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) | 1-0 | 120 | 1 |
| 2 | Lincoln-Way East | 1-0 | 104 | 2 |
| 3 | Glenbard West | 1-0 | 93 | 3 |
| 4 | Homewood-Flossmoor | 1-0 | 84 | 4 |
| 5 | Edwardsville | 1-0 | 60 | 5 |
| 6 | Brother Rice | 1-0 | 57 | NR |
| 7 | Glenbard North | 1-0 | 45 | 8 |
| 8 | Palatine | 1-0 | 43 | 7 |
| 9 | Waubonsie Valley | 1-0 | 19 | 9 |
| 10 | Maine South | 1-0 | 18 | NR |
Other receiving votes: Huntley (13), Naperville Neuqua Valley (2), Naperville North (1), Hinsdale Central (1)
Class 7A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1 | Chicago Mt. Carmel (11) | 1-0 | 119 | 1 |
| 2 | East St. Louis (1) | 1-0 | 109 | 2 |
| 3 | Libertyville | 1-0 | 86 | 4 |
| 4 | Batavia | 1-0 | 73 | 3 |
| 5 | Normal Community | 1-0 | 70 | 5 |
| 6 | Bradley-Bourbonnais | 1-0 | 60 | 6 |
| 7 | Fenwick | 1-0 | 55 | NR |
| 8 | St. Charles North | 1-0 | 37 | 9 |
| 9 | Wheaton North | 1-0 | 15 | NR |
| 10 | Machesney Park Harlem | 1-0 | 10 | NR |
Other receiving votes: Lake Zurich (6), Geneva (5), Belleville West (5), St. Rita (4), Wheaton Warrenville South (2), Jacobs (1), Hononegah (1), Benet (1), Lincoln Way West (1)
Class 6A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1 | Sacred Heart-Griffin (Spr) (11) | 1-0 | 118 | 2 |
| 2 | Prairie Ridge | 1-0 | 108 | 4 |
| 3 | Crete-Monee | 1-0 | 84 | 5 |
| 4 | Rockford Auburn | 1-0 | 77 | 6 |
| 5 | Montini (1) | 0-1 | 66 | 1 |
| 6 | Lemont | 1-0 | 51 | 7 |
| 7 | Cary-Grove | 0-1 | 49 | 3 |
| 8 | Belvidere North | 1-0 | 41 | 9 |
| 9 | St. Laurence | 1-0 | 37 | T10 |
| 10 | DeKalb | 1-0 | 11 | NR |
Other receiving votes: Chatham Glenwood (4), Providence (4), Oak Lawn Richards (4), Hinsdale South (2), Bloomington (2), Danville (1), Rockford Boylan (1)
Class 5A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1 | Nazareth (13) | 1-0 | 130 | 1 |
| 2 | Peoria Central | 1-0 | 114 | 2 |
| 3 | Washington | 1-0 | 106 | 3 |
| 4 | Champaign Central | 1-0 | 80 | 5 |
| 5 | Sterling | 1-0 | 69 | 7 |
| 6 | Woodstock Marian | 1-0 | 68 | 6 |
| 7 | Joliet Catholic | 0-1 | 44 | 4 |
| 8 | Metamora | 1-0 | 36 | 10 |
| 9 | Centralia | 1-0 | 34 | T8 |
| 10 | Triad | 1-0 | 10 | NR |
Other receiving votes: Peoria Notre Dame (6), Sycamore (4), Kaneland (4), Decatur Eisenhower (4), LaSalle-Peru (2), Morgan Park (2), Rich Central (1), Cahokia (1)
Class 4A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1 | Althoff Catholic (11) | 1-0 | 123 | 2 |
| 2 | Rochester (2) | 1-0 | 117 | 3 |
| 3 | Breese Mater Dei | 1-0 | 88 | 4 |
| 4 | Phillips | 0-1 | 83 | 1 |
| 5 | Geneseo | 1-0 | 82 | 5 |
| 6 | Johnsburg | 1-0 | 60 | 8 |
| 7 | Marengo | 1-0 | 57 | 6 |
| 8 | Manteno | 1-0 | 47 | 7 |
| 9 | Quincy Notre Dame | 1-0 | 15 | NR |
| 10 | Columbia | 1-0 | 14 | NR |
Other receiving votes: Taylorville (12), Richmond-Burton (7), Rockford Lutheran (4), Stillman Valley (3), Plano (2), Rock Island Alleman (1)
Class 3A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1 | IC Catholic (12) | 1-0 | 4 | |
| 2 | Wilmington (1) | 1-0 | 3 | |
| 3 | Monticello | 1-0 | 5 | |
| 4 | North-Mac | 1-0 | 6 | |
| 5 | Newton | 1-0 | 8 | |
| 5 (tie) | Pana | 1-0 | 7 | |
| 7 | Bishop McNamara | 0-1 | 1 | |
| 8 | Byron | 1-0 | T9 | |
| 9 | Paxton-Buckley-Loda | 1-0 | T9 | |
| 10 | Tolono Unity | 0-1 | 2 |
Other receiving votes: Elmwood-Brimfield (13), Williamsville (6), Herscher (4), Breese Central (4), St. Joseph-Ogden (3), Carlinville (1), Winnebago (1), Mt. Carmel (1), Princeton (1)
Class 2A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1 | Auburn (8) | 1-0 | 1 | |
| 2 | Downs Tri-Valley (2) | 1-0 | 2 | |
| 3 | Maroa-Forsyth (1) | 1-0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Deer Creek-Mackinaw | 1-0 | 4 | |
| 5 | Sterling Newman (1) | 1-0 | 5 | |
| 6 | Mendon Unity | 1-0 | 9 | |
| 7 | Orion | 1-0 | 10 | |
| 8 | Wethersfield | 1-0 | 8 | |
| 9 | Eastland-Pearl City | 1-0 | NR | |
| 10 | St. Bede | 0-1 | 6 | |
| 10 (tie) | Nashville | 0-1 | NR |
Other receiving votes: Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley (7), DuQuoin (6), Fulton (4), Leo (3), El Paso-Gridley (2), Champaign St. Thomas More (1), Rushville-Industry (1), Clifton Central (1)
Class 1A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1 | Decatur St. Teresa (14) | 1-0 | 140 | 2 |
| 2 | Ottawa Marquette | 1-0 | 117 | 3 |
| 3 | Tuscola | 1-0 | 106 | 5 |
| 4 | Forreston | 1-0 | 101 | 6 |
| 5 | Dakota | 1-0 | 68 | 8 |
| 6 | Mt. Sterling (Brown County) | 1-0 | 63 | 9 |
| 7 | Athens | 1-0 | 47 | 10 |
| 8 | Stark County | 0-1 | 30 | 1 |
| 9 | Bureau Valley | 1-0 | 26 | NR |
| 10 | Stockton | 1-0 | 23 | NR |
Other receiving votes: Lena-Winslow (16), Carrollton (11), LeRoy (9), Arcola (8), Camp Point Central (2), Hardin (Calhoun) (2), Chicago Hope Academy (1)