By Mark Gregory
@Hear_The_Beard
In the eight years since the Southwest Prairie Conference went to its most recent configuration, the football play has seen a lot of the same.
It has been Oswego on top followed by a cast of teams that have defined the word parity.
In fact, the SPC has posted only one season in which four teams ended the season with a winning record.
The SPC has not fared well in playoff games either, as no team not located in Oswego has won a postseason game in the past five years.
Why has the SPC struggled in the playoffs? In my opinion, the answer is simple. The teams went into the postseason having beat teams that did not always pose a challenge. Teams that ended the season with less than three wins and when push came to shove in the playoffs, these teams were not ready to face off against teams that may have been 5-4 coming out of the East Suburban Catholic Conference or the DuPage Valley – leagues that historically put teams deep into the playoffs.
So, what does all this have to do with the upcoming gridiron season?
This year, the league structure will change again as Joliet West and Joliet Central join the group and could alter the dynamic for their programs as well as the conference overall.
Looking at the league as a whole, the SPC has elected to play no nonconference games and have each team compete against other league opponents.
If the makeup of the conference stays the way it has been, this could mean a lot of playoff qualifiers at the top or it could have a bunch of teams fighting each other for precious playoff points, with teams being left out despite a qualifying record.
What this move will do for the Joliet teams is even bigger.
First, with the teams leaving the SouthWest Suburban Conference, they automatically get a break when they avoid playing the likes of Lincoln-Way East, Bolingbrook and Homewood-Flossmoor every season.
Other than Oswego, the SPC has shown no dominant team and over the last five years, the Panthers have not been a team that would have been one to compete for supremacy in the SWSC.
For Joliet West, the move takes a team that has only advanced to the playoffs once in the history of the school to a team that will be in the mix year in and year out. The Tigers have competed with the big boys and fought to the end. They no longer have those challenges and while that may not prepare them for playoff games, but the Tigers should have more playoff chances to earn some postseason wins.
For Joliet Central, the change brings something totally different – hope.
The Steelmen are winless since the Joliet programs resplit and have taken several beatings at the hands of the big boys atop the SWSC.
With those teams no longer on the schedule, Central will have the chance to compete in many of its games.
I can’t guarantee the Steelmen will notch their first win this season, but I’m going to say Central will take a big step forward for sure.
Without having The Brook or H-F or Lincoln-Way East on the schedule, Central can go into games knowing they have a fighting chance and as the 49-0 scores of the past become 27-14 then 24-14 and 21-17, the Steelmen program will have the confidence it can compete over the course of its schedule, thus leading to a win and then who knows how many more.
A little hope can go a long way.