Football · Bubble Watch · Class D1
Class D1 playoff bracket (Week 9 Final): Johnson-Brock earns No. 1 seed; Ponca and Amherst survive three-way tie with Pender at 39.7778
Unbeaten Johnson-Brock (9-0, 46.0000) and Stanton (9-0, 45.0000) join 8-1 Sandy Creek in the Class D1 top three, while NSAA tiebreakers at 39.7778 points award #15 to Ponca and #16 to Amherst, leaving Pender as the heartbreaking first team out.
Official bracket update: NSAA seeds and point averages were checked Oct. 24. The reporting below retains its original source snapshot; use the current bracket for the latest field and points.
Current playoff bracket → · Playoff scores →
Round 1 game centers mentioned in this story (8)
- Class D1: No. 1 Johnson-Brock vs. No. 16 Amherst →
- Class D1: No. 8 Exeter-Milligan-Friend vs. No. 9 Elmwood-Murdock →
- Class D1: No. 5 Crofton vs. No. 12 Cross County →
- Class D1: No. 4 Ravenna vs. No. 13 Elkhorn Valley →
- Class D1: No. 3 Stanton vs. No. 14 Alma →
- Class D1: No. 6 Hartington-Newcastle vs. No. 11 Centura →
- Class D1: No. 7 Sutton vs. No. 10 Wisner-Pilger →
- Class D1: No. 2 Sandy Creek vs. No. 15 Ponca →
Official Week 9 Final Bracket Notice: All 139 Week 9 Nebraska high school football games across all eight classes are officially final in the NSAA schedule export. The Class D1 16-team playoff bracket and seedings below are locked from the final NSAA Class D1 Wildcard Points snapshot (24 Oct 2026 6:29:24 am CDT), NSAA District Standings, the NSAA Football Manual tiebreaker steps, and the 2026–27 NSAA Classification Eligibility PDF. With all regular-season games and NSAA wildcard points final, these are the final 16-team Round 1 pairings.
Class D1 Postseason Eligibility Note: Conestoga (4-5, 37.8889, D1 (not eligible) (classification PDF)); David City (2-7, 35.7778, D1 (not eligible) (classification PDF)); Freeman (3-6, 35.6667, D1 (not eligible) (classification PDF)); Johnson County Central (2-7, 34.4444, D1 (not eligible) (classification PDF)); Falls City (2-7, 34.1111, D1 (not eligible) (classification PDF)); Fairbury (0-9, 32.0000, D1 (not eligible) (classification PDF)). Regular-season games played against these schools still count toward opponents' wildcard point averages, but ineligible schools cannot occupy a postseason berth.
Class D1 Cut Line Summary: Amherst (5-4, 39.7778) locks in the #16 seed (Last In) and will travel to #1 Johnson-Brock (9-0, 46.0000) in Round 1 on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, while Pender (5-4, 39.7778) finishes as the First Team Out (#17) by 0.0000 points. 7 district champions (D1-1 through D1-7) earn automatic berths, joined by the top 9 remaining postseason-eligible teams on NSAA wildcard points (16-team statewide bracket starting in 2026-27).
Top seeds and Week 9 shakeup in Class D1
Class D1's first season under the new 16-team statewide bracket format (Thursday, Oct. 29 Round 1 openers) delivered maximum drama at both the top and bottom of the seed list. Undefeated D1-1 champion Johnson-Brock (9-0, 46.0000) locked up the No. 1 overall seed after defeating Freeman 48–6, followed closely by D1-6 champion Sandy Creek (8-1, 45.7778) at #2 and unbeaten D1-4 champion Stanton (9-0, 45.0000) at #3. At 44.4444 points apiece, wild card Ravenna (8-1) edged D1-5 champion Crofton (8-1) for the #4 seed all the way at Step 6 of the NSAA tiebreaker on combined opponent winning percentage (.5556 to .5309).
Hartington-Newcastle (8-1, 44.1111, WC) takes the #6 seed and hosts #11 Centura (7-2, 41.2222, WC), which lost the 41.2222 tiebreaker for #10 to Wisner-Pilger (7-2, 41.2222, WC) at Step 4 (two Division 1+2 wins for Wisner-Pilger). Wisner-Pilger travels to #7 Sutton (7-2, 43.2222, WC), while D1-2 champion Exeter-Milligan-Friend (8-1, 43.1111) claims #8 and hosts #9 Elmwood-Murdock (6-3, 41.6667, WC). At 41.0000 points, #12 Elkhorn Valley (6-3, WC) edged D1-3 champion #13 Cross County (6-3) at Step 3 (one Division 1 win to zero), while Alma (6-3, 40.6667) won the D1-7 championship head-to-head over Amherst 42–19 on Friday night to lock up automatic bid #14.
Class D1 Round 1 Playoff Bracket (Thu., Oct. 29)
| Bracket Slot | Away Team (Seed, Rec, Pts, Bid) | Home Team (Seed, Rec, Pts, Bid) | Round 1 Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| #16 at #1 | #16 Amherst (5-4, 39.7778, Wild Card) ( [after Step 3 Div 1 wins=1]) | #1 Johnson-Brock (9-0, 46.0000, District D1-1 Champ) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #9 at #8 | #9 Elmwood-Murdock (6-3, 41.6667, Wild Card) | #8 Exeter-Milligan-Friend (8-1, 43.1111, District D1-2 Champ) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #12 at #5 | #12 Elkhorn Valley (6-3, 41.0000, Wild Card) (Step 3 (Div 1 wins: 1)) | #5 Crofton (8-1, 44.4444, District D1-5 Champ) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #13 at #4 | #13 Cross County (6-3, 41.0000, District D1-3 Champ) | #4 Ravenna (8-1, 44.4444, Wild Card) (Step 6 (Opp win%: 0.555556)) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #14 at #3 | #14 Alma (6-3, 40.6667, District D1-7 Champ) | #3 Stanton (9-0, 45.0000, District D1-4 Champ) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #11 at #6 | #11 Centura (7-2, 41.2222, Wild Card) | #6 Hartington-Newcastle (8-1, 44.1111, Wild Card) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #10 at #7 | #10 Wisner-Pilger (7-2, 41.2222, Wild Card) (Step 4 (Div 1+2 wins: 2)) | #7 Sutton (7-2, 43.2222, Wild Card) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #15 at #2 | #15 Ponca (5-4, 39.7778, Wild Card) (Step 5 (Div 1 games played: 4)) | #2 Sandy Creek (8-1, 45.7778, District D1-6 Champ) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
Tiebreakers, bubble cut line and First Four Out
The wildest tiebreaker in Nebraska played out on the Class D1 cut line, where Ponca (5-4), Amherst (5-4) and Pender (5-4) all finished deadlocked at 39.7778 points for the last two wild-card spots (#15 and #16) after Pender beat Ponca 57–12 on Friday. Because all three teams did not play each other (Amherst did not face Ponca or Pender), NSAA Manual multi-team tiebreaker rules bypassed head-to-head (Step 1) and went to Step 3 (Division 1 wins): Ponca and Pender had zero Division 1 wins while Amherst had one, putting Amherst through as a qualifier. In the remaining tie between Ponca and Pender at zero Division 1 wins and one Division 1+2 win apiece, Step 5 (most Division 1 games played) awarded #15 to Ponca (four Division 1 games played) and #16 to Amherst, leaving Pender (two Division 1 games played) as #17 first out despite its Friday win over Ponca. Nebraska Christian (6-3, 39.6667) finished #18, just 0.1111 behind. Six D1 schools (Conestoga, David City, Freeman, Johnson County Central, Falls City, Fairbury) are D1 (not eligible) per the NSAA PDF.
| Elig # | Team | Record | Final Pts | Playoff Status | Week 9 Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #12 | Elkhorn Valley | 6-3 | 41.0000 | In (#12, Wild Card) | W 34–12 at Lutheran High Northeast |
| #13 | Cross County | 6-3 | 41.0000 | In (#13, District D1-3 Champ) | W 72–6 at Cedar Bluffs |
| #14 | Alma | 6-3 | 40.6667 | In (#14, District D1-7 Champ) | W 42–19 vs. Amherst |
| #15 | Ponca | 5-4 | 39.7778 | In (#15, Wild Card) | L 12–57 at Pender |
| #16 | Amherst | 5-4 | 39.7778 | Last in (#16) | L 19–42 at Alma |
| #17 | Pender | 5-4 | 39.7778 | First out (#17) | W 57–12 vs. Ponca |
| #18 | Nebraska Christian | 6-3 | 39.6667 | Out (#18 eligible) | W 42–20 vs. Tekamah-Herman |
| #19 | Elm Creek | 5-4 | 39.4444 | Out (#19 eligible) | W 52–0 vs. Kimball |
| #20 | Thayer Central | 5-4 | 39.1111 | Out (#20 eligible) | W 35–28 at Tri County |
How the NSAA seeding and tiebreaker rules work
Under the NSAA Football Manual, teams earn 50, 47, 44 or 41 points for wins over Division 1, 2, 3 or 4 opponents, and 36, 33, 30 or 27 points for losses, averaged across all counted regular-season games (with +2, +3 or +4 bonus points for playing up in classification when applicable). When two or more teams finish tied in final wildcard point average, seeding and wild-card ties are broken sequentially by: (1) head-to-head result if all tied teams played one another, (2) district championship status where applicable, (3) most wins against Division 1 opponents, (4) most combined wins against Division 1 and Division 2 opponents, (5) most games played against Division 1 opponents, and (6) highest combined winning percentage of all opponents played.
Sources
Full 8-Class Playoff Bracket Tracker (/playoffs) → · Statewide All-Class Week 9 Final Playoff Brackets → · Week 9 Final Scoreboard →