Where are the toughest high school football state tournament brackets in the country?
From the start of the season, every high school football team sets the goal of making it to the playoffs and winning a state championship. However, some playoff brackets are tougher to navigate than others.
MaxPreps has listed the top 10 toughest high school playoff brackets from across the country, and those 10 brackets reside in seven states; California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey and Texas.
1. CIF Southern Section Division 1 (California)
This is the toughest bracket in the country, and for good reason. CIF Southern D1 bracket has four of MaxPreps Xcellent 25 teams in the country; No.1 Mater Dei, No. 5 Centennial, No.7 St. John Bosco and No. 16 Mission Viejo.
Playoffs for CIF Southern Section D1 began last week, and all four teams listed above have advanced to the quarterfinals.
Not only is this playoff bracket tough, but it takes six weeks to narrow 64 teams down to one state champion.
UIL 6A Division is home to three of MaxPreps Xcellent 25 teams; No. 4 Allen, No. 11 Katy, and No. 17 Duncanville. Playoffs will begin Thursday.
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Georgia’s playoffs started last weekend, and you will find three Xcellent 25 times in Georgia Class 7A; No. 18 Archer, No. 22 Grayson, No. 23 Lowndes. All three have advanced to the next round and will continue to navigate the bracket in hopes of making it to state.
Ohio is deep into its playoff schedule, as regional finals will take place this weekend.
30 teams entered the playoffs, but only one will be crowned as state champion for Division 1.
St. Ignatius (Cleveland) is ranked No. 2 in the state by MaxPreps and also clinches the No. 25 spot on the Xcellent 25, as well as St. Xavier (Cincinnati), which is ranked No.1 in the state and No. 10 in the nation by MaxPreps.
Texas 6A Division 2 begins playoffs this weekend, and it will take six weeks to narrow 64 teams down to one state champion. This bracket includes the following state-ranked teams No. 10 DeSoto, No. 14 San Angelo Central and No. 19 Mansfield.
Class 6A will play Regional Semifinals this weekend, and this class is home to one of the Xcellent 25 teams; No. 14 Miami Central.
7. UIL Texas 5A Division 1 Bracket
Texas 5A Division 1 begins playoffs this weekend and it will take six weeks to narrow 64 teams down to one State Champion EP Andress (8-2) vs. EP Bel Air (5-5), Amarillo (6-4) vs. Lubbock Monterey (6-4), and Denton Ryan (10-0) vs. FW Brewer (6-4) these are just a few of the matchups taking place during the first round.
As semistate championships are played this weekend, teams are just one game away from playing in the state finals.
One team that is looking to advance is Ben Davis (Indianapolis), which is ranked No. 6 on MaxPreps Xcellent teams.
Fort Wayne Snider, one of USA Football's Power of Football teams, saw just how tough this bracket is when Carmel narrowly eliminated the Panthers last weekend, 22-21.
Non-Public Group IV see eight teams leave everything on the gridiron in hopes of being sectional champions.
Only four teams are left, and they are one game away from the championship next weekend. St. Joseph vs. Immaculata and Mater Dei vs. Holy Spirit will play Friday, in hope of advancing to the championship.
10. Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (Washington D.C.)
Washington Catholic Athletic Conference is quick, four teams to two. St. John's College High School and Gonzaga College High School will play each other to see who is crowned State Champion.
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