The Illinois High School Association will expand the state playoffs in football for the 2026 season.
Moving forward, there will be 384 teams that make the playoffs instead of 256. The number of classes will not change, so each of the eight classes will have 48 teams instead of 32.
The season start date will remain Aug. 10, but the first regular-season games will be played Aug. 20, one week earlier than originally planned.
IHSA member schools approved the expansion in a vote.
“Too often throughout the years, football decisions have negatively impacted other sports at IHSA schools,” IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said. “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.”
