How does the Texas Playoff System Work??

[CoachOwen]

I coach football for a private christian school in Oklahoma and was wondering how yall do your playoffs. How do u know which teams make the playoffs and who plays who??

[Firebird]

There are some difference between classifications, but I'll break down 5A.

There are 32 districts across the state, roughly arranged geographically. The top four teams in each district at the end of round robin district play all qualify for the playoffs. Non-district games do not count towards PO qualifications.

Then, all the qualifying teams are divided up into two 5A divisions according to school size. The teams from the largest two schools in each district are DI, the teams from the smaller two are DII.

The first round (bi district) of the playoffs are then set, with the top ranked team in each division from a district playing the lower ranked team from a district right next door. For instance, if the district champ from District 1 was in division 1, that team would play against the lowest ranked division I team from District II-- whether that happens to be the 2nd or 4th place team. Sometimes the two largest schools finish 3rd and 4th in their district, sometimes they finish 1-2, etc. The pattern is the same for division II.

That's how the playoffs progress, for both divisions. If the division I district champ from district one wins its game in bi-district, it will play the lowest ranked team that emerges from the division I pairing of district 3 and district 4. You play your way along until you get to the regional championship game. There are four regions in Texas, with the 32 districts divided up equally. The game after the regional championship is the semi-final game. Region I plays the Region II and Region III plays region IV. Following that is the state championship game, for both 5A division one and 5A division II. Texas crowns two 5a state champs.