COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Representative Council has approved a major shift to a regional seeding model for the 11-player football playoffs starting in the 2026 season.
Under this new structure, each division’s field will be organized into eight-team regionals, with teams seeded No. 1 through No. 8 based on their playoff-point averages.
This regional-wide seeding replaces the previous system, where teams were only seeded within four-team districts, ensuring that the top two teams in a region can no longer face each other until the regional final in the third week of the postseason.
The reorganization will split each regional into two distinct district brackets: one featuring seeds No. 1, 4, 5, and 8, and the other consisting of seeds No. 2, 3, 6, and 7.
Beyond the seeding overhaul, the MHSAA also finalized new division classifications for 2026, with over 60 teams moving divisions based on enrollment and approved “opt-up” requests.
These changes, recommended by the MHSAA Football Committee, are designed to create more balanced brackets and preserve high-stakes matchups for later rounds of the tournament.
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