Oct. 30--It's the sometimes-weekly Friday picks blog's favorite time of year.
For the next five weeks, sometimes becomes always, and there's enough excitement here at HQ that I'm filing two picks blogs this week in order to feature every 7A and 8A game.
I'll add 5A and 6A games in the next round or two, once there's a more manageable number of out-of-area teams I know nothing about.
My record last year was good -- darned good really -- though no one keeps track so we can't say for sure.
My state champions are Loyola, Libertyville, Sacred Heart-Griffin and Nazareth. I was prepared to pick Glenbard North to win 7A, but with victories against Mount Carmel and Glenbard West required just to reach the quarterfinals, Libertyville is the safe bet.
No, I don't normally like safe bets in the sometimes-weekly picks blog -- if John Mellencamp ever wins an Oscar, I'll be very, very rich -- but I also don't like picking against Glenbard West. Libertyville seems like a happy medium.
Now that we're on record, let's go on record some more, beginning with 7A.
No. 1 Glenbard West vs. No. 32 Moline: Glenbard West is 8-0 in the first round under Chad Hetlet and was 9-0 in the regular season for the sixth time in the last eight seasons. Moline's 3-17 postseason record includes a first-round victory against Glenbard West. In 1979. Glenbard West 34-7
No. 16 Mount Carmel vs. No. 17 Glenbard North: Why are two of the state's best teams forced to meet in the first round? Of the 32 teams in the 7A field, 21 are 7-2 or better. Glenbard West, Libertyville and possibly Cary-Grove are the only teams I'd give a shot at beating either one, but whaddya gonna do? Glenbard North 28-26
No. 8 Reavis vs. No. 25 Rolling Meadows: This is what the first round is all about: Two schools nowhere near each other, neither really a playoff regular, neither conference particularly well-regarded, no common opponents or even common opponents of common opponents to compare them. The definition of a toss-up. Rolling Meadows 30-28
No. 9 Rockford Auburn vs. No. 24 Rockton Hononegah: Only thing I really know about either is that Auburn followed me on Twitter the other day. Auburn 27-13
No. 4 Batavia vs. No. 29 Pekin: Batavia's past playoff success has come in Class 6A, but there's more to that story. The Bulldogs gave Mount Carmel a heckuva battle in the first round last year before falling 21-16. Point being, this is a legitimate 7A force even if it's 0-4 in 7A playoff games. Batavia's only loss is to 8A power Naperville Central, and it handed both Geneva and South Elgin their lone losses this season. Batavia 38-13
No. 13 Lincoln Park vs. No. 20 Simeon: Simeon-Batavia will be one of the highlights of the second round. Simeon 42-7
No. 5 Cary-Grove vs. No. 28 Belleville West: Can a five-seed that finished second in 7A last year and has a recent state championship to its credit be considered a dark horse? If so, Cary-Grove's mine. I'm quite confident the 7A champion will be Glenbard West, Libertyville, Mount Carmel or Glenbard North. The Trojans are the only other team this blog gives a chance. Cary-Grove 43-13
No. 12 Benet vs. No. 21 St. Charles North: It's a matchup worthy of the second round, a pair of 7-2 teams with a good deal of talent. St. Charles North hung tough with Geneva, and to a lesser extent Batavia, but the only two playoff teams the North Stars beat were both 5-4. Benet beat Joliet Catholic, and if the East Suburban Catholic is as strong as we think, will find themselves in an enticing second-round matchup with Cary-Grove. Benet 27-17
No. 2 Young vs. No. 31 Niles North: One of the most difficult first-round games to handicap, because it's impossible to know what to make of Young. The Dolphins absolutely dominated the teams on their schedule, but Niles North would have dominated that schedule too, and so would any number of playoff teams. Will Young be prepared for the speed of Niles North's high-scoring offense? Niles North 42-36
No. 15 Blue Island Eisenhower vs. No. 18 Machesney Park Harlem: You might not know that Harlem has become a staple of the 7A playoffs, having qualified now eight straight seasons. You probably won't be surprised that it's 2-7 in the postseason in that time. Eisenhower, meanwhile, hasn't won a playoff game since 1998. Harlem 21-20
No. 7 Geneva vs. No. 26 Oswego East: Maybe I'm under-appreciating an 8-1 record, but I wanted to see more from Geneva when I was on hand for its 24-14 loss to Batavia. Oswego East seemed to find its groove in the second half of the regular season. Geneva 25-24
No. 10 Glenbrook North vs. No. 23 Bradley-Bourbonnais: Another unfamiliar north-south matchup that could tell us something about the conferences these teams represent. Glenbrook North went 5-0 in the Central Suburban North, which was better than usual but still pretty mediocre. Bradley-Bourbonnais was in the middle of the pack in the Southwest Suburban Red, which might have been as good as it's ever been. Bradley 28-24
No. 3 Libertyville vs. No. 30 Downers Grove North: The Daily Herald's Kevin Schmit had some nugget a few days ago about Downers Grove North. I think it was about the tough competition it faced and why it might give Libertyville a better game than people think. I can't recall exactly. I must not have been listening. Libertyville 37-6
No. 14 Lincoln-Way East vs. No. 19 Jacobs: Lincoln-Way East would treasure the opportunity to go into a second-round game with a 9-0 power as almost an afterthought after being the hunter rather than the hunted so many times. Perhaps we're sleeping on the Griffins, whose losses were to Oak Park and Homewood-Flossmoor, 8A teams with a combined record of 16-2. If they don't have trouble handling a good Jacobs team, Libertyville-LWE has "Can't Miss Game" written all over it. LWE 27-17
No. 6 Normal vs. No. 27 Schaumburg: Normal scored more than 40 points a game in a pretty good conference and beat five playoff teams. I'd typically give a program like Schaumburg the benefit of the doubt in a spot like this, but I'm kind of impressed with Normal's resume. Normal 44-33
No. 11 Maine South vs. No. 22 Plainfield North: It's not one of Maine South's more talented teams, but maybe it doesn't matter. The Hawks just won't lose. Three double-digit deficits overcome in the past four weeks is enough for me to ride with Maine South at least until I change my mind. Maine South 31-28
Mike Helfgot is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
