Football · Preview · Class B
Class B football playoff outlook: 12 teams are in, and Blair-Crete is win or go home
Who has clinched in Class B, why the Blair-Crete loser is out, the three-team fight for the last spots and a projected first round.
Twelve Class B teams have clinched playoff spots, and Friday's Crete at Blair game decides a 13th. Both are 3-0 in B-4, the Emerging district, and its champion is its only qualifier. B-4 teams cannot take wild cards (NSAA football manual, p. 48), so the loser is out. That includes Blair (7-1), which is tied for fifth in Class B by points at 41.8750.
That leaves three spots for six teams that are all 1-7 or 2-6: Lincoln Pius X, Gering, Hastings, Plattsmouth, Omaha Gross Catholic and Seward.
Data as of 9:04 a.m. CT Monday, Oct. 19, from NSAA wildcard points and schedule exports. Every Week 1-8 final is posted, and Week 9 games are Oct. 22-23. Everything here is a NEB Preps projection until NSAA seeds the field. Clinched and eliminated calls are NEB Preps' math, which runs every Week 9 result through NSAA's full point formula (football manual, p. 40).
If the season ended today
NEB Preps projection, using NSAA's bracket (manual, p. 48). Teams with identical averages are listed in NSAA's page order, which is not a tiebreak result. Aurora and Blair are tied, so the 5-12 and 11-6 games could swap opponents. Gering, Hastings and Plattsmouth are tied for the last two spots; their order is unresolved.
- No. 1 Gretna vs. No. 16 Hastings
- No. 9 Ralston vs. No. 8 Northwest
- No. 5 Aurora vs. No. 12 York
- No. 13 McCook vs. No. 4 Gretna East
- No. 3 Omaha Skutt Catholic vs. No. 14 Lincoln Pius X
- No. 11 Elkhorn vs. No. 6 Blair (if Blair wins B-4)
- No. 7 Waverly vs. No. 10 Norris, a rematch of Waverly's 48-12 win on Oct. 9
- No. 15 Gering vs. No. 2 Scottsbluff, a rematch of Scottsbluff's 56-7 win on Oct. 2
Norris and Elkhorn have the same average, but Norris won their Sept. 10 meeting 35-34, so Norris is ahead (manual, p. 42, step 1).
How Class B qualifies
The field is the top three in each of B-1, B-2 and B-3, the B-4 champion, and six wild cards: the highest averages among B-1 to B-3 teams that did not finish in their district's top three (manual, p. 48). District places use the steps on p. 49.
Who's in
By district finish: Gretna (B-2 champion), Waverly (B-2 top three), Omaha Skutt Catholic and Gretna East (B-1 top three) and Scottsbluff (B-3 top three). Each keeps a top-three spot in every Week 9 outcome.
By math: Aurora, Northwest, Ralston, Elkhorn, Norris, York and McCook. Each is either in its district's top three or has an average that too few wild-card-eligible teams can match. Northwest's lowest possible average, 39.6667, can be reached by only three wild-card-eligible teams, and there are six wild cards. Platteview, Lexington and Beatrice are out: they play in B-4 and cannot win it.
Since the Oct. 17 playoff picture, which listed five clinched teams, this check adds seven more. NSAA's records also put York (2-2 in B-2, 4-4) ahead of Norris (2-2, 3-5) for B-2's third spot on overall winning percentage. Both are in either way; they play Friday at York, and the winner takes third.
The bubble
Ranks and points are NSAA's. Status is NEB Preps' projection math.
| Team | Pts (rank) | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Blair | 41.8750 (T-5) | Win: in. Loss: out |
| Crete | 37.2500 (14) | Win: in. Loss: out |
| Lincoln Pius X | 34.6250 (16) | Not yet determined |
| Gering | 34.3750 (T-17) | Not yet determined |
| Hastings | 34.3750 (T-17) | Not yet determined |
| Plattsmouth | 34.3750 (T-17) | Not yet determined |
| Omaha Gross Catholic | 34.0000 (T-21) | Not yet determined |
| Seward | 34.0000 (T-21) | Not yet determined |
NSAA's rank ignores district rules. Crete is 14th, but only the B-4 title can put it in.
Games that matter
Crete at Blair, Friday. The winner clinches the B-4 title and a spot. The loser is eliminated.
Hastings at Gering, Friday. Gering, Hastings and Plattsmouth are tied at 34.3750 for the last projected spots, and none of them has played another. No single Week 9 result settles any of the six teams chasing the last three spots. One pair does: if Lincoln Pius X upsets Gretna and Aurora beats McCook, Pius X clinches. Gering beat Hastings 28-0 in 2025.
Ralston at Omaha Gross Catholic, Thursday; Elkhorn at Plattsmouth, Seward at Waverly and Lincoln Pius X at Gretna, Friday. The other four bubble teams all play teams already in. Gross Catholic can no longer finish in B-1's top three, because Elkhorn has clinched third.
Gretna East at Omaha Skutt Catholic and Northwest at Scottsbluff, Friday. All four are in. These decide the B-1 and B-3 titles and seeding. Scottsbluff clinches B-3 with a win.
Possible quarterfinals
If every higher seed wins in the first round (a NEB Preps projection):
- No. 1 Gretna vs. No. 8 Northwest
- No. 4 Gretna East vs. No. 5 Aurora
- No. 3 Omaha Skutt Catholic vs. No. 6 Blair (if Blair wins B-4)
- No. 2 Scottsbluff vs. No. 7 Waverly
Still unknown
The last three spots and every seed are not yet determined. The three-way tie at 34.3750 would go to NSAA's point-system tiebreaker if it held, and head-to-head does not apply to three teams. If Crete wins B-4, its seed is not yet determined.
Every class: Wildcard Watch: Week 9.
Sources
Nebraska football scores and schedules → · Football playoff tracker →