The Illinois High School Association football state championship games scheduled for Saturday at Illinois State University’s Hancock Stadium have been postponed.

Four games were scheduled, the Class 8A, 7A, 6A and 5A championships. ISU will close its campus on Saturday due to the expected snowstorm, so the games had to be postponed. The Class 1A through 4A games were played as scheduled on Friday.


“The postponement of the IHSA Football State Finals is unprecedented in the state playoffs 51-year history,” IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said in a statement. “All of the competing teams in Class 5A, 6A, 7A and 8A have been alerted that their state championship games will not be played on November 29, but that they will be played in the coming days. We appreciate the patience and understanding of these schools and communities as we work to determine the best and safest solution to rescheduling these contests and crowning state champions in our four largest classes.”

The IHSA also announced that the games will not be played on Sunday.

According to a source, the IHSA is searching for other venues that could host the state championship football games. As of 8 p.m. on Friday the IHSA had not announced when or where the games will be played. There is speculation that the Class 5A and 6A games could be played on Tuesday at ISU and the Class 7A and Class 8A games could be on Wednesday at NIU. But nothing has been confirmed and the schools have not received any news.

NIU and the University of Illinois used to rotate hosting the state championship games every year. The games moved to ISU in 2023.

“We have not heard where they might be played,” Mount Carmel AD Phil Segroves said. “The IHSA told me they are considering the games to be on pause.”

The IHSA contacted all eight teams about the postponement before they left for Bloomington-Normal.

These are the four games looking for a new venue and/or date:

Class 5A: St. Francis vs. Providence


Class 6A: Fenwick vs. East St. Louis


Class 7A: St. Rita vs. Brother Rice


Class 8A: Mount Carmel vs. Oswego