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.
Top 10 Toughest High School Football Postseason Brackets
Start date: Nov. 12
End date: Nov. 26
Field: Eight teams
Other notable teams: Duncanville,
Westfield (Houston),
North Shore (Houston),
Atascocita (Humble),
Rockwall,
Trinity (Euless),
Lake Travis (Austin),
Spring, Allen,
Brennan (San Antonio),
DeSoto,
Dickinson,
Jersey Village (Houston),
Lake Highlands (Dallas),
Martin (Arlington),
Midland Legacy (Midland),
Ridge Point (Missouri City),
Smithson Valley (Spring Branch),
Tompkins (Katy)
Start date: Nov. 11
End date: Dec. 18
Field: 64 teams
Other notable teams: Rockwall-Heath (Rockwall),
Guyer (Denton),
Bridgeland (Cypress),
Cedar Hill,
Dallas Jesuit (Dallas),
King (Houston),
New Braunfels,
Prosper,
Shadow Creek (Pearland),
Steele (Cibolo),
Stratford (Houston),
Temple,
Tomball,
Vandegrift (Austin),
Vela (Edinburg)
Start date: Nov. 11
End date: Dec. 18
Field: 64 teams
Other notable teams: Mill Creek (Hoschton),
Lowndes (Valdosta),
Brookwood (Snellville).
Archer (Lawrenceville),
Colquitt County (Moultrie),
Grayson (Loganville),
Marietta,
McEachern (Powder Springs),
Norcross,
Pebblebrook (Mableton),
Roswell,
Walton (Marietta)
Start date: Nov. 12
End date: Dec. 11
Field: 32 teams
MaxPreps Top 25 teams (0)
Notable teams: Lakota West (West Chester, Ohio),
Medina,
Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati),
St. Edward (Lakewood),
Pickerington Central (Pickerington),
St. Xavier (Cincinnati),
Elder (Cincinnati),
Marysville,
New Albany,
Pickerington North (Pickerington),
Princeton (Cincinnati),
Springfield,
St. Ignatius (Cleveland),
Upper Arlington (Columbus)
Start date: Oct. 29
End date: Dec. 3
Field: 64 teams
Start date: Nov. 5
End date: Dec. 1
Field: 16 teams
Start date: Nov. 26
End date: Dec. 12
Field: Eight teams
MaxPreps Top 25 teams (0)
Notable teams: Ryan (Denton),
Highland Park (Dallas),
College Station,
Colleyville Heritage (Colleyville),
Fort Bend Hightower (Missouri City),
Lancaster,
Lone Star (Frisco),
Longview,
Magnolia West (Magnolia),
Mansfield Summit (Arlington),
Manvel,
McAllen Memorial (McAllen),
Paetow (Katy),
Wakeland (Frisco),
Weiss (Pflugerville)
Start date: Nov. 11
End date: Dec. 17
Field: 64 teams
Start date: Nov. 12
End date: Dec. 18
Field: 32 teams
MaxPreps Top 25 teams (0)
Notable teams: Cartersville,
Woodward Academy (College Park),
Ware County (Waycross),
Warner Robins, No. 80
Creekside (Fairburn),
Blessed Trinity (Roswell),
Calhoun,
Clarke Central (Athens),
Jones County (Gray),
St. Pius X Catholic (Atlanta),
Starr's Mill (Fayetteville),
Whitewater (Fayetteville)
Start date: Nov. 12
End date: Dec. 11
Field: 32 teams
