Football · Bubble Watch · Class D3
Class D3 playoff bracket (Week 9 Final): Unbeaten Lawrence-Nelson claims No. 1 seed; St. Mary's locks up #16 wild card
Lawrence-Nelson (9-0, 46.4444) leads the inaugural 16-team Class D3 playoff bracket ahead of 8-1 district champions Central Valley, Archangels Catholic, Pleasanton and Wausa, while St. Mary's (5-4, 40.5556) captures the #16 berth over Blue Hill (40.2222).
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 D3: No. 1 Lawrence-Nelson vs. No. 16 St. Mary's →
- Class D3: No. 8 Burwell vs. No. 9 Wynot →
- Class D3: No. 5 Wausa vs. No. 12 Anselmo-Merna →
- Class D3: No. 4 Pleasanton vs. No. 13 Guardian Angels Central Catholic →
- Class D3: No. 3 Archangels Catholic vs. No. 14 Cambridge →
- Class D3: No. 6 Dundy County Stratton vs. No. 11 Brady →
- Class D3: No. 7 Twin Loup vs. No. 10 Deshler →
- Class D3: No. 2 Central Valley vs. No. 15 Falls City Sacred Heart →
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 D3 16-team playoff bracket and seedings below are locked from the final NSAA Class D3 Wildcard Points snapshot (24 Oct 2026 6:29:26 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 D3 Postseason Eligibility Note: Southern (0-9, 33.0000, D3 (not eligible) — OPT D3 (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 D3 Cut Line Summary: St. Mary's (5-4, 40.5556) locks in the #16 seed (Last In) and will travel to #1 Lawrence-Nelson (9-0, 46.4444) in Round 1 on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, while Blue Hill (6-3, 40.2222) finishes as the First Team Out (#17) by 0.3334 points. 7 district champions (D3-1 through D3-7) earn automatic berths, joined by the top 9 remaining postseason-eligible teams on NSAA wildcard points (new 8-man class for 2026-27 with a 16-team bracket).
Top seeds and Week 9 shakeup in Class D3
Nebraska's newly created 8-man Class D3 debuts its 16-team postseason bracket on Thursday, Oct. 29 with undefeated D3-1 champion Lawrence-Nelson (9-0, 46.4444) holding the No. 1 overall seed after routing Osceola 60–6 on Friday night. D3-4 champion Central Valley (8-1, 45.4444) secured #2 and D3-2 champion Archangels Catholic (8-1, 45.1111) locked up #3 with a 52–6 win over Winside. At 44.0000 points apiece, D3-5 champion Pleasanton (8-1) claimed the #4 seed over D3-3 champion Wausa (8-1) at Step 3 of the NSAA tiebreaker (two Division 1 wins to one).
D3-7 champion Dundy County Stratton (6-2, 43.5000) takes the #6 seed and hosts #11 Brady (8-1, 42.7778, WC), while Twin Loup (8-1, 43.4444, WC) is the top wild card at #7 after blanking Elgin Public/Pope John 49–0 and draws #10 Deshler (7-2, 42.7778, WC). Deshler edged Brady for the #10 seed at Step 4 of the tiebreaker (three Division 1+2 wins to two). #8 Burwell (7-2, 43.2222, WC) hosts #9 Wynot (7-2, 42.8889, WC), while D3-6 champion Anselmo-Merna (7-2, 42.5556) sits at #12 and travels to #5 Wausa.
Class D3 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 St. Mary's (5-4, 40.5556, Wild Card) | #1 Lawrence-Nelson (9-0, 46.4444, District D3-1 Champ) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #9 at #8 | #9 Wynot (7-2, 42.8889, Wild Card) | #8 Burwell (7-2, 43.2222, Wild Card) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #12 at #5 | #12 Anselmo-Merna (7-2, 42.5556, District D3-6 Champ) | #5 Wausa (8-1, 44.0000, District D3-3 Champ) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #13 at #4 | #13 Guardian Angels Central Catholic (7-2, 42.2222, Wild Card) | #4 Pleasanton (8-1, 44.0000, District D3-5 Champ) (Step 3 (Div 1 wins: 2)) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #14 at #3 | #14 Cambridge (7-2, 41.5556, Wild Card) | #3 Archangels Catholic (8-1, 45.1111, District D3-2 Champ) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #11 at #6 | #11 Brady (8-1, 42.7778, Wild Card) | #6 Dundy County Stratton (6-2, 43.5000, District D3-7 Champ) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #10 at #7 | #10 Deshler (7-2, 42.7778, Wild Card) (Step 4 (Div 1+2 wins: 3)) | #7 Twin Loup (8-1, 43.4444, Wild Card) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
| #15 at #2 | #15 Falls City Sacred Heart (6-3, 41.4444, Wild Card) | #2 Central Valley (8-1, 45.4444, District D3-4 Champ) | Thu., Oct. 29 |
Tiebreakers, bubble cut line and First Four Out
In the lower quarter of the playoff field, Guardian Angels Central Catholic (7-2, 42.2222, WC) takes #13 at #4 Pleasanton, Cambridge (7-2, 41.5556, WC) grabs #14 at #3 Archangels Catholic after a 42–14 win at Axtell, and Falls City Sacred Heart (6-3, 41.4444, WC) lands at #15 at #2 Central Valley. St. Mary's (5-4, 40.5556) clinched the #16 and final wild-card berth by 0.3334 points over #17 Blue Hill (6-3, 40.2222), which beat Southern Valley 50–30 on Friday night but came up one rung short. Leigh (6-3, 39.7778) finished #18 after falling to Clarkson/Leigh district foes. Southern (0-9, 33.0000) is D3 (not eligible) per the NSAA classification PDF.
| Elig # | Team | Record | Final Pts | Playoff Status | Week 9 Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #12 | Anselmo-Merna | 7-2 | 42.5556 | In (#12, District D3-6 Champ) | W 82–38 at Maxwell |
| #13 | Guardian Angels Central Catholic | 7-2 | 42.2222 | In (#13, Wild Card) | W 49–8 vs. Leigh |
| #14 | Cambridge | 7-2 | 41.5556 | In (#14, Wild Card) | W 42–14 at Axtell |
| #15 | Falls City Sacred Heart | 6-3 | 41.4444 | In (#15, Wild Card) | W 54–16 vs. Southern |
| #16 | St. Mary's | 5-4 | 40.5556 | Last in (#16) | W 66–0 at North Central |
| #17 | Blue Hill | 6-3 | 40.2222 | First out (#17) | W 50–30 at Southern Valley |
| #18 | Leigh | 6-3 | 39.7778 | Out (#18 eligible) | L 8–49 at Guardian Angels Central Catholic |
| #19 | Sandhills/Thedford | 5-4 | 39.6667 | Out (#19 eligible) | W 22–12 at Mullen |
| #20 | Southern Valley | 5-4 | 39.5556 | Out (#20 eligible) | L 30–50 vs. Blue Hill |
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 →