Story by Kadin Rogers
No new wrinkles are coming to the Illinois High School Association football playoffs; at least, that’s the word from one of the leaders at the I-H-S-A. This year’s only change is location – from Memorial Stadium in Champaign to Hancock Stadium in Normal for the state championship. The I-H-S-A’s Sam Knox speaking from Bloomington.
The field of 2-hundred 56 qualifiers will be revealed Saturday night. The IHSA sent out a press release this morning regarding tv coverage of the IHSA Football Playoff Pairings Show, which unveils the brackets and first round matchups of qualifiers across eight classes. The show will air live on statewide television via the IHSA’s new TV Network partnership with Weigel from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Saturday night. The show will also be streamed live on the NFHS Network and at IHSA.org. Some CW affiliates will tape-delay the show due to prior ACC football committments that were signed in August. Those stations include Quad Cities, Peoria and Quincy markets, so those markets will need to watch the show live via stream on the IHSA website or NFHS Network. KGCW in the Quad Cities will air their tape-delay show at 10:00. WEEK in Peoria will air theirs at 9:00 and WGEM in Quincy will air theirs at 10:00. The 2023 Pork & Pigskins state champ will also be crown in the second half of the program. Due to some logistical issues, the IHSA will not be streaming a pre- or post- show on Saturday night. The 2023 IHSA Football State Championship games return to Hancock Stadium on the campus of Illinois State University in Normal on November 24-25, marking the return of the state games to ISU for the first time since 1998.
***Audio courtesy of Farm Week Now***
