Ohio high school football governing body changes state playoff format

Ohio high school football will have some changes to its playoff format starting in the 2025-26 season. The Ohio High School Athletic Association announced the reduction of teams that will represent each region from 16 to 12. Meanwhile, the top four seeds per region will enjoy a first-round postseason bye.

In a press release, OHSAA executive director Doug Ute said about the revision, “For the last few years, we have been pleased that more schools experienced the football playoffs, and there were some lower seeds that won playoffs. But over the last year, we have received feedback from our schools, with a slight majority favoring 12 qualifiers per region, and we had many conversations with stakeholders around the state that led us to make this proposal to our board.”

Under the new format, the higher seeds will host the playoff games through the regional semifinals. After which, regional finals and state semifinal games will be on neutral sites. The state championships for all seven divisions will be at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton. Meanwhile, the revised format regulates the participating playoff teams from eight in 1999 to 16 before this rule.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Matt Goul, the changes came after the governing body conducted a poll on high school coaches and administrators. However, the new format isn’t new because the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association proposed the 12-team format in 2020. However, the OHSAA went with the 16-team structure a year later, doubling the size of qualifying teams per region.

Last season’s Ohio high school football state champions were as follows:

Division 1 – Olentangy Liberty Patriots
Division 2 – Avon Eagles
Division 3 – Bishop Watterson Eagles
Division 4 – Indian Valley Braves
Division 5 – Ironton Fighting Tigers
Division 6 – Coldwater Cavaliers
Division 7 – Marion Local Flyers