Wheaton Warrenville South and Wheaton North both earned first-round byes in the expanded IHSA Class 6A football playoffs, but their roads forward look very different.

The Tigers landed the No. 6 seed and the Falcons the No. 7 in a 48-team 6A bracket. The IHSA expanded the field this year, adding an opening round and granting byes to the top 16 seeds in each class. Both Wheaton teams will sit out the opening round and host Round 1 games.

WW South will face the winner of No. 22 Bradley-Bourbonnais at No. 11 Joliet Catholic. Wheaton North will host the winner of No. 23 Rolling Meadows at No. 10 Addison Trail.

Tigers tagged as team to avoid

The Daily Herald's bracket breakdown, written by Mike McGraw, singled out WW South as a team opponents should dread. McGraw gave the Tigers an "honorable mention" in his "team you don't want to face" category, noting they finished third in the DuKane Conference with a junior-heavy lineup.

The numbers back up the billing. Junior quarterback AJ Rogers has thrown for 2,001 yards with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions this season, according to Shaw Local's playoff preview. His top target, Blake Ittersagen, has 39 catches for 628 yards and seven touchdowns. The Tigers have qualified for seven straight postseasons and won a playoff game last year for the first time since a 2019 quarterfinal run.

McGraw predicted WW South would reach the 6A semifinals alongside Libertyville. He noted the north side of the 6A bracket "definitely seems tougher than the south side," with Chicago Kennedy holding the top seed on the south half despite not playing in the Public League's Red Division, reserved for stronger teams.

Falcons draw a loaded quadrant

Wheaton North's path looks rockier.

McGraw identified the Falcons' section of the bracket as one of the toughest in 6A, writing that "there's a sneaky tough grouping in 6A with Geneva, Wheaton North, Addison Trail and Carmel." Geneva, which ran the table in the DuKane and averaged 43.3 points per game, is the consensus 6A team to beat. Defending 6A champion Fenwick also sits on the north side of the bracket.

The Falcons (6-3) opened the season 5-0 before dropping three straight to WW South, Batavia and Geneva, then closed with a 14-7 win over Glenbard North in Week 9, Shaw Local reported. The Falcons lean on Mac Murray in the backfield and get two-way production from Adam Schilling, who plays linebacker and tight end.

The quarterback situation adds uncertainty. Starting QB Burke Neibch has been out during the second half of the season with a hand injury. Junior Rory Burke and sophomore Grant Neibch have split time under center since then, and both threw touchdown passes in the Week 9 win.

Chicago Sun-Times high school sports editor Michael O'Brien noted on X that Geneva, Fenwick, WW South, Libertyville, Wheaton North and Lake Zurich all received opening-round byes, and called Nazareth "a very dangerous No. 20 seed" in the 6A field.

WW South hosts its Round 1 opponent after the opening round concludes. Wheaton North does the same, with the Falcons' potential matchup against Addison Trail adding an early test from within that loaded quadrant.