On Saturday, the N.C. High School Athletic Association released the final state playoff brackets for the 2026 football state championships.
The Association released an updated list of RPI’s and final records at 10:00 a.m. The Association then released updated preliminary brackets at 10:30 a.m.
The NCHSAA office staff and a coach representative from the N.C. Coaches Association convened at 8:00 a.m. to begin the seeding process. The NCCA representative is present to conduct any necessary draws. Draws are required to take place if a qualifying field has an odd number of teams, so the team in the middle can randomly be chosen to go to the West or East region.
Schools have an opportunity to contact the NCHSAA with any questions regarding the preliminary brackets before they become final.
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The first round of the state playoffs will be on Friday, November 6. 16 teams in each of the 2A through 7A classifications and eight teams in the 1A and 8A classifications will receive a first round bye next week. State championships will be played from December 10-12 at college venues.
We won’t know where the East-West line will be placed to separate the two regions if there is an odd number of teams. The coach representative on hand will conduct a random drawing to decide which side the middle team will go on. We could have a drawing for the 1A and 2A classification brackets, as those are expected to come in under 48 teams.
Here’s how the NCHSAA will determine the playoff brackets this year
Playoff Dates
- Saturday, Oct. 31 — Official brackets released by NCHSAA
- Friday, Nov. 6 — First Round at higher seed
- Friday, Nov. 13 — Second Round at higher seed
- Friday, Nov. 20 — Third Round at higher seed
- Friday, Nov. 27 — Fourth Round at higher seed
- Friday, Dec. 4 — Regional Finals at higher seed
- Dec. 10-12 — State championships at neutral sites
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Source: www.highschoolot.com
