Football Declaration List (Updated 8/26)

[Alum-Ni]

The list of schools that have declared for 11-man, 8-man or 6-man for the next two-year cycle (2026 & 2027)

11-Man (44)
Adams Central
Ashland-Greenwood
Beatrice
Bellevue West
Boys Town
Broken Bow
Central City
Columbus
Columbus Lakeview
Columbus Scotus
Cozad
Elkhorn
Elkhorn North
Elkhorn South
Fremont
Gothenburg
Grand Island
Grand Island Northwest
Hartington Cedar Catholic
Hastings
Kearney Catholic
Lincoln Christian
Lincoln North Star
Lincoln Northwest (opt up to A)
Lincoln Pius X
Lincoln Southeast
Malcolm
McCook
Milford
Millard North
Mitchell
Norfolk
North Bend
O'Neill
Omaha Concordia
Omaha Westside
Ord
Papillion-LaVista South
Plattsmouth
Seward
Sidney
Syracuse
Wahoo
Waverly

8-Man (28)
Arapahoe
Axtell
Bayard
Cedar Bluffs
Chambers/Wheeler Central
Dundy County-Stratton
Elgin/Elgin Pope John
Guardian Angels Central Catholic
Hartington-Newcastle
Hi-Line
Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer
Kenesaw
Kimball
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge
Lyons-Decatur Northeast
Maywood/Hayes Center
North Central
Oakland-Craig
Overton
Randolph
Ravenna
Riverside/Spalding Academy
Southern
Southern Valley
Thayer Central
Twin Loup
Winside
Wynot

6-Man (4)
Garden County
Minatare
Potter-Dix
Sumner-Eddyville-Miller

 

[LooseCannon]

The percentage Wynot has for getting boys out to play football has to be the highest in the state per boy count. Their 9-11 enrollment number at midcycle was 25. I hope they have 18-20 out for football so they can safely play.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Updates as of July 17 and added above

11-Man
Beatrice
Kearney Catholic
North Bend

8-Man
Hi-Line
Maywood/Hayes Center
Winside

 

[GrizzzlyPanda]

The percentage Wynot has for getting boys out to play football has to be the highest in the state per boy count. Their 9-11 enrollment number at midcycle was 25. I hope they have 18-20 out for football so they can safely play.

They had 29 out last year and 25 out the year before. I think they will be fine.

 

[LooseCannon]

They had 29 out last year and 25 out the year before. I think they will be fine.

Oh I figured as much. It’s just awesome they get such a high percentage of boys out for football.

 

[SpaghettiSlayer]

Oh I figured as much. It’s just awesome they get such a high percentage of boys out for football.

And they have played very well in the last 5 years too!

 

[Rolling Hills Rebel]

Wynot has had some great success with their youth tackle teams the last few years also. Turns out great coaching and culture at the high school level has a trickle down effect.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Some scheduling news:

'We know it's broken': NSAA no closer to resolving Class A football scheduling problem

Nebraska high school football has a scheduling problem with Class A football, but after Thursday's NSAA meeting, the issue is no closer to being solved.

omaha.com

Two plans for Class A scheduling models seem to have failed after a meeting of Class A athletic directors recently.

One plan would keep district qualification but two districts would be for "emerging" (perennially struggling) teams. Those teams would not be scheduled against the perennial powers and their district champions would have a play-in game for the No. 16 seed in the 16-team playoffs.

The other plan would scrap districts entirely, created schedules that match like teams against one another and expand the playoffs to 32 teams by shortening the regular season from nine games to eight games.

The plans have come about to address the widening gap in competitiveness in Class A. In 2024, 66 of the 139 in-state games in the regular season (47.5%) ended with a running clock.

Any scheduling format changes would need to be approved by September in order to fit into the timeline for the next two-year cycle. Class A is expected to grow from 32 to 36 (35 teams if South Sioux City's enrollment drops below 850) teams in that next cycle with Bennington, Elkhorn North, Lincoln Northwest and Lincoln Standing Bear all expected to move up.

Omaha Bryan representatives have said unless there's a scheduling change, 10 to 12 Class A schools are considering forming their own football division.

=================================

High school notes: Fremont's new football stadium, Class B football scheduling model

Multiple teams will move their home games to Fremont's new Dillon Stadium, which becomes one of the largest preps stadiums outside the Omaha Metro.

omaha.com

And Class B is also talking about equity in football scheduling. There is talk of a scheduling model in that class that would have East, Central and West districts plus one district for "emerging teams" that have been struggling.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Updated the above list on August 8 with the following new declarations:

11-Man
Bellevue West
Broken Bow
Cozad
Elkhorn
Elkhorn North
Grand Island Northwest
Lincoln North Star
Lincoln Southeast
Milford
O'Neill
Seward

8-Man
Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer
Kenesaw
Kimball
Lyons-Decatur Northeast
Overton
Southern
Twin Loup

6-Man
Minatare

 

[Alum-Ni]

Updated the above original list on August 14 with the following additions:

11-Man
Boys Town
Columbus
Columbus Scotus
Hastings
Lincoln Northwest (opting up to Class A)
McCook
Plattsmouth
Sidney

8-Man
Cedar Bluffs
Chambers/Wheeler Central
North Central
Oakland-Craig
Randolph
Ravenna
Southern Valley
Thayer Central

6-Man
Garden County

 

[C8manfball]

Does anyone have a solid guess on the anticipated enrollment cut-off numbers will be for 8-man D2 and D3 at the top end? My number feels really high...

 

[TwinsRRUs]

Does anyone have a solid guess on the anticipated enrollment cut-off numbers will be for 8-man D2 and D3 at the top end? My number feels really high...

Based on this year's mid-cycle enrollment and current D2 8-man teams with below 27 enrollment still playing 8-man, D2 top end might be 46 or 47 and D3 top end around 36 or 37?

I was thinking when I looked at this before that I came up with the D2 cut-off around 47 or 48 and D3 cut-off around 39.

I do wonder how many years it will take for some teams in the 48-55 range to drop from 11-man down to 8-man. I could see many wanting to stay at 11-man, which could really mess with the number splits.

 

[just_average32]

Based on this year's mid-cycle enrollment and current D2 8-man teams with below 27 enrollment still playing 8-man, D2 top end might be 46 or 47 and D3 top end around 36 or 37?

I was thinking when I looked at this before that I came up with the D2 cut-off around 47 or 48 and D3 cut-off around 39.

I do wonder how many years it will take for some teams in the 48-55 range to drop from 11-man down to 8-man. I could see many wanting to stay at 11-man, which could really mess with the number splits.

I’d be willing to bet that the majority that are eligible under the new 55 number will go 8man.

 

[LooseCannon]

I’d be willing to bet that the majority that are eligible under the new 55 number will go 8man.

Ones that I don’t think will go down to 8 man even though they’ll be under 55. (Using mid cycle numbers

-Cedar Catholic
-Norfolk Catholic
-Yutan
-Bergan Catholic
-Aquinas Catholic

 

[just_average32]

Ones that I don’t think will go down to 8 man even though they’ll be under 55. (Using mid cycle numbers

-Cedar Catholic
-Norfolk Catholic
-Yutan
-Bergan Catholic
-Aquinas Catholic

When numbers get pulled this fall I think Aquinas will be the only one of those under. Yutan might be close. From what I have heard, there’s a good chance Aquinas goes down to 8man

 

[LooseCannon]

When numbers get pulled this fall I think Aquinas will be the only one of those under. Yutan might be close. From what I have heard, there’s a good chance Aquinas goes down to 8man

Agreed. I think Yutan will still stay 11 man even if they are barely under. They will just keep growing.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Updated the above list today with the following additions:

8-MAN
Arapahoe
Bayard
Elgin/Elgin Pope John
Riverside/Spalding Academy

6-MAN
Sumner-Eddyville-Miller

 

[Alum-Ni]

Football notes: Norris, Millard West coaches debut with wins

Norris handed defending Class B champion Omaha Skutt one of its all-time worst losses, and Millard West beat one of its school-district rivals to open the season.

omaha.com

Looks like Aquinas is exploring, and likely, to move down to 8-man

 

[LooseCannon]

Football notes: Norris, Millard West coaches debut with wins

Norris handed defending Class B champion Omaha Skutt one of its all-time worst losses, and Millard West beat one of its school-district rivals to open the season.

omaha.com

Looks like Aquinas is exploring, and likely, to move down to 8-man

It’s the right move for them.