After all voting was complete, it was made officially on Tuesday, Proposal 23 was passed with 324 yes votes and 307 voting no. (69 voted no opinion)
What is Proposal 23 you ask?
Proposal 23 is defined as: “IHSA to implement a football scheduling system for regular-season varsity games that would involve the following: (a) a 9-week regular season, (b) playoff classes determined in advance of the season; (c) schools from each class placed into 8 geographic groups by determined by the IHSA Office to play a round-robin schedule; (d) the remaining games on the regular season schedule to be arranged by the individual schools at their discretion; (e) the top 4 teams in each of the 8 groups qualify for the playoffs, based on games played within each group. This proposal will take effect starting with the 2021 football season.”
This in simple terms means no more conferences in football just 8 geographic districts in each of the 8 classes. Same qualifications apply for qualifying for the playoffs just without conferences. The other significant part of the proposal is that teams will no longer have to sit and wonder what class they will be put into on playoff selection Saturday. That will be determined before the season starts. So lets say a team could be ranked in Class 1A all season then when enrollment comes in after the regular season is over, enrollment is over 1A classification and is put in the playoffs in 2A is just one example.
Coaches, administrators, players and fans will have plenty of time to come to terms and adjust to the decision as it does not take affect for 3 seasons. We will have more information in the coming months when it becomes available. We will also be discussing the issue on an upcoming episode of The Starting Lineup on 98.9 The Game Saturday’s 9 to 10 A.M. or downloading the podcast on Soundcloud.
You can read the full list of all eleven proposals that were passed as well as comments from IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson in the link below.
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