2025 ILLINOIS FALL TOP 40 STUDENT SECTION PRESEASON RANKINGS

Off Central, front, Previews, Student Section Buzz,

In 2015, yours truly began covering Student Sections in Orange County, California. We expanded to Southern California in 2017 and in 2021, we added four more states and added 15 more states. We went to 40 states two years ago.

We went to all 50 states in winter of 2023 and now we add our friends from the North in Canada on top of dividing Texas into two regions, similar to what we did with California. No one has ever done that before…until now!

This is still a one-man operation for the most part, but we have some help with some partners on Instagram like good friends at OC Student Sections and Stadium Geeks with help from Maryland Student Section Rater, NorCal Student Sections and many more.

This year we plan to get several “barstool” pages that showcase Student Sections in their states. Some of those pages were very helpful last year as we get more accurate with our rankings.

I know that Student Sections have a lot of work to do to get the students to the games to cheer on their classmates and go along with the theme and make sure they don’t cause trouble. These student sections deserve recognition.

This past season, we several more Student Sections, including some big powerhouse ones that not only will be a top dawg in their state, but will be a big player in the National side!

We will kick off the Student Section season with Preseason Football Student Section Rankings. REMEMBER, this is a PREVIEW. It is merely a prediction. The real rankings come out in November or December. 

If you feel your student section isn’t ranked high enough or not ranked at all, let us know and we’ll keep a close eye on them.

Every week, we will also have Student Section of the Week for each state. Once you win Student Section of the Week, you can’t win it again, but you still have to battle for the top spot in your state and perhaps the Nation as we will also name a Football Student Section National Champion. 

We continue with the 2025 Fall Student Section Season with a preview of Illinois.

Before last year, I felt Illinois was a difficult state when it came to finding a large group of solid Student Sections, but I feel like we found some more powerhouses here. I know we can find more, but there isn’t really that one big power Student Section here that is above the rest. Number one is up for grabs by a lot of Student Sections.

Last Football season, we had the Prospect Underground as the top Football Student Section in Illinois. The Underground social media game was on point. They love to show off their school spirit on Instagram and if no one improves on their social media work, then the Underground should repeat in 2025.

In each state, we will name one student section to look out for. A student section that while they aren’t ranked super high or weren’t ranked high last year, they’re a Student Section to lookout for and for Illinois, it’s the Buffalo Grove Blue Crew. The Blue Crew came in hot last year and I think they can sneak into the top of the rankings if they keep showing off their Student Section on Instagram. A smaller Student Section compared to others, but they are an insane group.

Will the Blue Crew join the powerhouse Student Section party or will the Underground take control once again in The Prairie State? Let’s find out.

2025 ILLINOIS FALL TOP 40 STUDENT SECTION PRESEASON RANKINGS

  1. Prospect Underground (2024 Rank: 1)

The Underground Instagram game is one of the best in the state during the Fall season. They love to show off their Student Section. They crushed it last year and hopefully they don’t skip a beat in 2025. If they stay the course, we will have a repeat for number one.

  1. Wheaton Warrenville South (2024 Rank: 4)
  2. Batavia Dogpound (2024 Rank: 6)
  3. Maine South Hawk Nation (2024 Rank: 2)
  4. Wheaton North (2024 Rank: 7)
  5. Leyden Nest (2024 Rank: 8)
  6. Lincoln Way West (2024 Rank: 3)
  7. Fenwick Friar Nation (2024 Rank: 9)
  8. Buffalo Grove Blue Crew (2024 Rank: 19)
  9. Evanston Township Kit Pit (2024 Rank: NR)
  10. St. Charles North Blue Fan Group (2024 Rank: 5)
  11. Maine West (2024 Rank: 10)
  12. Lincoln Way East (2024 Rank: 12)
  13. Naperville North Dawgpound (2024 Rank: 13)
  14. Mahomet-Seymour (2024 Rank: 17)
  15. Columbia (2024 Rank: 11)
  16. Brother Rice Crazies (2024 Rank: 20)
  17. Hershey Orange Crush (2024 Rank: 14)
  18. Marist (2024 Rank: 36)
  19. Priceville Maroon Mob (2024 Rank: NR)
  20. Lyons Township Weirds (2024 Rank: 15)
  21. Bolingbrook Red Zone (2024 Rank: 16)
  22. Barrington Big Red (2024 Rank: 22)
  23. West Aurora Rowdies (2024 Rank: 21)
  24. Warren Township Blue Crew (2024 Rank: 24)
  25. Glenbard West Crazies (2024 Rank: 26)
  26. St. Rita Stable (2024 Rank: 30)
  27. Naperville Central Rowdies (2024 Rank: 23)
  28. Collinsville Kahok Krazies (2024 Rank: 27)
  29. Joliet Catholic (2024 Rank: 34)
  30. New Trier Green Team (2024 Rank: 28)
  31. Metamora Birds Nest (2024 Rank: 29)
  32. Richwood Dungeon (2024 Rank: 31)
  33. Maine East (2024 Rank: 37)
  34. Downers Grove North (2024 Rank: 40)
  35. Prairie Ridge (2024 Rank: 18)
  36. Lockport (2024 Rank: 32)
  37. Edwardsville (2024 Rank: 33)
  38. Cary-Grover (2024 Rank: 39)
  39. Mount Carmel (2024 Rank: NR)

HONORABLE MENTION: York, Neuqua Valley, Geneva, Montini Catholic, Althoff Catholic