With the Tennessee high school football season starting this week, it's time we take an early look at who could be celebrating a TSSAA gold ball championship trophy when the dust settles in December.
The USA TODAY Network in Tennessee asked its high school sports writers to predict the 2026 BlueCross Bowl state champions. The sports writers who participated include Tyler Palmateer and George Robinson of The Tennessean in Nashville, Harrison Campbell of the Columbia Daily Herald, Cecil Joyce of the Murfreesboro Daily News Journal and Wynton Jackson of the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Here are our predictions.
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season
Class 1A
Harrison Campbell: South Pittsburg 35, McKenzie 21
Wynton Jackson: South Pittsburg 35, McKenzie 21
Cecil Joyce: South Pittsburg 33, McKenzie 20
Tyler Palmateer: South Pittsburg 24, McKenzie 21
George Robinson: South Pittsburg, 29, McKenzie 24
Class 2A
Campbell: East Nashville 42, Marion County 35
Jackson: Huntingdon 24, Gordonsville 20
Joyce: Huntingdon 21, East Nashville 12
Palmateer: East Nashville 35, Marion County 28
Robinson: East Nashville 30, Bledsoe County 21
Class 3A
Campbell: Westview 56, Tyner Academy 38
Jackson: Westview 42, Tyner Academy 35
Joyce: Westview 42, Tyner Academy 26
Palmateer: Westview 45, Tyner Academy 21
Robinson: Westview 48, Giles County 17
Class 4A
Campbell: Alcoa 38, Pearl-Cohn 28
Jackson: Alcoa 38, Pearl-Cohn 31
Joyce: Alcoa 27, Pearl-Cohn 19
Palmateer: Pearl-Cohn 28, Alcoa 27
Robinson: Alcoa 27, Pearl-Cohn 24
Class 5A
Campbell: Sevier County 28, Page 24
Jackson: Sevier County 27, Page 24
Joyce: Sevier County 28, Page 21
Palmateer: Sevier County 42, Page 28
Robinson: Sevier County 32, Page 24
Class 6A
Campbell: Riverdale 31, Collierville 28
Jackson: Oakland 37, Ravenwood 24
Joyce: Oakland 34, Collierville 17
Palmateer: Riverdale 28, Collierville 21
Robinson: Oakland 28, Whitehaven 21
Division II-A
Campbell: USJ 28, Nashville Christian 24
Jackson: USJ 31, Nashville Christian 30
Joyce: Friendship Christian 30, Nashville Christian 24
Palmateer: Nashville Christian 28, Friendship Christian 27
Robinson: USJ 24, Nashville Christian 20
Division II-AA
Campbell: BGA 42, FRA 28
Jackson: BGA 45, FRA 35
Joyce: BGA 31, FRA 28
Palmateer: FRA 35, Boyd-Buchanan 32
Robinson: BGA 38, Lausanne 31
Division II-AAA
Campbell: Baylor 28, Brentwood Academy 21
Jackson: Brentwood Academy 30, Baylor 27
Joyce: Baylor 38, Brentwood Academy 31
Palmateer: Brentwood Academy 31, Baylor 30Robinson: Brentwood Academy 34, Baylor 31
Reach The Tennessean's high school sports editor, George Robinson, at georgerobinsontheleafchronicle.com and on the X platform (formerly Twitter) @Cville_Sports.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: We predicted all 9 TSSAA football state championship games for 2026 season
