Darren Kinnard
Section618.com

By a vote of 6-5, the Southern Illinois River to River Conference will not try to add another school when Sparta leaves for the Cahokia Conference following the upcoming school year.

The decision leaves only five teams in the Mississippi Division. That means by IHSA rule, the Mississippi winner in football will no longer clinch an automatic playoff spot. Based on the IHSA’s conference by conference records that date back to 1996, the Mississippi winner has won six or more regular season games in all but one season (2015). Six or more wins also nets an automatic playoff bid. Perhaps of more difficulty for the five remaining schools, they will need to find another non-conference opponent in weeks four through eight.

Breese Mater Dei and Mt. Carmel were pretty much the only schools potentially available to invite to replace Sparta. Mt. Carmel was widely seen as the potential target if the SIRR decided to try to add a school, but adding the Golden Aces would’ve also likely led to a significant divisional realignment.