High school football: CIF Southern Section Division 1 leads list of Top 10 toughest postseason brackets

By Zack Poff Nov 18, 2021, 10:45am

No. 1 Mater Dei, No. 4 St. John Bosco, No. 7 Servite, No. 11 Corona Centennial all in semifinals of most difficult playoffs field.

It's officially the best time of the year for high school football as playoffs are here and state champions will be crowned in the coming weeks. Some states have wrapped up and with Arizona getting underway this week we zone in on the Top 10 toughest postseason brackets in the country.

California takes home the No. 1 spot as the CIF Southern Section Division 1 bracket has four MaxPreps Top 25 teams. Both semifinal games on Friday were the top-two matchups in this week's Top 10 games. No. 11 Centennial (Corona) hosts No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana) and No. 7 Servite (Anaheim) plays at No. 4 St. John Bosco (Bellflower) in the other semifinal.

Texas has the most playoff brackets featured with three. The 6A Division 1 and 6A Division 2 brackets round out the top-three spots.

Georgia was the only other state with multiple postseason brackets featured as AAAAAAA checks in at No. 4 — it rivals the Southern Section with three MaxPreps Top 25 teams — and AAAAA is the last one included at No. 10. The AAAAA field is one of five postseason brackets that has at least five MaxPreps Top 100 teams.



Alabama, Arizona, Florida and Ohio were the four other states included and all have one bracket featured.
Graphic by Ryan Escobar
Top 10 Toughest High School Football Postseason Brackets


MaxPreps Top 25 teams (4): No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana), No. 4 St. John Bosco (Bellflower), No. 7 Servite (Anaheim), No. 11 Centennial (Corona)


Start date: Nov. 12

End date: Nov. 26



Field: Eight teams


MaxPreps Top 25 teams (1): No. 10 Southlake Carroll (Southlake),


Start date: Nov. 11

End date: Dec. 18



Field: 64 teams


MaxPreps Top 25 teams (2): No. 3 Westlake (Austin), No. 8 Katy,


Start date: Nov. 11

End date: Dec. 18

Field: 64 teams




MaxPreps Top 25 teams (3): No. 5 Collins Hill (Suwanee), No. 20 North Cobb (Kennesaw), No. 22 Milton,


Start date: Nov. 12

End date: Dec. 11

Field: 32 teams




MaxPreps Top 25 teams (0) 


Start date: Oct. 29

End date: Dec. 3

Field: 64 teams


MaxPreps Top 25 teams (2): No. 18 Hoover, No. 24 Thompson (Alabaster)




Start date: Nov. 5

End date: Dec. 1

Field: 16 teams


MaxPreps Top 25 teams (2): No. 12 Hamilton (Chandler), No. 17 Chandler


Start date: Nov. 26

End date: Dec. 12



Field: Eight teams


MaxPreps Top 25 teams (0)


Start date: Nov. 11

End date: Dec. 17

Field: 64 teams




MaxPreps Top 25 teams (1): No. 14 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale),


Start date: Nov. 12

End date: Dec. 18

Field: 32 teams


MaxPreps Top 25 teams (0)




Start date: Nov. 12

End date: Dec. 11

Field: 32 teams