IHSA changing boys and girls basketball state finals schedule

The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors met for its regularly scheduled meeting at the IHSA office in Bloomington on Monday.

The Board approved changes to the Boys & Girls Basketball State Final schedule beginning at the 2026 State Finals. The new state final schedule will be similar to the schedule that was utilized from 2022-2024, which was the first three years that the IHSA conducted the state tournament in a three-day format.

Class 1A and 2A semifinals and third-place games will be played on the first day of the state tournament on Thursday, with the 3A and 4A semifinals and third-place games the next day.

All four state championship games will be played on Saturday.

“The single-weekend state final format is still in its relative infancy, and we’ve been very transparent about our willingness to tweak the time and game schedule until we get it right. We tried a different variation last year and the immediate feedback from nearly everyone involved was that the schedule we utilized from 2022-2024 was far superior. As a result, we are making some slight changes to that original schedule for 2026," said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson.