IHSA to expand football playoff fields to 48 teams per class, among several by-laws passed
- Jonathan Michel
- 14 hours ago
- 4 min read
The IHSA football playoffs as many know it will look a lot different starting in 2026.
A proposal to expand the postseason fields in all eight classes from 32 to 48 teams was passed after receiving a majority of votes in the IHSA’s annual by-law referendum process, which is voted on by member schools. The expansion, one of several new by-laws regarding football and other sports, will take effect for the 2026 season.
The change will increase the number of playoff qualifiers in football from 256 to 384 and eliminate the Week 0 scrimmages that began in 2024. The start of the regular season will move up one week — the weekend of Aug. 20-22 in 2026 — to accommodate for the extra week needed for the postseason.
The 48-team fields will consist of 16 teams receiving first-round byes and 32 playing in first-round games. Keeping in line with the IHSA’s traditional method of determining brackets and pairings, classes 1A-6A will have north and south brackets while classes 7A and 8A will be seeded straight from 1-48.
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