Avoiding The Logjam

Maybe the IHSA was just implementing a new pairing system that ignored geography, or maybe, just maybe, they decided that it was time to break up the Sectional so that it didn't turn into another glorified NUIC tournament. Whatever the reasons, the Regional assignments had more than a few area coaches scratching their heads.

Normally, the four regionals that would funnel into the Sectional would have at least three NUIC teams in them, along with maybe a Sterling Newman, or Orion, or some other outlier that got knocked out in the semi-finals as the typical NUIC powers – Eastland, Durand,...