D1 Playoff Bracket (Unofficial)

ACICOD is BACK · Oct 23, 2026

Here's what I have:

PLAYOFFS
1	Johnson-Brock	414
16	Amherst	358

8	EMF	388
9	Elmwood-Murdock	375

4	Ravenna	400
13	Cross County	369

5	Crofton	400
12	Elkhorn Valley	369


2	Sandy Creek	412
15	Ponca	358

7	Sutton	389
10	Wisner-Pilger	371

3	Stanton	405
14	Alma	366

6	Hartington-Newcastle	397
11	Centura	371

First Five Out:

Pender	358
Nebraska Christian	357
Elm Creek	355
Thayer Central	352
Tri County	351

ACICOD is BACK · Oct 23, 2026

Tiebreaker Notes:

I have Ravenna beating out Crofton for the 4/5 seed slot because their opponents have 1 more win (and 1 less loss) than Crofton's.

I have Wisner-Pilger beating out Centura for the 10/11 seed slot because they have 2 Division 2 wins, while Centura has 1 Division 2 win.

I have Elkhorn Valley beating out Cross County for the 12/13 seed slot because they have a Division 1 win, while Cross County does not.2

I have Ponca, Amherst, and Pender all tied at 358. Because it's a 3-way tie, Pender's head to head win over Ponca means NOTHING. Ponca and Amherst both have a Division 1 win, while Pender has zero. Pender gets bumped out of the playoffs.

bigredguy23 · Oct 23, 2026

It's a real shame that Pender won't get in if this is the case. They are absolutely worthy of a spot and I would argue a top 7-8 team when fully healthy. They Pushed Sandy early before they lost starters, competed well with Crofton, and nearly knocked off Stanton.

ACICOD is BACK · Oct 23, 2026

I don't disagree with you, but the Wisner-Pilger loss they took is inexcusable. Wisner-Pilger is a paper tiger 7-2......not a great team who beat a lot of teams who aren't great.

Okie_Noodler_92 · Oct 23, 2026

By my research, I thought that Amherst should be the 15 seed - their opponent winning percentage is better than Ponca. Thought that should bump them ahead - but I may have missed something here.

Big bo fan · Oct 23, 2026

bigredguy23 said:
It's a real shame that Pender won't get in if this is the case. They are absolutely worthy of a spot and I would argue a top 7-8 team when fully healthy. They Pushed Sandy early before they lost starters, competed well with Crofton, and nearly knocked off Stanton.

Sandy Creek b at them by 50. 40-14 is not my idea of competing well ( crofton) and 42-30 is not nearly knocking anyone off( Stanton . You sound like a butt hurt Pender fan.

C8manfball · Oct 23, 2026

Okie_Noodler_92 said:
By my research, I thought that Amherst should be the 15 seed - their opponent winning percentage is better than Ponca. Thought that should bump them ahead - but I may have missed something here.

I believe it is broken in tiebreaker 5...Ponca has 4 division 1 opponnents and Amherst has 3 so then Ponca outseeds Amherst.

ACICOD is BACK · Oct 23, 2026

Okie_Noodler_92 said:
By my research, I thought that Amherst should be the 15 seed - their opponent winning percentage is better than Ponca. Thought that should bump them ahead - but I may have missed something here.

Ponca played 4 Division 1 teams; Amherst played 3 Division 1 teams. That's the tiebreaker prior to winning percentage of opponents.

Okie_Noodler_92 · Oct 23, 2026

C8manfball said:
I believe it is broken in tiebreaker 5...Ponca has 4 division 1 opponnents and Amherst has 3 so then Ponca outseeds Amherst.

You are correct - should have reread the rules before posting. Thank you!

bigredguy23 · Oct 23, 2026

Big bo fan said:
Sandy Creek b at them by 50. 40-14 is not my idea of competing well ( crofton) and 42-30 is not nearly knocking anyone off( Stanton . You sound like a butt hurt Pender fan.

I get how the tie breakers work but they did just beat the team by 45 that is getting in in front of them. Doesn't exactly make sense to me. Sandy Creek has beat nearly everyone like that, as has Crofton. There's a big gap between the top 4-5 teams and the next group. I think they fit in that next group. Much more competitive against the top teams than Ponca was. Are you arguing that Ponca deserves the spot? The other team that beat them in the tiebreaker Amherst has gotten throttled by every playoff team they've played in class, including tonight. And they got hammered by Elm Creek who isn't even in.

They're definitely better than those two teams, and a handful of others that made the playoffs now that they're healthy. I'm sure both JB and SC are very happy they don't have to play them next week.

Okie_Noodler_92 · Oct 23, 2026

bigredguy23 said:
I get how the tie breakers work but they did just beat the team by 45 that is getting in in front of them. Doesn't exactly make sense to me. Sandy Creek has beat nearly everyone like that, as has Crofton. There's a big gap between the top 4-5 teams and the next group. I think they fit in that next group. Much more competitive against the top teams than Ponca was. Are you arguing that Ponca deserves the spot? The other team that beat them in the tiebreaker Amherst has gotten throttled by every playoff team they've played in class, including tonight. And they got hammered by Elm Creek who isn't even in.

They're definitely better than those two teams, and a handful of others that made the playoffs now that they're healthy. I'm sure both JB and SC are very happy they don't have to play them next week.

Pender as a 15 or 16 seed would have been brutal. Too bad they lost out - they could have made some noise I think.

highschoolfootballnut · Oct 24, 2026

Okie_Noodler_92 said:
Pender as a 15 or 16 seed would have been brutal. Too bad they lost out - they could have made some noise I think.

Maybe so but you cant lose four games and then wonder why you didnt make it

bigredguy23 · Oct 24, 2026

highschoolfootballnut said:
Maybe so but you cant lose four games and then wonder why you didnt make it

I agree entirely. The loss to Wisner was unacceptable. My biggest argument is that it's a shame for that group of seniors because I think they are a legitimately good team and they were so beat up with injuries, which are part of the game.

Rascal01 · Oct 24, 2026

Ponca has a few key players out with injuries as well, but I agree on Pender definitely being more deserving of the spot. They set the criteria for this and obviously need to follow it.

Big bo fan · Oct 24, 2026

bigredguy23 said:
I get how the tie breakers work but they did just beat the team by 45 that is getting in in front of them. Doesn't exactly make sense to me. Sandy Creek has beat nearly everyone like that, as has Crofton. There's a big gap between the top 4-5 teams and the next group. I think they fit in that next group. Much more competitive against the top teams than Ponca was. Are you arguing that Ponca deserves the spot? The other team that beat them in the tiebreaker Amherst has gotten throttled by every playoff team they've played in class, including tonight. And they got hammered by Elm Creek who isn't even in.

They're definitely better than those two teams, and a handful of others that made the playoffs now that they're healthy. I'm sure both JB and SC are very happy they don't have to play them next week.

I don’t disagree that pender is better obviously by Ponca score they are . My point it wouldn’t matter who got the spot. I do disagree if you think JB or SC was thankful they wouldn’t have to face them . They would be a bug on the windshield for them .

Big bo fan · Oct 24, 2026

Okie_Noodler_92 said:
Pender as a 15 or 16 seed would have been brutal. Too bad they lost out - they could have made some noise I think.

They would have played JB or SC they weren’t making any noise.

Okie_Noodler_92 · Oct 24, 2026

Big bo fan said:
They would have played JB or SC they weren’t making any noise.

I get that but my bigger point is that Pender would be a much tougher matchup than Amherst or Ponca. Those two teams are vastly worse than Pender. Not saying Pender upsets JB or SC - but they’d have a much better chance to do it than the teams that won the tie breaker.

highschoolfootballnut · Oct 24, 2026

Okie_Noodler_92 said:
I get that but my bigger point is that Pender would be a much tougher matchup than Amherst or Ponca. Those two teams are vastly worse than Pender. Not saying Pender upsets JB or SC - but they’d have a much better chance to do it than the teams that won the tie breaker.

and life goes on

Big bo fan · Oct 24, 2026

Okie_Noodler_92 said:
I get that but my bigger point is that Pender would be a much tougher matchup than Amherst or Ponca. Those two teams are vastly worse than Pender. Not saying Pender upsets JB or SC - but they’d have a much better chance to do it than the teams that won the tie breaker.

If they don’t **** the bed against Wisner it’s not an issue. Get ready fur BB

D1 Playoff Bracket (Unofficial)

Freshman

Freshman

Redshirt

Freshman

Redshirt

All-American

Freshman

Freshman

Redshirt

Redshirt

Redshirt

Senior

Redshirt

Redshirt

All-American

All-American

Redshirt

Senior

All-American