BENTON - We’re back for Week 2 of girls basketball rankings like we never left. Some pivotal shootout and regularly scheduled games today could shake some things up. Let’s get right down to business. 1A   Okawville (5-1)   Elgin St. Edward (3-3)  Abingdon-Avon (7-1)  Brownstown/St.Elmo (6-1)  Lanark (Eastland) (7-1)   Deer Creek-Mackinaw (4-0)  Illini Bluffs (7-1)   Heyworth (7-1)   Cissna Park (6-1)  Woodlawn (4-2) The 1A girls basketball postseason is going to be a fun one

BENTON - With Week 2 wrapping up today, things have been shaken up once again throughout all four classes. There were some solid games played this week and some really good ones on the schedule for today as there are a lot of shootouts going on throughout the state. Let's jump right into it! 1A  Lawrenceville (5-0)  Waltonville (4-0)  Woodlawn (4-0)  LeRoy (6-0)   Lanark (Eastland) (2-0)   Brimfield (6-0)  Jacksonville (Routt) (6-0) Chicago (Fenger) (3-2)   Springfield (Calv

BENTON - As the season has already been rolling for a couple of weeks for most, we've gotten to see a little bit of who belongs where. Others like Long Island Lutheran, Bishop McNamara, Incarnate Word and others will open up their seasons either tonight or tomorrow. Without another second to lose, let's jump right into our Week 2 Top 50 High School girls basketball teams in the country.  Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, CA) 2-0  Ontario Christian (Ontario, CA) 7-0  IMG Academy (Br

BENTON - With preseason rankings obliterated and a huge mass of "upsets" already set in stone, some teams have surged into the Top 25 while others have picked up a loss or two and dropped down on the list. When talking National rankings, it's important to remember everyone ranks differently. I base all of my rankings off of record, strength of wins and strength of losses. Even the best of the best on paper can faulter as I had Prolific and Southeastern in my Top 5 to begin th

BENTON - Well, we’re here once again. Conference Championship weekend is officially here and we should have some good ball games to watch. As my Illinois Fighting Illini have soiled the bed yet again this season, you won’t have to worry about any bias from me. With that, let’s get right down to business and go over who plays who and what we predict to happen.  NCAA Football Playoff Predictions  Ohio State (13-0)  Indiana (12-1)  Texas Tech (12-1)  Alabama (11-2)  Oregon (11-1

BENTON - With the NFL Playoffs right around the corner, it's hard not to look ahead and see where you think your team is going to finish in the standings. We have taken the current records of the top 10 teams in each conference and predicted the remaining regular season games on the schedule to give you a projected version of what we believe will be the seeding for the NFL Playoffs. Now, before you call me biased, let's get one thing straight: I'm a Cleveland Browns fan. Yes,

NORMAL - It was a cold night for state championship football on Tuesday evening at Hancock Stadium on the campus of Illinois State University. Nonetheless, the Fenwick Friars got hot early and managed to make some monumental plays when they needed them to knock off the #1-ranked team in the state, East St. Louis, 38-28 and win their second ever IHSA State Championship in Football (first in 6A). For months the chatter has been all about the team that has ruled the roost in 6A

CHRISTOPHER - Saturday evening was nothing new for the 1A #2-ranked Waltonville Spartans as they once again found their way to the championship game of the Christopher Turkey Tournament. There they would meet conference foe and 1A #7-ranked Webber and Nathaniel Marlow. A hot start for the Spartans and gritty defense throughout got the job done as Waltonville walked out of Franklin County with a 54-47 victory and the Christopher Turkey Tournament title for the third straight y

BENTON - We highschool hoops fans were already spoiled with some great games in week one. The next two weeks will be no different as we have some matchups on the schedule that should prove to be worthy of watching, regardless of who you root for. I've made a list of what I believe should be the best game to watch this week per class, both girls and boys. This should be a fun week of basketball as we start ramping things up to get ready for Holiday tournaments. Boys 1A: 1A #8

BENTON - What a wild week it has been in the world of college basketball. Things are really starting to take shape in the Top 25 as some teams have worked their way up and some have worked their way completely out of the list. One thing we've learned is Michigan is for real, so I retract my statement from last week that they don't belong in the Top 10. Three straight 30+ victories against high level teams is just insane. I can't wait to see how they match up against the Boile

BENTON - That’s right, you read the headline correctly. Girls basketball rankings in Illinois. Not a Maxpreps Top 25, not a Top 50 players in the state list, not just covering the big schools. It’s time to level the playing field and give some of these programs the recognition they deserve. Without a second more to spare, let’s jump right into it with the 1A girls rankings. 1A  Okawville (3-1)  Elgin St. Edward (3-1)  Abingdon-Avon (6-1)  Brownstown/St.Elmo (6-1)  Tremont (5-

BENTON - With Week 1 wrapping up today, there have been some shake ups already. I can already tell this is going to be an extremely fun year of high school basketball. Some teams have already played as many as 4-5 games while a few still don’t get started until early next week. With turkey tournaments finishing up this following week, we should see some more puzzle pieces get moved around after some key marquee games today and early next week. Let’s get right into it. 1A  Law

NASHVILLE - In small school basketball, more often than not, you don’t see many schools have the type of success that the Nashville Hornettes have had over the years. As a matter of fact, the program boasts a 230-75 record in the past decade. Coming off of a 34-3 season and a state championship, the Hornettes are poised for another deep postseason run and hope to repeat as champions. That is a very realistic goal for Coach Witte and his ball club as they’re already off to a s

WASHINGTON - The West Hancock basketball program has had a lot of success in previous years. Between the co-op of two schools, Hamilton High School and Warsaw High School, the basketball team is classified as 2A with a total enrollment of 552 students. Washington High School, classified as a 3A program, has a total enrollment of 1,451 students. Nonetheless, the West Hancock Titans gave Tournament of Champions’ host Washington all they could handle as the Titans trailed 45-43

CHAMPAIGN - The last time Illinois (6-1) and UConn (5-1) matched up on a neutral floor, it was quite an ugly one for Illini fans. The Huskies trounced the Illini 77-52 in the 2024 East Regional Final where UConn went on a 30-0 run. This game could potentially swing that direction if the Illinois defense does not show up to Madison Square Garden on Friday. The Huskies have faced a couple of tests thus far in a win against #8 BYU and a loss against #3 Arizona while missing two

CHAMPAIGN - In a game that seemed to be defense-optional for Illinois, the Fighting Illini scraped past Texas-Rio Grande Valley by a final score of 87-73.  Illinois and UTRGV would open up the first half trading the lead back and forth as neither side could get the early edge. Big man Tomislav Ivisic would get the start for the Illini and knocked down one of the first of a mirage of triples for the Illinois offense. Tomi seemed to be a step quicker than he was in his appearan

MOUNT VERNON - If you’ve stepped foot inside Jefferson County in Illinois within the past month, you’ve probably heard it. The buzz is too loud to avoid. For the first time that I can certainly remember in all of my days as a fan of high school basketball, Jefferson County boasts 3 of the Top 10 1A teams in Illinois in multiple pre-season polls statewide. Oddly enough, they’re also all within the same conference. The hype is real here in Southern Illinois as all 3 Midland Tra

BENTON - I know what you're thinking.... "ANOTHER rankings page?! These mean nothing!" And you'd be correct... to a certain extent. For sports connoisseurs like us though, this stuff is fun to read through. Coming from a former small-town high school athlete, there's something special about seeing your hometown on the list. Tonight is the first official night of boys high school basketball games, so without further ado, let's jump right into things with the 1A Pre-Season Top

CHAMPAIGN - In a game that nobody expected to be close, the Illini made quick work of the Long Island Sharks on Saturday afternoon and won the contest in a landslide, 98-58. Andrej Stojakovic was an offensive machine once again, posting 20 points in 25 minutes on the floor and leading the scoring column for Illinois. Freshman standout Keaton Wagler was right at his heels with 19 points of his own. The Illini shot 63.1% from the field, their best shooting performance thus far

BENTON - Now that a tiny bit of the dust has settled and most teams have a handful of games under their belts, some have emerged as immediate frontrunners to compete for a National Championship. For others, they’ll need to clean some things up to stay at the top of this list for long. Lucky for those guys and us fans, we still have a LOT of basketball left to play. Let’s go ahead and start things off with #25. #25. Wisconsin Badgers (4-1) Getting blown out on the road against