The first round of the IHSA football playoffs is an appetizer but the second round, which kicks off this weekend resembles more of an entree. A win automatically makes teams state title contenders but it doesn't always come easy with half of the field of 256 teams filtered out.
Central Illinois saw strong results in the first round with 12 of the 19 playoff teams in the CSM coverage area winning first-round games. However, a common theme this week is that many will have to play far away on the road against a strong opponent, including Washington, Peoria High and Bloomington.
Classes 6A and 2A are tied for the largest area representations with three teams apiece. Among the area squads that are hosting in the second round include Metamora, Normal Community, Tri-Valley, Normal U-High and Farmington.
CSM is proud to bring you a free, live broadcast of our WMBD Game of the Week on ciproud.com as the Metamora Redbirds host the Morgan Park Mustangs from Malone Field on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Our staff has made their predictions for all 12 playoff games in the area, along with their season records listed below. Broadcasters for our broadcasted games are ineligible to pick winners for the games that they are broadcasting and will pick the winner of an extra game(s) instead.