CSM Pick 'Em: Opening Round 2026
Playoff season is here in IHSA Football and this time, an extra round of postseason games are in the the mix.
With 48 teams in each class, this week is what the IHSA has called the Opening Round, essentially a “play-in” game between teams seeded between No. 9 and No. 24 in their class while the top 8 seeds in each north and south brackets (top 16 overall seeds in Class 7A and 8A) earn byes.
The Opening Round features 14 Peoria and Bloomington/Normal-area teams in action, ranging from Class 6A to Class 1A.
Metamora, Peoria Notre Dame, Bloomington and Olympia are higher seeds and will host their game. Nine games will be played on Friday while five will take place on Saturday afternoon.
Clutch Sports Media will be providing free, live broadcasts of two Class 4A games, starting with Metamora vs. Alton Marquette on Friday at 7 p.m. CSM will also be at PND vs. Jersey on Saturday at 3 p.m. Both games can be watched on centralillinoisproud.com/games/ and the WMBD+ app on smart TVs.
Six CSM staff members have made their picks for each playoff game for area teams in the Opening Round. Broadcasters of our broadcasted games are ineligible to pick winners for the games they are broadcasting and will pick the winner of another game instead.
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