BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Illinois High School Association is going back to the way things were for the state basketball finals.
The IHSA board on Monday voted to change the schedule for the boys and girls single-weekend state finals to the format used from 2022 to 2024.
Under that format, semifinals would take place in the afternoon with the 3rd place games the same night. Championship games would take place on Saturday. Concerns over bringing teams back for a third place game on the same day led to a tweak in the schedule for 2025.
Last season, each state finalist was guaranteed to play one game a day and for two of the three days.
“The single-weekend state final format is still in its relative infancy, and we’ve been very transparent about our willingness to tweak the time and game schedule until we get it right,” said Executive Director Craig Anderson. “We tried a different variation last year and the immediate feedback from nearly everyone involved was that the schedule we utilized from 2022-2024 was far superior. As a result, we are making some slight changes to that original schedule for 2026.”
The format for 2026 will have the Class 1A and 2A semifinals on Thursday morning and afternoon, with 3A and 4A on Friday, and the third place games the same night.
Championship games in all four classes will take place on Saturday.
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