The non-conference season for teams in the Mid-Illini and Heart of Illinois wraps up this week while Big 12, Illini Prairie and Lincoln Trail/Prairieland schools continue to do battle within their own conferences.
All together, it makes for an intriguing week of football with plenty of good games.
Peoria and Bloomington/Normal will both play host to two city matchups. In Peoria, Richwoods at Manual at Peoria Stadium and Peoria High at PND at Richwoods' Endres Field. Normal West and Normal Community square off in the Chili Bowl while Normal U-High will take on Bloomington for the first time since 1976. Road trips will also be prevalent as nearly a dozen and a half area teams will play away from home.
The top large school and small school teams: Central Illinois football power rankings: Sept. 3, 2024
Bloomington hosts Normal U-High in our WMBD Game of the Week, which you can watch live and for free on ciproud.com. The CSM Small Town Throwdown, our live audio broadcast, will travel to IVC as the Grey Ghosts host Monticello. Listen to that game live and for free on clutchsportsil.com.
Our staff has made their picks and comments for 10 of the best games in the Central Illinois area this week. Broadcasters for our broadcasted games are ineligible to pick winners for the games that they are broadcasting and will pick the winner of an 11th game instead.