The end of the Tennessee high school football regular season arrives at the conclusion of Week 11 on Oct. 30. Soon, teams from across the state will be gearing up for the 2026 TSSAA football playoffs.
The TSSAA will set all nine playoff brackets at the end games on Oct. 30. Because half the classifications are playing Oct. 29, pieces of those brackets can be filled in if they’re not dependent on tiebreakers determined by the next night's games.
Teams in Division I's public schools and Division II's private schools reach the playoffs differently.
The first round of the TSSAA football playoffs is Nov. 6.
TSSAA football playoff paths for Division I and Division II
For Division I, teams are separated in eight regions in each of the six classifications. Teams play every school in their region. The top four teams in each region qualify
for the playoffs.
In Division II, the number of schools differ by each classification because of the number of schools in each.
Division II-A includes three regions: East, Middle and West. There are 13 teams that qualify for the playoffs. The top four teams in the East Region, top five in the Middle and top four teams in the West qualify.
Division II-AA also includes three regions: East, Middle and West. There are 16 teams that qualify for the playoffs. The top six teams in the East Region, the top six in the Middle Region and the top four teams in the West Region qualify.
In Division II-AAA there is an East Region and a West Region. All 12 teams, which include six in each region, qualify for the playoffs.
TSSAA football tiebreakers explained
A TSSAA tiebreaker system is in place if teams finish with the same region record.
Here is the list of those tiebreakers:
1. Head to head: If a team has beaten all the other teams that they are tied with for a playoff spot, that team is ranked above the others. This is the first tiebreaker used in any scenario.
2. Team with the greatest number of victories.
3. Team that plays the greatest number of teams that won 50 percent or more of their games.
4. Team that has the greatest number of wins over teams winning 50 percent or more of their games.
5. Team whose opponents have the most wins.
6. Team whose opponents have the fewest losses.
7. Coin flip.
If a tiebreaker other than head-to-head is needed between three teams, once the first tiebreaker is determined, the next tiebreaker returns to head-to-head. Example: If there is a three-way tie and none of the three beat the other two, the next step is greatest number of victories. If that breaks the three-way tie, the tiebreaker reverts back to head-to-head to break the two-way tie.
TSSAA football playoff format in Division I explained
The TSSAA introduced a new Division I playoffs bracket last season to do away with predictable and often stale second-round playoff matchups. It was first brought to the TSSAA's attention by the Tennessee Football Coaches Association. The TSSAA eventually approved the playoff changes and the Board of Control renewed the format for the 2026 season.
The brackets include four different regions, instead of two, in each eight-team pod. Prior to this new setup, four teams from one region were in the same eight-team pod with four teams from one other region. The TSSAA now keeps the two region champions and fourth-place finishers in the same pods as previous years but the runners-up and third-place finishers move into pods with two other regions.
While this playoff format creates more travel for teams, it alters which regions match up in the second round. It also delays potential rematches between teams in the same region until the semifinals, instead of the quarterfinals.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Understanding the 2026 TSSAA football playoffs, including tiebreakers and DI format
