🏈 A New Playoff Format!

👋 Hey everyone! It’s been quite awhile since our last newsletter… but we’re back with a good reason: a brand new postseason format is coming to Michigan high school football in 2026.

Starting this fall, the MHSAA will seed playoff teams by region instead of district. In simple terms, the MHSAA decided to sacrifice a little travel convenience in exchange for more balanced matchups in the opening rounds of the playoffs.

But will that actually be the case? We were wondering the same thing. So, let’s take a look at how regional seeding would’ve changed last year’s playoff bracket…

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If Division 1 was seeded by region, this is how it would’ve looked:

Quick Thoughts:

Not a ton of changes here.

In fact, the region that changes the most is Region 2, where DCC falls to the 3 seed in the region instead of being the 1 seed in their district. Ironically, the team that gets hurt the most by regional seeding might actually be the best team in the bracket.

Other than that, the changes are fairly minor — although Region 4 does give us a fun cross-town rivalry matchup, with Ike traveling to Utica in round one.

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If Division 2 was seeded by region, this is how it would’ve looked:

Quick Thoughts:

If anyone remembers, TC Central and TC West played in Week 9… and then turned right around and played again in Week 10.

With regional seeding, those two wouldn’t meet until the regional finals — which feels way more rewarding for both teams and a lot more exciting for fans. Instead of immediate rematches, the bracket now creates fresh matchups.

This might be the best example of regional seeding actually improving the postseason.

If Division 3 was seeded by region, this is how it would’ve looked:

Quick Thoughts:

There are some really interesting changes in Division 3.

First and foremost, Lowell and Zeeland West would’ve met in round one instead of round three. That is an absolutely brutal first-round matchup — and probably one of the best examples yet of how much regional seeding can reshape the bracket.

Second, Warren Fitzgerald grabs the 1 seed in Region 4, which allows them to avoid what might be the best 7 seed in the entire state: Warren De La Salle. That single shift completely changes the dynamic of the region, and honestly makes you wonder how Fitzgerald’s playoff run could’ve looked under this format.

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If Division 4 was seeded by region, this is how it would’ve looked:

Quick Thoughts:

Not many changes in this bracket overall.

Region 1 does become a little more interesting, though. Spring Lake now heads all the way to Escanaba for what has to be one of the longest possible playoff bus rides, while Ludington avoids a round-one matchup with Big Rapids and instead gets a slightly cleaner path early on.

Other than that, this bracket stays pretty chalky. Most of the top teams remain in very similar spots, and regional seeding doesn’t dramatically reshape the landscape here the way it does in some of the other divisions.

If Division 5 was seeded by region, this is how it would’ve looked:

Quick Thoughts:

The biggest highlight in this bracket is that West Catholic and GR Catholic Central would avoid each other until the regional final. Somehow, even that still doesn’t feel like a big enough stage for a matchup that’s become a staple.

Region 1 also gets slightly tougher for Ogemaw Heights, with Swan Valley and Whitehall spread across a much more balanced bracket.

Outside of that, Division 5 stays pretty stable. A few teams shuffle around, but there aren’t many massive changes here.

If Division 6 was seeded by region, this is how it would’ve looked:

Quick Thoughts:

This division is another bit of a dud as far as major changes go.

The biggest shift is probably Region 2, where Montrose and Belding get lined up for a potential round two clash. Region 1 also becomes a little more exciting, with the possibility of a Reed City vs. Kingsley regional final — which would’ve absolutely been electric.

Outside of that, though, there just aren’t many massive ripple effects here. Honestly, it’s fair to say district-level seeding might’ve already hit the sweet spot for Division 6 last season.

If Division 7 was seeded by region, this is how it would’ve looked:

Quick Thoughts:

There are a couple clear winners here.

Saginaw Valley Lutheran

Last year was brutal for SVL. After an undefeated regular season, they were rewarded with a stacked district and another rematch with Ithaca. With regional seeding, they finally catch a bit of a break and avoid an immediate gauntlet.

Region 4

It feels like Clinton, SMCC, and Whiteford end up in the same district every single year — and 2025 was no exception. With regional seeding, all three would host a playoff game instead of immediately beating each other up in another drag-out district battle.

That alone makes Region 4 feel much healthier under this format.

If Division 8 was seeded by region, this is how it would’ve looked:

Quick Thoughts:

Division 8 honestly came pretty close to nailing the seeding.

Sure, separating Beal City and Harbor Beach would’ve been ideal, but you can’t perfectly balance every bracket.

What’s impressive is that Regions 1, 2, and 3 all still produced pretty chalk regional finals even after the reshuffling. That’s a pretty strong sign the top teams were seeded where they belonged.

The switch to regional seeding definitely cleaned up a few brackets. It spread out overloaded districts, avoided immediate rematches, and pushed several huge matchups deeper into the playoffs.

Across all divisions, first-round Top 16 matchups (per our computer model) dropped from 31 under the old format to 23 with regional seeding.

First-round Top 8 matchups dropped from 6 to just 2.

At the same time, some divisions barely changed at all — which honestly says a lot about how well district-level seeding already worked.

Overall, the new format feels like a positive. There are still a few brackets that could use tweaking, but this is a clear step in the right direction.

👋 That’s all for today guys! Thanks for checking it out. Stay tuned for more tid bits of MHSAA football data coming your way!

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