Here are the preseason rankings of Illinois high school football teams in each class, according to an Associated Press panel of sportswriters.
Class 8A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1 | Loyola (12) | 2-0 | 120 | 1 |
| 2 | Lincoln-Way East | 2-0 | 107 | 2 |
| 3 | Glenbard West | 2-0 | 85 | 3 |
| 4 | Homewood-Flossmoor | 2-0 | 82 | 4 |
| 5 | Brother Rice | 1-1 | 61 | 6 |
| 6 | Edwardsville | 2-0 | 49 | 5 |
| 7 | Waubonsie Valley | 2-0 | 44 | 9 |
| 8 | Palatine | 2-0 | 43 | 8 |
| 9 | Maine South | 1-1 | 28 | 10 |
| 10 | Neuqua Valley | 2-0 | 9 | NR |
Other receiving votes: Glenbard North 8, Barrington 7, New Trier 5, Oak Park River Forest 3, Marist 3, Huntley 3, Hinsdale Central 3
Class 7A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1 | Chicago Mt. Carmel (10) | 2-0 | 125 | 1 |
| 2 | East St. Louis (3) | 2-0 | 120 | 2 |
| 3 | Batavia | 1-1 | 94 | 4 |
| 4 | Normal Community | 2-0 | 79 | 5 |
| 5 | Libertyville | 2-0 | 63 | 3 |
| 6 | Fenwick | 2-0 | 62 | 7 |
| 7 | Bradley-Bourbonnais | 2-0 | 61 | 6 |
| 8 | St. Charles North | 2-0 | 51 | 8 |
| 9 | Wheaton North | 2-0 | 38 | 9 |
| 10 | Machesney Park Harlem | 2-0 | 10 | 10 |
Other receiving votes: Lincoln Way West 6, Benet 3, Hononegah 2, Rolling Meadows 1
Class 6A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1 | Sacred Heart-Griffin (10) | 2-0 | 127 | 1 |
| 2 | Prairie Ridge (3) | 2-0 | 119 | 2 |
| 3 | Montini | 1-1 | 89 | 5 |
| 4 | Lemont | 2-0 | 86 | 6 |
| 5 | Cary-Grove | 1-1 | 72 | 7 |
| T-6 | DeKalb | 2-0 | 55 | 10 |
| T-6 | Crete-Monee | 1-1 | 55 | 3 |
| 8 | Rockford Boylan | 2-0 | 32 | NR |
| 9 | Danville | 2-0 | 26 | NR |
| 10 | Rockford Auburn | 1-1 | 20 | 4 |
Other receiving votes: St. Laurence 14, Providence 5, Bloomington 3, Belvidere North 3, Crystal Lake Central 3, Riverside-Brookfield 3, Galesburg 2, Hampshire 1
Class 5A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1 | Nazareth (16) | 2-0 | 160 | 1 |
| 2 | Peoria Central | 2-0 | 141 | 2 |
| 3 | Sterling | 2-0 | 120 | 5 |
| 4 | Woodstock Marian | 2-0 | 103 | 6 |
| 5 | Metamora | 2-0 | 85 | 8 |
| 6 | Centralia | 2-0 | 54 | 9 |
| 7 | Triad | 2-0 | 41 | 10 |
| 8 | Washington | 1-1 | 37 | 3 |
| 9 | Morris | 2-0 | 35 | NR |
| 10 | Peoria Notre Dame | 2-0 | 26 | NR |
Other receiving votes: Champaign Central 24, Decatur Eisenhower 14, Kaneland 14, Joliet Catholic 11, Cahokia 8, Morgan Park 3, Springfield Southeast 3, Woodstock North 1
Class 4A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1 | Althoff Catholic (15) | 2-0 | 182 | 1 |
| 2 | Rochester (4) | 2-0 | 174 | 2 |
| T-3 | Breese Mater Dei | 2-0 | 131 | 3 |
| T-3 | Phillips | 1-1 | 131 | 4 |
| 5 | Geneseo | 2-0 | 126 | 5 |
| 6 | Johnsburg | 2-0 | 102 | 6 |
| 7 | Marengo | 2-0 | 72 | 7 |
| 8 | Columbia | 2-0 | 47 | 10 |
| 9 | Taylorville | 2-0 | 32 | NR |
| 10 | Plano | 1-1 | 10 | NR |
Other receiving votes: Richmond-Burton 7, Coal City 7, Bethalto Civic Memorial 6, Manteno 5, Quincy Notre Dame 3, Canton 3, Rock Island Alleman 2, Genoa 2, Aurora Central Catholic 2, Stillman Valley 1
Class 3A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1 | IC Catholic (16) | 2-0 | 160 | 1 |
| 2 | Wilmington | 2-0 | 144 | 2 |
| 3 | Monticello | 2-0 | 120 | 3 |
| 4 | Newton | 2-0 | 97 | T-5 |
| 5 | North-Mac | 2-0 | 79 | 4 |
| 6 | Byron | 2-0 | 72 | 8 |
| 7 | Pana | 2-0 | 60 | T-5 |
| 8 | Tolono Unity | 1-1 | 32 | 10 |
| 9 | Williamsville | 2-0 | 26 | NR |
| 10 | Herscher | 2-0 | 22 | NR |
Other receiving votes: Bishop McNamara 19, Elmwood-Brimfield 14, Carlinville 13, Breese Central 7, Westville 7, Winnebago 3, Mt. Carmel 2, St. Joseph-Ogden 2, Paxton-Buckley-Loda 1
Class 2A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1 | Downs Tri-Valley (11) | 2-0 | 152 | 2 |
| 2 | Maroa-Forsyth (4) | 2-0 | 145 | 3 |
| 3 | Deer Creek-Mackinaw (1) | 2-0 | 126 | 4 |
| 4 | Sterling Newman | 2-0 | 112 | 5 |
| 5 | Orion | 2-0 | 78 | 7 |
| 6 | Mendon Unity | 2-0 | 75 | 6 |
| 7 | Auburn | 1-1 | 59 | 1 |
| 8 | Eastland-Pearl City | 2-0 | 56 | 9 |
| 9 | El Paso-Gridley | 2-0 | 14 | NR |
| T-10 | DuQuoin | 1-1 | 12 | NR |
| T-10 | Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley | 1-1 | 12 | NR |
Other receiving votes: Wethersfield 9, Hamilton West Hancock 8, Champaign St. Thomas More 5, Carmi White County 4, Fulton 3, Johnston City 3, Eldorado 2, Rockridge 2, Sangamon Valley 1, St. Bede 1, Nashville 1
Class 1A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1 | Decatur St. Teresa (17) | 2-0 | 170 | 1 |
| 2 | Ottawa Marquette | 2-0 | 135 | 2 |
| 3 | Tuscola | 2-0 | 130 | 3 |
| 4 | Forreston | 2-0 | 125 | 4 |
| 5 | Dakota | 2-0 | 98 | 5 |
| 6 | Mt. Sterling (Brown County) | 2-0 | 69 | 6 |
| 7 | Bureau Valley | 2-0 | 66 | 9 |
| 8 | Athens | 2-0 | 62 | 7 |
| 9 | Stockton | 2-0 | 38 | 10 |
| 10 | Stark County | 1-1 | 22 | 8 |
Other receiving votes: LeRoy 6, Lena-Winslow 5, Pawnee 3, Argenta-Oreana 2, Concord (Triopia) 2, Camp Point Central 1, Hardin (Calhoun) 1