The high school football season for 11-man and 6-man ends on Friday night with the state football playoff brackets being released on Saturday morning by the Nebraska School Activities Association. Here is a look at the state football playoff scenarios for each class and where teams stand heading into the final week of the season.
Class A
Qualifiers: The champion and runner-up from six districts, plus the top-four remaining teams in the power points list.
District champions (clinched): Millard South (1), Omaha Westside (3), Papillion-La Vista (4); Clinch with a win: Bellevue West (2), Elkhorn South-Omaha North winner (5).
District runner-up: Lincoln East (1), Kearney-Norfolk winner (3), Omaha Creighton Prep (4), Elkhorn South-Omaha North loser.
Wild District 6: A few things to play out here. Millard West and Lincoln Southeast are likely winners on Friday. District placing depends on the Millard North-Lincoln Southwest game. A Millard North win gives Millard West the title, a Lincoln Southwest win gives it to Lincoln Southeast. In theory, both MW and LSE clinch with a win.
Wild cards: From above, Kearney and Bellevue West (if they lost) would still be among the four. If they are autos, next in line would be Grand Island (with a win), Papillion-La Vista South (even with a loss to Bellevue West), Millard North (with a win over Lincoln Southwest) and Lincoln North Star (with a win over Columbus).
Likely home teams: Westside, Millard South, Kearney, Elkhorn South, Millard West, Papillion-La Vista and Omaha North.
Class B
Qualifiers: The champion from each of the five districts, plus the top-11 remaining teams in the power points list.
District champions (clinched): Bennington (1), Waverly (3), Grand Island Northwest (5); Clinch with a win: Omaha Skutt over Omaha Gross (2), the Norris-Lincoln Pius X winner (4).
Wild cards: These non-district champs are safe – York, Elkhorn North, Plattsmouth, Seward and Blair. From the above, Skutt and Norris and still safe with losses. Ten teams total have clinched. Next in line with wins are Hastings, Elkhorn and Scottsbluff. The final three spots remain up for grabs with up to seven teams.
Likely home teams: Bennington, Waverly, Skutt, York, Elkhorn North, Plattsmouth and Northwest.
Class C-1
Qualifiers: The champion from each of the seven districts, plus the top-nine remaining teams in the power points list.
District champions (clinched): Ashland-Greenwood (1), Auburn (2), Wahoo (3), Boone Central (4), Adams Central (5), Ogallala (7). Broken Bow clinches (6) with a win over Gothenburg.
Wild cards: These non-district champs are safe – Sidney, Pierce. Broken Bow is safe with a loss to Gothenburg. Win and in: DC West over Arlington (1-7) and Roncalli over Concordia (1-7). Loads of big games that will give winners a leg up include: Central City (win and help) at Aurora (in with a win), Scotus (in with a win) at Lakeview (win and help), Gothenburg would clinch at at-large with a win over Bow. Up to eight other teams in contention.
Likely home teams: Wahoo, Boone Central, Ashland-Greenwood, Sidney, Adams Central.
Class C-2
Qualifiers: The champion from each of the seven districts, plus the top-nine remaining teams in the power points list.
District champions (clinched): Norfolk Catholic (4), Fillmore Central (5), Chase County (7); Clinch with a win: Malcolm and Wilber-Clatonia winner (1), Wahoo Neumann (2), Logan View-Scribner Snyder and Oakland-Craig winner (3), Ord (6).
Wild cards: These non-district champs are safe – Mitchell, Battle Creek, Malcolm and Wilber-Clatonia loser, Kearney Catholic, Hartington Cedar Catholic. Should they lose, Neumann and Ord are also safe. This leave only two spots up for grabs. David City Aquinas looks decently safe, even with a loss to Neumann. The other could go to just about any of 10 teams, but the inside track might go to the Amherst and Hershey winner.
Likely home teams: Norfolk Catholic, Oakland-Craig, Fillmore Central, Mitchell, Ord, Battle Creek.
Six-Man
Qualifiers: The top 16 in the power points list qualify, but district champions are also crowned.
Not sweating: The top 13 teams in the standings by our count have clinched spots. Those teams: Sumner-Eddyville-Miller, Arthur County, Potter-Dix, Pawnee City, Wilcox-Hildreth, Lincoln Parkview Christian, Hampton, Cody-Kilgore, Hay Springs, Southwest, Garden County, Red Cloud and Stuart.
Up next: Even at 13th, Stuart could move all the way to a home game with a win over Hampton. Shelton has SEM, but schedule strength in their favor. Sterling and Sioux County appear to be likely winners that would help their cause most as the bottom of the bracket.
Likely home teams: Sumner-Eddyville-Miller, Arthur County, Potter-Dix, Pawnee City, Wilcox-Hildreth, Lincoln Parkview Christian.
