The next two years of the Nebraska high school football schedule were released to the public on Wednesday at 10 a.m.
The biggest changes to the scheduling matrix were the elimination of district play in Class A.
That decision was made on Sept. 18, 2025, when the NSAA Board of Directors voted unanimously (8-0) to approve schedule changes for Class A football in the upcoming two-year cycle (2026-27).
Another change was the addition of more geographical districts in Class B and the creation of an emerging district, whose district champions will automatically be the 16th seed in the state playoffs.
Class A Highlights
The last four Class A state champions, Millard South (2024, 2025) and Omaha Westside (2022, 2023), will face off in a regular-season contest in week nine in 2026 and 2027.
Both will play teams from Missouri in the two-year cycle as well.
Millard South will host Lee’s Summit North in week two and travel to St. Louis Cardinal Ritter Prep in week four this fall. In 2027, the Patriots will travel to Lee’s Summit North in week two and host Cardinal Ritter in week four.
Westside will host Lee’s Summit High in week two this fall and make the trip to suburban Kansas City in 2027.
A handful more out-of-state matchups are on the schedule with Omaha Metro teams playing in the Omaha Metro/South Dakota Series.
Omaha Central will play at Sioux Falls Lincoln in 2025 and host Lincoln in 2026. Omaha North has a matchup with Harrisburg in week seven both seasons and Omaha Westview will play Sioux Falls Jefferson in week six.
Bellevue West is another school with an out-of-state opponent. The Thunderbirds will face Brandon Valley (S.D.) in week one at home and make the return trip to South Dakota in 2027.
Millard North, with more than a handful of additions to the roster in the offseason, including Tory Pittman III and Kylonn Haynie from Omaha Central, will start the season against rival Millard South. The Mustangs aren’t the only ones to add high-profile talent this winter. Nebraska quarterback commit Trae Taylor and Husker wide receiver commit Tay Ellis transferred to Millard South.
Millard West will also have an out-of-state game. The Wildcats will play Washburn Rural from the Topeka, Kan., area in week seven of the 2026 and 2027 seasons.
Class B traditional powers, Bennington and Elkhorn North, moved up to Class A in this two-year scheduling cycle. Bennington will drop back down to Class B when the second high school opens in 2027-28, but will remain in A for the second year of the cycle. Elkhorn North will likely remain in A due to its growing enrollment numbers.
The two will face off in week one of both the 2026 and 2027 seasons as Class A teams.
Class B Emerging District
The Class B emerging district will include Beatrice, Blair, Crete, Lexington and Platteview.
With the creation of the emerging district, that essentially means the five non-district games for those teams are meaningless, as their wild card points don’t matter for playoff seeding.
Eight-Man Kickoff Classic
The first-of-its-kind 8-man Kickoff Classic will take place Aug. 29, 2026, at Grand Island Senior High’s Memorial Stadium
The event will feature six teams from across the state, beginning with Arapahoe versus Clarkson at 1:30 p.m., followed by Dundy County-Stratton against Hartington-Newcastle at 4:30 p.m. and rounding out the day with Elm Creek versus Lawrence-Nelson at 7:30 p.m.
“Coach (Jim) Clarkson, Coach (Brian) Blevins, Coach (Dustin) Kronhofman and I were brainstorming the idea as we attend the basketball showcase this coming Saturday, almost every year. We thought it would be a great idea to promote 8-man football as it keeps growing,” Hartington-Newcastle coach Rusty Fuller said. “This event on a Saturday would give people the opportunity to attend even if they play on Friday night. The six teams were randomly put together based on geography and teams we would never play in the regular season. They should all be very competitive games. Grand Island AD Chris Ladwig loved the idea behind it and was gracious enough to let us host it at their venue.”
Check back later today for more highlights of the 2026-27 football schedule.
