After this week, the IHSA football regular season will be past the halfway point and some teams will have already clinched a playoff berth.
Week five's slate in central Illinois features multiple strong matchups in the Heart of Central Illinois Conference and other small schools, a few games in the Big 12 and a key Mid-Illini game between two postseason hopefuls.
How Central Illinois' strongest stack up: Week 5 AP statewide rankings
Our WMBD Game of the Week heads to Normal West as the Wildcats take on Class 5A No. 6 Peoria High. You can watch that game live and for free on Friday on ciproud.com with pregame coverage starting at 6:40 p.m. and kickoff at 7. Class 2A No. 2 Farmington and Elmwood/Brimfield square off in our Small Town Throwdown, which you can listen to live and for free on clutchsportsil.com with pregame coverage at 6:45 p.m. and kickoff at 7.
Our staff has made their picks and comments for 10 of the best games in the Central Illinois area this week, 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 11th game instead.