Winning a high school basketball state championship is always a challenge regardless of state, classification or matchups along the way. Today we examine the toughest hardwood state tournament brackets in 2024-25. Hundreds of classifications across 50 states and the District of Columbia were narrowed down to the 10 most daunting.
Determining factors include MaxPreps Top 25 teams in the field, quality of favorites and top contenders, depth and quality of the tournament field and overall difficulty of capturing the championship.
Although Division 1 in California is likely one of the top 10 toughest brackets, the field won't begin to shape up until various section open division tournaments are decided.
Other state classifications that just missed the cut include the Kentucky Sweet 16, Class 5A in Utah, Division 6 in Missouri, Class 6A and Class 4A in Florida, Class 4A in Minnesota, Class 4A in North Carolina, Division I in Ohio, Class I in Michigan and Class 6A in Pennsylvania.
Read on for a full rundown of the top 10 state tournaments in high school basketball below.
1. CIF Open DivisionState: California
Rundown: Winning the Open Division state championship will be a tall task this season with four teams ranked in the MaxPreps Top 25 headlining the projected field. Five-star Duke signee
Nikolas Khamenia and No. 2 Harvard-Westlake are slight favorites to capture their third consecutive state championship but No. 5 Roosevelt will be an extremely tough out in postseason play behind five-star guard
Brayden Burries. No. 14 St. Joseph, featuring the state's all-time leading scorer in Baylor signee
Tounde Yessoufou, and No. 24 Notre Dame, headlined by top-ranked junior
Tyran Stokes, are other top contenders. St. John Bosco is another darkhorse from SoCal behind top 10 juniors
Brandon McCoy and
Christian Collins.
2. FHSAA Class 7A
State: Florida
Rundown: The top-ranked team in high school basketball will be a tough out in its quest for a fourth consecutive state championship as Columbus has cruised to a pair of lopsided wins to advance to the state quarterfinals. Top 25 Duke signees
Cameron and
Cayden Boozer along with top 25 juniors
Caleb Gaskins and
Jaxon Richardson headline the most talented starting five in the country. The winner of a highly-anticipated quarterfinal contest between Oak Ridge and Windermere is expected to be the Explorers' biggest obstacle in a potential championship game. Despite losing nine games this season, Oak Ridge pushed Columbus to overtime in the state title game last season behind Providence signee
Jamier Jones and LSU signee
Jalen Reece.
3. UIL Class 6A Division 1
State: Texas
Rundown: Although doubling the classifications in Texas makes winning a state title in the highest classification a bit easier, it is still one of the toughest to state tournament brackets to escape from as three MaxPreps Top 25 teams headline the 64-team field. No. 5 Brennan is a slight favorite to capture its first state title behind five-star Houston signee
Kingston Flemings. The Bears are unbeaten against in-state opponents this season. No. 8 Allen pushed Brennan to overtime earlier in the year in its only loss. No. 22 Lake Ridge (33-2) is powered by senior forward
Eze Nwakamma.
4. GHSA Class AAAAAA
State: Georgia
Rundown: No. 11 Grayson is favored to repeat after capturing its first state title last season. The Rams have already knocked off No. 13 Wheeler 77-68 this season and own a 46-game win streak against in-state opponents. Top 50 Georgia signee
Jacob Wilkins and top 10 junior
Caleb Holt lead the way for Grayson. No. 13 Wheeler has also built a strong resume this season with a 2-3 record against nationally-ranked opponents and a 22-0 record against everyone else. The Wildcats look to capture their fourth state title in the past six seasons behind Mississippi signee
Tylis Jordan and four-star junior
Colben Landrew.
5. AIA Open Division
State: Arizona
Rundown: No. 7 Perry enters postseason play as an overwhelming favorite to capture a fourth consecutive state championship in the state's highest classification. Five-star senior
Koa Peat and top 10 sophomore
Bruce Branch lead a loaded starting five. The Pumas are undefeated against in-state opponents while outscoring Arizona foes by 27.5 points per contest. They have multiple wins over top contenders Basha and Sunnyslope. Millennium is a team that could potentially have the talent to unseed the three-time defending state championship as the Tigers feature a strong one-two punch of five-star junior
Cameron Holmes and Utah State signee
Kingston Tosi. Millennium has also played a grueling national schedule to prepare them for big games.
6. DCSAA Class AA
State: District of Columbia
Rundown: Despite losing two of its final three games to close out the regular season, Gonzaga appears to be the team to beat for the DCSAA Class AA state championship this season and unseat three-time defending champion Sidwell Friends. Gonzaga rolls out a starting five with five senior Division I commits, including North Carolina signee
Derek Dixon, Virginia Tech signee
Christian Gurdak and Xavier signee
Nykolas Lewis. Sidwell Friends is led by top 40 Kentucky signee
Acaden Lewis, three-star George Washington signee
Jalen Rougier-Roane, junior wing
Jalyn Collingwood and sophomore forward
Ian Condon.
7. IHSA Class 4A
State: Illinois
Rundown: After capturing the program's first Chicago Public League championship, Kenwood is favored to also win the Class 4A state crown behind top 25 sophomore
Devin Cleveland, three-star senior
Aleks Alston and senior wing
T.J. Seals. Although they have won 15 games in a row, the Broncos appear to be beatable as 11 wins were decided by single-digits this season, including each of their past three. Defending state champion Homewood-Flossmoor will again be a tough out in postseason play this season while Bolingbrook, Marist and Quincy are expected to be other top challengers for the crown in the loaded state tournament field.
8. IHSAA Class 4A
State: Indiana
Rundown: Following a run to its first state championship last season, Fishers has continued the momentum this season in building a 35-game win streak. Four-star sophomore
Jason Gardner has been the catalyst for the Tigers while Miami-Ohio commit
Justin Kirby, sophomore guard
Cooper Zachary and Indiana Wesleyan commit
Millen McCartney form a strong supporting cast. Greenfield-Central is a team who could be a darkhorse to make a run to its first state championship behind five-star UConn signee
Braylon Mullins, who is averaging 33.0 points per contest this season to lead the state.
9. FHSAA Class 3A
State: Florida
Rundown: No. 3 Calvary Christian Academy has established itself as one of the top teams in high school basketball this season behind top 30 Cincinnati signee
Shon Abaev, top 25 sophomore
Cayden Daughtry and four-star junior
Collin Paul. The Eagles have outscored their opponents by 22.3 points per contest this season and own a 5-1 record against teams ranked in the top 100 nationally. Andrew Jackson, The Villages Charter and Cardinal Gibbons give the bracket some depth as they appear to be the biggest challengers to prevent Calvary Christian Academy from capturing its first state title since going back-to-back in 2021 and 2022.
10. AHSAA Class 7A
State: Alabama
Rundown:
The state tournament bracket that is the furthest along on this list is
the highest classification in the Yellowhammer State as No. 6 Hoover, Central, Fairhope and Florence have all advanced to
the state semifinals. However, the best two teams in the state already faced off in the state quarterfinals as No. 6 Hoover slipped past No. 21
Huntsville 63-60 in a thrilling contest that went down to the final buzzer. Four-star Tennessee signee
DeWayne Brown led the way with 18 points and 11 rebounds while all five starter finished in double-figures for the Buccaneers. Hoover is the overwhelming favorite to capture its third consecutive state championship and owns a 43-game win streak dating back to last season.
