01/01/2026
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - Happy New Year to everyone.

To say I'm tired is an understatement after hitting four holiday tournaments this week, which includes working at the real job.

Many, not all, of you know that I also do an actual full-time job in Carbondale and ABV is my side chick.

It makes this old man tired.

I basically had to change how I do my rankings because of what happens in Bloomington each year with assignments for the state tournament.

It used to be I would look at all of the teams in the two different Carbondale Super-sectional's and use that as guideline for who would eligible to be ranked.

However, in case you haven't noticed, the state tournament set up has totally changed with major road trips possible this coming march.

I touched upon it last week explaining about potential scenarios featuring 2A Quincy Notre Dame and 1A Cairo.

If either the Raiders or Pilots make postseason runs they will need a bunch of gas money on Monday, March 9th.

While Cairo will need some massive improvement to make a trip to the Jacksonville Bowl for the 1A Super, QND so far have shown they will be in the hunt.

The Raiders sit at 11-0, having won the State Farm Classic in Bloomington this week and if they come down to SIU Arena and win on the 9th, it will mark the first time since I started doing this in 1998-99 that I won't have a area team advance from the Carbondale Super-sectional.

But in the weirdest of weird setup for 1A, I could have two different teams win super-sectionals at both Charleston and Jacksonville.

Or have no one win, in which I could have any combination of 1, 2, 3 or zero teams in Champaign.

The state tournament, since its inception back in 1908, was always about bringing in the best teams from each section of the state to battle for state supremacy.

Each region had a representative and it made for an interesting tournament to see which area had the best team.

The setup now means that some regions of the state (Deep South) could be left out.

As for the rankings this week, unbeaten Woodlawn and head coach Luke Cooper overcame a late rally by Sparta to win the Duster Thomas Hoops' classic.

The Cardinals have two tournament championships on the sheet and will be favored in what will be an interesting Midland Trail Conference tournament this month at Woodlawn.

This will be the final MTC tournament as the members voted to eliminate if after 2026.

So the 96th annual event, having started in 1930, will be the last as the current members will likely find a mid-winter tournament somewhere.

Lawrenceville lost a close one to Tolono Unity on Christmas Eve and then finished third at the Effingham/Teutopolis Tournament with a victory over Champaign Centennial.

The Indians have 12-wins against schools with much higher enrollments than they have.

Sparta trailed by 20-points in the first half to Woodlawn before rallying to tie the Cardinals late in the championship game loss, 48-46.

The Bulldogs played without a starter but managed to rally.

A rematch could happen in the postseason as each of the teams are in the Trico Sectional.

Tuscola continues to get the job done against teams in its area.

The Warriors won the Monticello Holiday Hoopla with a win over the hosts in the final but the real meat of their schedule is coming up, including a date with Casey-Westfield Saturday.

C-W lost a couple of games at the Wabash First Financial Classic in Terre Haute before picking up a win over Shakamak (IN.).

Cumberland has been a quite a roll, winning 10-consecutive games and a pair of holiday tournament titles at St. Elmo and Vandalia.

The Pirates ransacked the Vandalia field, pounding five opponents by a combined 109-points.

This is their first season in the National Trail Conference and it will be a test the rest of the season.

Goreville looked impressive in winning the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament, narrowly defeating Waltonville in the championship game.

The lone loss was to 2A Carterville and the Blackcats will always have a say in the state tournament as they look for their third regional title in succession and eighth in the last 13 years.

Waltonville has a pair of losses to rivals Woodlawn and Goreville but the talent is there for a major move at the end of February.

The Spartans will be part of a loaded Midland Trail Conference tournament.

Webber Township, after winning the Wayne City title, have been idle since December 20th so they should be rested for a run at the conference title and a top-seed at the league tournament.

They will host Woodlawn on January 6th.

Dieterich moves into the Top-10 after a victory over 2A Sullivan for their own holiday tournament title.

The Movin' Maroons have three losses to North Clay, Lawrenceville and Effingham St. Anthony, which is very good company to keep.

They're another of the teams in what looks like a loaded NTC tournament coming up at the end of January.

For the 2A rankings, it is almost like playing the lottery.

You could pick any number of teams here and make a case for them to ranked high.

There are also a bunch of them who have lost to 1A teams.

This would be a great year if we were still two-classes as some of the 1A schools have proven they're worthy if it was one tournament instead of two.

Staunton has played the best so far with just a loss to a Missouri team on the record.

The Bulldogs took care of business at the Carlinville Holiday Tournament but their toughest part of schedule awaits with a pair of tournaments and some non-conference contests.

Teutopolis has won six-straight, including their own holiday tournament they share with Effingham, beating Tolono Unity for the second time this season in the championship game.

The Wooden Shoes schedule the rest of the way is no picnic.

Carterville humbled the field at the Eldorado Holiday Tournament, including a continuous clock beatdown of Anna-Jonesboro in the final.

The Lions have just a lone loss to 1A Waltonville but are playing well as of this moment.

One of the teams Carterville holds a win over is Nashville, who moves up after a Mater Dei Holiday Tournament championship this week.

They topped Breese Central and Orchard Farm (MO.) to take home the top prize.

Beating both Benton and Columbia on consecutive nights, Alton Marquette climbs up the ABV ladder as they're starting to show signs of getting better.

Murphysboro finally got their top player back from injury and the Red Devils took home the third place trophy from the Duster.

Wesclin nearly made it to the BMDHT title game this week, losing in the semifinals before topping Breese Central for third.

The Warriors are one of the teams that has legit street cred for a postseason move.

Columbia lost to Marquette on its home floor in the title game on Monday.

The Eagles have some tough games on the schedule in the next few weeks.

Roxana coughed up a 20-point lead and lost to Murphysboro on Tuesday.

The Shells resurgence has been good for that program and they have some additional tough games ahead in the Cahokia Conference.

Benton, in their lone appearance at the Columbia Tournament, lost a three-way tie-breaker and ended up in the fifth place game, which they won.

The Rangers, like everyone else on this list, have work to do the rest of the way.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The next rankings will be 01/12/2026.