Football · Bubble Watch · Class D6
Class D6 playoff bracket (Week 9 Final): Unbeaten Stuart tops 6-man field; High Plains and Crawford grab #15–#16
With McCool Junction, Mead, Paxton and HTRS postseason-ineligible per NSAA classification rules, 8-0 Stuart (44.7500) headlines the Class D6 bracket ahead of Wallace, Garden County and Diller-Odell, while High Plains Community and Crawford (both 5-3, 39.5000) claim the final two spots.
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 D6: No. 1 Stuart vs. No. 16 Crawford →
- Class D6: No. 8 Riverside vs. No. 9 Leyton →
- Class D6: No. 5 Red Cloud vs. No. 12 Hay Springs →
- Class D6: No. 4 Diller-Odell vs. No. 13 Sterling →
- Class D6: No. 3 Garden County vs. No. 14 Meridian →
- Class D6: No. 6 Medicine Valley vs. No. 11 Lewiston →
- Class D6: No. 7 Arthur County vs. No. 10 Southwest →
- Class D6: No. 2 Wallace vs. No. 15 High Plains Community →
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 D6 16-team playoff bracket and seedings below are locked from the final NSAA Class D6 Wildcard Points snapshot (24 Oct 2026 6:29:27 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 D6 Postseason Eligibility Note: McCool Junction (8-0, 43.6250, D6 (not eligible) (classification PDF)); Mead (5-3, 39.5000, D6 (not eligible) (classification PDF)); Paxton (2-6, 35.3750, D6 (not eligible) (classification PDF)); Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer (0-8, 31.5000, D6 (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 D6 Cut Line Summary: Crawford (5-3, 39.5000) locks in the #16 seed (Last In) and will travel to #1 Stuart (8-0, 44.7500) in Round 1 on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, while Potter-Dix (4-4, 38.8750) finishes as the First Team Out (#17) by 0.6250 points. Top 16 postseason-eligible teams on NSAA wildcard points qualify (6-man statewide bracket).
Top seeds and Week 9 shakeup in Class D6
All 40 teams in 6-man Class D6 have completed regular-season play on the NSAA schedule export, and undefeated Stuart (8-0, 44.7500) headlines the 16-team bracket as the No. 1 overall seed after rolling past Ansley-Litchfield 63–19 on Thursday. Wallace (7-1, 44.5000) takes the #2 seed after a 59–19 win at Paxton. At 43.7500 points apiece, Garden County (7-1) earned the #3 seed over Diller-Odell (7-1) at Step 3 of the NSAA tiebreaker with two Division 1 wins to Diller-Odell's one.
Eligibility filtering under the NSAA 2026–27 classification PDF shifts every seed below #4 in Class D6. Unbeaten McCool Junction (8-0, 43.6250, #5 on raw points) and Mead (5-3, 39.5000, #18 on raw points), along with Paxton (2-6, 35.3750) and Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer (0-8, 31.5000), are designated D6 (not eligible) and cannot take postseason berths. That moves Red Cloud (7-1, 43.0000) and Medicine Valley (7-1, 43.0000) up to the #5 and #6 seeds, with Red Cloud winning the tiebreaker at Step 3 (one Division 1 win to zero) to host #12 Hay Springs (5-3, 41.0000). Medicine Valley (#6) hosts #11 Lewiston (6-2, 41.6250), #7 Arthur County (6-2, 42.3750) welcomes #10 Southwest (5-3, 41.7500), and #8 Riverside (7-1, 41.8750) edges #9 Leyton (7-1, 41.8750) for home-field advantage in the #8-vs-#9 game at Step 6 of the tiebreaker on opponent winning percentage (.3750 to .3594).
Class D6 Round 1 Playoff Bracket (Fri., Oct. 30)
| Bracket Slot | Away Team (Seed, Rec, Pts, Bid) | Home Team (Seed, Rec, Pts, Bid) | Round 1 Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| #16 at #1 | #16 Crawford (5-3, 39.5000, Top 16 Points) | #1 Stuart (8-0, 44.7500, Top 16 Points) | Fri., Oct. 30 |
| #9 at #8 | #9 Leyton (7-1, 41.8750, Top 16 Points) | #8 Riverside (7-1, 41.8750, Top 16 Points) (Step 6 (Opp win%: 0.375)) | Fri., Oct. 30 |
| #12 at #5 | #12 Hay Springs (5-3, 41.0000, Top 16 Points) | #5 Red Cloud (7-1, 43.0000, Top 16 Points) (Step 3 (Div 1 wins: 1)) | Fri., Oct. 30 |
| #13 at #4 | #13 Sterling (5-3, 40.2500, Top 16 Points) | #4 Diller-Odell (7-1, 43.7500, Top 16 Points) | Fri., Oct. 30 |
| #14 at #3 | #14 Meridian (5-3, 39.8750, Top 16 Points) | #3 Garden County (7-1, 43.7500, Top 16 Points) (Step 3 (Div 1 wins: 2)) | Fri., Oct. 30 |
| #11 at #6 | #11 Lewiston (6-2, 41.6250, Top 16 Points) | #6 Medicine Valley (7-1, 43.0000, Top 16 Points) | Fri., Oct. 30 |
| #10 at #7 | #10 Southwest (5-3, 41.7500, Top 16 Points) | #7 Arthur County (6-2, 42.3750, Top 16 Points) | Fri., Oct. 30 |
| #15 at #2 | #15 High Plains Community (5-3, 39.5000, Top 16 Points) (Step 5 (Div 1 games played: 2)) | #2 Wallace (7-1, 44.5000, Top 16 Points) | Fri., Oct. 30 |
Tiebreakers, bubble cut line and First Four Out
In the final three playoff spots, Sterling (5-3, 40.2500) locks in #13 at #4 Diller-Odell after beating Meridian 44–33 on Friday, and Meridian (5-3, 39.8750) holds #14 at #3 Garden County. High Plains Community (5-3, 39.5000) and Crawford (5-3, 39.5000) claim the #15 and #16 berths (with High Plains taking #15 at Step 5 on two Division 1 games played to Crawford's one, and Mead's 39.5000 filtered as D6 (not eligible)). Potter-Dix (4-4, 38.8750) and Grand Island Lutheran (4-4, 38.5000) are the first two eligible teams out.
| Elig # | Team | Record | Final Pts | Playoff Status | Week 9 Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #12 | Hay Springs | 5-3 | 41.0000 | In (#12, Top 16 Points) | W 44–40 at Crawford |
| #13 | Sterling | 5-3 | 40.2500 | In (#13, Top 16 Points) | W 38–34 at Lewiston |
| #14 | Meridian | 5-3 | 39.8750 | In (#14, Top 16 Points) | W 63–0 at Pawnee City |
| #15 | High Plains Community | 5-3 | 39.5000 | In (#15, Top 16 Points) | W 60–12 vs. Harvard |
| #16 | Crawford | 5-3 | 39.5000 | Last in (#16) | L 40–44 vs. Hay Springs |
| #17 | Potter-Dix | 4-4 | 38.8750 | First out (#17) | W 1–0 vs. Banner County |
| #18 | Grand Island Lutheran | 4-4 | 38.5000 | Out (#18 eligible) | L 27–54 vs. Red Cloud |
| #19 | Cody-Kilgore | 4-4 | 38.1250 | Out (#19 eligible) | W 1–0 vs. Sioux County |
| #20 | Parkview Christian | 4-4 | 37.7500 | Out (#20 eligible) | L 16–52 at McCool Junction |
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 →