Football · Bubble Watch · Class D2
Class D2 playoff bracket (Week 9 Final): Shelby-Rising City, NP St. Pat's and Loomis finish 9-0; Fullerton takes #16 by 0.1111
Shelby-Rising City (9-0, 45.7778) holds off Aquinas Catholic 30-27 to secure the Class D2 No. 1 seed ahead of unbeaten North Platte St. Patrick's and Loomis, while Fullerton (5-4, 38.4444) edges Tri County Northeast (38.3333) for the #16 wild-card berth.
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 D2: No. 1 Shelby-Rising City vs. No. 16 Fullerton →
- Class D2: No. 8 Hemingford vs. No. 9 Aquinas Catholic →
- Class D2: No. 5 Lourdes Central Catholic vs. No. 12 Hitchcock County →
- Class D2: No. 4 Loomis vs. No. 13 Neligh-Oakdale →
- Class D2: No. 3 Laurel-Concord-Coleridge vs. No. 14 BDS →
- Class D2: No. 6 Creighton vs. No. 11 Wilcox-Hildreth →
- Class D2: No. 7 Howells-Dodge vs. No. 10 East Butler →
- Class D2: No. 2 North Platte St. Patrick's vs. No. 15 Bertrand →
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 D2 16-team playoff bracket and seedings below are locked from the final NSAA Class D2 Wildcard Points snapshot (24 Oct 2026 6:29:25 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 D2 Cut Line Summary: Fullerton (5-4, 38.4444) locks in the #16 seed (Last In) and will travel to #1 Shelby-Rising City (9-0, 45.7778) in Round 1 on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, while Tri County Northeast (5-4, 38.3333) finishes as the First Team Out (#17) by 0.1111 points. 6 district champions (D2-1 through D2-6) earn automatic berths, joined by the top 10 remaining postseason-eligible teams on NSAA wildcard points (16-team statewide bracket starting in 2026-27).
Top seeds and Week 9 shakeup in Class D2
Three 9-0 district champions headline the Class D2 16-team bracket heading into Thursday, Oct. 29 first-round play. D2-1 champion Shelby-Rising City (9-0, 45.7778) survived a 30–27 Friday night thriller at Aquinas Catholic to lock up the No. 1 overall seed. D2-6 champion North Platte St. Patrick's (9-0, 44.2222) blanked Sutherland 28–0 to claim the #2 seed, D2-2 champion Laurel-Concord-Coleridge (8-1, 44.0000) takes #3, and unbeaten D2-5 champion Loomis (9-0, 43.3333) holds #4 after its 82–30 Thursday victory over Arapahoe.
Lourdes Central Catholic (7-2, 43.0000) leads the Class D2 wild-card qualifiers at #5 after grinding past Johnson County Central 14–6 on Friday and will host #12 Hitchcock County (6-3, 40.5556, WC), which edged #13 Neligh-Oakdale (7-2, 40.5556, WC) at Step 4 of the tiebreaker (two Division 1+2 wins to one). D2-3 champion Creighton (7-2, 42.1111) claims #6 and hosts #11 Wilcox-Hildreth (6-3, 40.6667, WC). #7 Howells-Dodge (7-2, 41.5556, WC) welcomes #10 East Butler (6-3, 40.8889, WC), and #8 Hemingford (7-2, 41.3333, WC) hosts dangerous 6-3 #9 Aquinas Catholic (41.0000, WC). D2-4 champion BDS (6-3, 40.1111) takes #14 and visits #3 Laurel-Concord-Coleridge, while #15 Bertrand (6-3, 39.3333, WC) travels to #2 North Platte St. Patrick's.
Class D2 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 Fullerton (5-4, 38.4444, Wild Card) | #1 Shelby-Rising City (9-0, 45.7778, District D2-1 Champ) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #9 at #8 | #9 Aquinas Catholic (6-3, 41.0000, Wild Card) | #8 Hemingford (7-2, 41.3333, Wild Card) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #12 at #5 | #12 Hitchcock County (6-3, 40.5556, Wild Card) (Step 4 (Div 1+2 wins: 2)) | #5 Lourdes Central Catholic (7-2, 43.0000, Wild Card) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #13 at #4 | #13 Neligh-Oakdale (7-2, 40.5556, Wild Card) | #4 Loomis (9-0, 43.3333, District D2-5 Champ) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #14 at #3 | #14 BDS (6-3, 40.1111, District D2-4 Champ) | #3 Laurel-Concord-Coleridge (8-1, 44.0000, District D2-2 Champ) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #11 at #6 | #11 Wilcox-Hildreth (6-3, 40.6667, Wild Card) | #6 Creighton (7-2, 42.1111, District D2-3 Champ) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #10 at #7 | #10 East Butler (6-3, 40.8889, Wild Card) | #7 Howells-Dodge (7-2, 41.5556, Wild Card) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #15 at #2 | #15 Bertrand (6-3, 39.3333, Wild Card) | #2 North Platte St. Patrick's (9-0, 44.2222, District D2-6 Champ) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
Tiebreakers, bubble cut line and First Four Out
On the Class D2 bubble line, Fullerton (5-4, 38.4444) held onto the #16 and final wild-card berth despite a 36–14 Friday loss to High Plains Community, finishing 0.1111 points ahead of #17 Tri County Northeast (5-4, 38.3333) and 0.2222 ahead of #18 Bloomfield (3-6, 38.2222). South Loup (4-5, 37.8889) and Arapahoe (4-5, 37.2222) round out the first four out.
| Elig # | Team | Record | Final Pts | Playoff Status | Week 9 Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #12 | Hitchcock County | 6-3 | 40.5556 | In (#12, Wild Card) | W 56–0 vs. Maywood-Hayes Center |
| #13 | Neligh-Oakdale | 7-2 | 40.5556 | In (#13, Wild Card) | W 46–18 at Bloomfield |
| #14 | BDS | 6-3 | 40.1111 | In (#14, District D2-4 Champ) | W 52–24 at Superior |
| #15 | Bertrand | 6-3 | 39.3333 | In (#15, Wild Card) | W 77–28 vs. Franklin |
| #16 | Fullerton | 5-4 | 38.4444 | Last in (#16) | W 34–8 at Kenesaw |
| #17 | Tri County Northeast | 5-4 | 38.3333 | First out (#17) | W 53–12 vs. Lyons-Decatur Northeast |
| #18 | Bloomfield | 3-6 | 38.2222 | Out (#18 eligible) | L 18–46 vs. Neligh-Oakdale |
| #19 | South Loup | 4-5 | 37.8889 | Out (#19 eligible) | L 24–44 at Wilcox-Hildreth |
| #20 | Arapahoe | 4-5 | 37.2222 | Out (#20 eligible) | L 30–82 at Loomis |
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 →