Why the new Southwest Valley may be the IHSA’s most entertaining conference

So why am I so obsessed with the newly formed Southwest Valley Conference for this coming IHSA football season? Sure, this no question sounds much more like a “me” problem right now, but for any IHSA football fan of larger enrollment football this will be one fun conference race to follow.

The new Southwest Valley Conference, which is a one-year trial run for football only, is a combination of the DuPage Valley Conference schools from the West suburbs along with the Southwest Suburban Conference, which features schools located in the Southwest suburbs. The Southwest Valley Conference this season is set up in three divisions including the Blue (Lincoln-Way East, Lockport, Homewood-Flossmoor along with Neuqua Valley, Naperville North) the Green (Waubonsie Valley, DeKalb, Stagg, Bradley and Lincoln-Way Central) and the Red (Naperville Central, Metea Valley, Lincoln-Way West, Sandburg and Andrew).

The potential positives of this new conference alignment?

The DuPage Valley schools have struggled with scheduling ever since the conference had Wheaton North, Wheaton Warrenville South, Glenbard North and Lake Park leave to form the DuKane Conference.

In recent years the DuPage Valley schools, which was narrowed down to just five schools, had to play one or two opponents twice in the regular seasons just to fill out a nine-week schedule and that all ended with the new Southwest Valley Conference. The Southwest Suburban Conference also had an opening and an odd number of schools after Bolingbrook departed for the Southwest Prairie West. So the Southwest Suburban schools also benefit from scheduling with the new conference alignment.

The new Southwest Valley Conference will no doubt bring together some great programs week in and week out, along with some of the state’s top talent as well. Lincoln-Way East, back-to-back Class 8A title runner-up, will face traditionally strong 8A programs in Naperville North and Neuqua Valley in conference play joining along with Lockport and Homewood-Flossmoor in the same conference. The same can be said as well for the Southwest Valley Red and the Southwest Valley Green, which brings together some very strong challenges week in and week out.

The overall combined talent level of the Southwest Valley Conference is impressive.

In the Southwest Valley Blue, Lincoln-Way East is led by incoming transfer and four-star junior quarterback Jonas Williams (Oregon) along with senior tight end Trey Zvonar (Miami of Ohio) senior running back Zion Gist (Western Michigan) plus senior three-star ranked defensive end Caden O’Rourke (Northwestern).

Naperville North will be led by senior QB Jacob Bell (Ball State) along with junior four-star defensive tackle Gabriel Hill plus senior outside linebacker/safety Kaiser Williams (Northern Iowa) while recent incoming transfer three-star wide receiver Quinn Morris is yet another in demand name for the Huskies.

Naperville Central also has committed talent in senior defensive end Jake Stanish (Buffalo) and senior wide receiver Deshawn Williams (Indiana State). Lockport coach George Czart’s roster includes two high in demand underclassmen names on the rise in junior defensive tackle Michael Pratt (6-foot-5, 270 pounds) and sophomore offensive tackle Ethan Posey (6-foot-5, 290 pounds).

Homewood-Flossmoor also welcomes back 18 returning starters this season led by senior three-star defensive end Cameron Brooks (Illinois) plus senior defensive back Myles Green (South Dakota State) and another half-dozen names on several recruiting radar screens. The talent level in both the Southwest Valley Green and the Southwest Valley Red is also very comparable to the Blue.

Do I see any negatives for this potential power conference?

Scheduling would need to be looked at a bit closer. It’s strange to see all three of the Lincoln-Way schools not playing against each other this season. The same goes for no Neuqua Valley versus Waubonsie Valley game, a rivalry that has played out in front of some of the best and biggest high school football crowds I’ve ever experienced.

Under the current alignment, I can see some pretty strong football programs here get left behind come state playoff time. I mean someone has to lose here, right? Go ahead and pick a last place team in any of these three conferences … I dare you.

I really hope this new conference realignment works out. The shine and the spotlight on the Southwest Valley Conference will be followed very closely this coming season and I can’t wait to see it all start to get going in less than a week.