Darren Kinnard/River Radio Sports Central
BLOOMINGTON — There will be significant changes ahead for IHSA football following the organization’s annual by-law referendum vote.
By a vote of 377-252 (with 96 no opinions) in the all-school vote, an amendment expanding the playoffs and changing the regular season start date has passed. Starting next season, the football playoffs will expand from 256 to 384 teams, putting 48 teams in each of the eight classes which is 16 more than the current system. The expansion also comes with a first round playoff bye for the top 16 teams in each class. There will still be north and south divisions for 1A-6A. Those will now be seeded 1-24, with the top eight seeds in each division receiving byes. For 7A and 8A, teams will be seeded 1-48 with top 16 getting byes.
To keep the current length of season in place and accommodate the extra week of playoffs, the week zero scrimmages have been scrapped with the regular season now beginning a week earlier.
The qualification and class division process remains the same with teams qualifying (now 384) based on records and playoff points (number of opponents’ wins). Those 384 teams will then be divided into eight classes based on enrollment. Even before expansion, teams with losing records have made the field each of the past four seasons.
“Too often throughout the years, football decisions have negatively impacted other sports at IHSA schools,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. ” 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.”
Proposal 19 was one of 12 to pass the all-school vote. Another proposal appoved extends the softball season a week, meaning the first day of practice for the 2026 season will be February 23 with games starting March 9. The schedule change was sought due to the move to all four state championships being held the same weekend, a week before the baseball state championships.
A summary of the 12 amendments along with voting numbers can be found in the IHSA’s table below.
The IHSA reports more than 90% of member schools voted in this year’s legislation process.
