50 percent of the titles, you have to consider Michael O’Brien was on to something.

Something seems broken. How do we fix it?