For the past four seasons, the OHSAA football tournament format allowed 16 qualifying teams per region. That was put to an end on June 12.
The OHSAA announced significant changes to the playoff structure. The main headline was the reduction from 16 regional qualifying teams to 12.
“For the last few years, we have been pleased that more schools experienced football playoffs and there were some lower seeds that won playoff games,” OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute said in a news release. “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. We appreciate the feedback we received and will continue to gather comments moving forwards. Like we do with all of our sports, we want to make sure the student-athletes are our No. 1 priority.”
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With the No. 16, 15, 14 and 13 seeds removed, the top four seeded teams in region will receive a first-round bye.
The No. 1 seed will host the winner of the No. 12 vs. No. 5 matchup in a regional quarterfinal. It previously took on the No. 16 seed in the first round, with the winner advancing to face the winner of No. 8 vs. No. 9 in a regional quarterfinal.
Now, the No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup winner will go on the road to the fourth seed in a regional quarterfinal.
The third seeds will take on the winner of the 10th vs. seventh seed matchup and the second seed will face the winner of No. 11 and No. 6 games.
The first three rounds (first round, regional quarterfinal and semifinal games) will be hosted by the matchup’s highest seed. The regional final will be played at a neutral site.
The OHSAA previously expanded the playoff format from eight teams per region to 16 in 2021.
This was after the COVID-19 pandemic restricted the 2020 regular season to six games, with all OHSAA teams automatically qualifying for the postseason.
June marks the summer period on the OHSAA football calendar, allowing 13 practices, along with five acclimation days.
Practice will start on Aug. 1 and the 2025 regular season begins the week of Aug. 18.