The brackets for the 42nd annual State Farm Holiday Classic have been released. This year’s event will be held on Dec. 27-30 at four venues across Bloomington-Normal — Illinois Wesleyan University’s Shirk Center, Bloomington High School, Normal Community High School and Normal West High School. A complete list of participating teams can be found at www.theclassic.org/team-list/.
Brackets can be viewed and downloaded at www.theclassic.org/brackets/. Seedings were determined by a poll of participating head coaches, while trying to avoid teams playing a conference or regular season opponent through the first two rounds of the tournament.
Among the 64 participating teams at the time of seeding on December 10:
- 9 teams were undefeated
- 30 teams had two or fewer losses
- 21 are state-ranked in the latest Associated Press polls
- The combined record of the tournament field was 268-170 for a .612 winning percentage
SMALL SCHOOL BOYS:
- Bracket – https://theclassic.org/brackets/small-school-boys/
- Top 4 seeds (first place votes in parentheses): #1 Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin (9), #2 St. Joseph-Ogden (1), #3 El Paso-Gridley (1), #4 Aurora Christian (1)
- 7 of 16 teams have .500 record or better
- Combined record of bracket is 51-49 for a .510 winning percentage
- State ranked teams include: #4 Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin (2A), #9 Aurora Christian (1A), #10 St. Joseph-Ogden (2A), #19 Rockford Lutheran (2A), #22 East Dubuque (1A), #24 El Paso-Gridley (2A)
SMALL SCHOOL GIRLS:
- Bracket – https://theclassic.org/brackets/small-school-girls/
- Top 4 seeds (first place votes in parentheses): #1 Winnebago (10), #2 Brimfield (5), # Paris, #4 St. Joseph-Ogden
- 11 of 16 teams have .500 record or better
- Combined record of bracket is 80-42 for a .656 winning percentage
- State ranked teams include: #1 Brimfield (1A), #1 Winnebago (2A), #3 Paris (2A), #14 St. Joseph-Ogden (2A)
LARGE SCHOOL BOYS:
- Bracket – https://theclassic.org/brackets/large-school-boys/
- Top 4 seeds (first place votes in parentheses): #1 Normal Community (9), #2 Rock Island (1), #3 East St. Louis (1), #4 Wheaton Warrenville South (1)
- 11 of 16 teams have .500 record or better
- Combined record of bracket is 67-41 for a .620 winning percentage
- State ranked teams include: #4 East St. Louis (3A), #6 Rock Island (3A), #7 Normal Community (4A), #11 Chicago Brother Rice (4A), #13 Springfield (3A)
LARGE SCHOOL GIRLS:
- Bracket – https://theclassic.org/brackets/large-school-girls/
- Top 4 seeds (first place votes in parentheses): #1 Morton (7), #2 Normal Community (3), #3 Mundelein Carmel (3), #4 Geneseo (1)
- 13 of 16 teams have .500 record or better
- Combined record of bracket is 95-48 for a .664 winning percentage
- State ranked teams include: #2 Morton (3A), #4 Geneseo (3A), #8 Normal Community (4A), #17 Washington (3A), #17 Rock Island (3A), #18 Mundelein Carmel Catholic (4A poll – actually 3A)
The State Farm Holiday Classic will once again be hosting the Ron Knisley Memorial Special Olympics Shootout with 16 area Special Olympics teams scheduled to participate, with half-time demonstrations during the championship games on Dec. 30. The tournament will also open their annual scholarship program during the tournament for eligible graduating student-athletes who play in this year’s event. For more information on both programs, go to www.theclassic.org.
