IT’S ALMOST THAT TIME | Here’s the UIL football playoff handbook for 2025
EDITOR’S NOTE: Millions of Texans each year flock to the University Interscholastic League high school football playoffs, some of them all the way to the end, where champions are crowned at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Our staff is always looking for things that will interest you guys, and here’s something we think will do that. It’s the UIL’s official 2025 football playoff handbook. Now, you’ll read this and probably feel like you’re looking at something you’re not necessarily supposed to be reading. But this is fair game; the UIL makes this public every year on their website. We’re only calling your attention to it because — well, because we thought you’d like to see it, that it’d be fun, and you might want to talk about it. So here it is, this year’s playoff handbook. It might make for some dry reading for many of y’all. But you might find some of it interesting. There’s all sorts of information in here, and if you’d rather just look at the PDF document, click on the UIL logo.
2025 Football Information and Playoff Handbook
Certification of District Representatives: The final date to certify your district to the League office is November 8th. District chairs will submit directly to MaxPreps via the UIL Portal. After submission, the online brackets will automatically populate with your district’s teams. District chairs must certify the district representatives through the UIL Portal once finalized. Instructions are available here. NOTE: Each district certification must include a separate 1st through 4th place finisher based on district standings.
Ties: If two or more schools are tied for district representation at the end of the regular season, the district executive committee must devise a policy to select the schools to represent the district in post-district play. For tie games in the playoffs, Section 1250 (h) of the Football Plan in the Constitution and Contest Rules applies in all conferences.
(1) Non-District Varsity, District Varsity, and Post-District Games. The NCAA overtime system shall be used in all non-district varsity games, district varsity games, and post-district games tied at the end of regulation play. (See manual.)
Playing dates: Playoff games past the district level may not be scheduled earlier than the first Thursday after the certification date for district champions. Other playoff games may be played on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday as bracketed.
Minimum Time Between Playoff Games: No team or student in any conference shall be permitted to take part in more than one playoff game within six calendar days unless mutually agreeable to play within five calendar days. This rule also applies to the first playoff game.
Playoff schedule
Week One: Games must be played between November 13 – 15.
Week Two: Games must be played on November 20 – 22.
Week Three: Games must be played on November 27 – 29.
Week four: Games must be played on December 4 – 6.
Week five: Games must be played on December 11 – 13. EXCEPTION: 2A Division I may play on Dec 10th. • (Conference 1A Six-Man will not play in Week Five)
State Championships: December 17 – 20, 2025
Championship structure (advancement structure)
Playoff Qualifiers: District representatives are bracketed for weekly playoffs leading to a state championship beginning the first weekend after the designated date for determining district champions. See the UIL website (www.uiltexas.org) for the brackets to determine the elimination schedule for each conference.
In Conference 1A-six-man football, both Division I and Division II advance two teams from each district to the playoffs, with each division playing to a state championship.
In Conferences 2A, 3A, 4A, and 5A, both Division I and II advance four teams from each district to the playoffs, with each division playing to a state championship.
In the Conference 6A playoff structure, the top four teams from each district advance to the playoffs. The two advancing schools with the largest enrollments, as submitted in October 2023, in grades 9-12, are bracketed into Division I, and the other two schools are bracketed into Division II, with both divisions playing to a state championship.
Enrollment figures utilized for determining division I and division II status for 6A can be found on the UIL website at http://www.uiltexas.org/alignments
Brackets (required for each round of playoffs)
Updating playoff information in the brackets is REQUIRED starting with Bi-District results.
Winning teams must submit playoff game results (scores) and next-round details (location, date, and time) immediately after each game via MaxPreps. (If the location is unknown immediately following the game, it should be updated as soon as possible).
The accuracy of UIL brackets depends on timely updates from coaches.
UIL syncs schedules, scores, and rosters from MaxPreps to uiltexas.org for postseason publications. Keep this information current throughout the season.
Make sure that you have admin access to your team in MaxPreps so you can report scores for the UIL playoffs.
Team Information & Pictures
Teams advancing to the semifinals must submit the following materials to the UIL no later than Monday, December 8, 2025.
Team Information Form: List of coaches, managers, trainers, statisticians, etc., and ALL games played): To be completed online. Your team’s roster information will be automatically retrieved from MaxPreps to complete the team information forms. Therefore, you don’t need to manually enter your roster on this team information sheet. However, it is crucial to ensure that your roster information in MaxPreps is accurate before the deadline. Rosters of active players should be completed entirely with number, name, class, and position. These four categories are utilized by our media department and should be completed on all active players.
If your MaxPreps account is linked to Hudl, MaxPreps automatically syncs your active roster from Hudl. This also means that the Hudl sync will override changes made directly in MaxPreps. Make sure only the student-athletes you want to appear on MaxPreps and subsequently on the UIL page are marked to sync from Hudl.
Pictures Submission Form To be completed online. Failure to submit this information could result in a range of penalties as described in Section 27 (b) of the UIL Constitution and Contest Rules or your team not appearing in the State Tournament program.
Postseason game informaion
Inclement Weather
If weather conditions make it impossible to determine a winner before certification, UIL must be contacted for an extension. The next round opponent must also be contacted to inform them that the deadline has been extended. Extreme scheduling difficulties could result in a coin flip, which would determine the representatives to the next round. Contracts: All playoff arrangements between two schools should be made in writing and signed to protect both parties. Sample football game contracts for use by schools can be found on our website.
Site Selection: All potential neutral and home sites (town and stadium) should be designated prior to any coin toss. For the first round of the playoffs in classifications 5A and 6A only, the higher district finish will determine whether the game is played on the top seed’s home field or mutually agree to play the game at a neutral site.
Playoff sites and day of game: Excluding state championship games, unless mutually agreeable otherwise, the place for playing a playoff game shall be determined on a “home and home” basis for the past two football seasons. The team that was the visiting team the last time the two teams met on a home field in a postdistrict playoff game may require the game to be played at its home field. (2023 & 2024 Playoffs) EXCEPTION: 5A/6A first round language below.
In case of disagreement between two teams who have not played a post-district playoff game during the past two football seasons 1.) A coin toss shall decide the game site. 2.) A school cannot be required to flip for a playoff site that is not large enough to accommodate the fans from both schools.
In 5A and 6A, for the first round of the playoffs, only 1.) the opponent with the higher district finish will determine whether the game is played on its home field or mutually agree to play the game at a neutral site. This supersedes the “flipping home fields for the past two seasons” language below. 2.) If the opponents have the same district finish, the two teams will flip a coin or agree on a neutral site.
Home Sites. When two schools flip for two separate sites other than their home field, the sites are considered home sites unless both sites are near a mid-point. NOTE: Home Site is not considered Home Field.
Neutral Sites. A site mid-point or near mid-point, or a site agreed on by both schools as neutral, is a neutral site. Unless mutually agreeable, a site cannot be neutral if its distance from either school is more than two-thirds the total distance between the two schools. Example: San Antonio and Dallas have not met in the playoffs for the past 2 years: Step 1: Designate potential sites. San Antonio: Belton-neutral; Alamo Stadium-home. Dallas: Temple-neutral; Cotton Bowl-home. Step 2: Flip for the type of site (either neutral or home and home). Heads for home and home. Tails for neutral. Comes up heads. Step 3: Flip to see who wins home. Dallas calls tails for home. San Antonio calls heads for home. Comes up tails. The game is played at the Cotton Bowl, the Dallas home site.
NOTE: In the 1st round of the playoffs, each district team must be represented by a 1st through 4th place finish from their district play. Home field advantage for 5A & 6A is determined by district finish, not divisional seed.
Gate Receipts
Sixteen percent of the gross receipts of post-district games shall be paid to the UIL. The radio broadcast receipts, and the telecast receipts are considered a part of the game receipts in all post-district games. The school that handles the receipts of the game, usually the “home team,” submits a financial form to the UIL office. The updated football financial form can be found on the football forms page on our website.
Playoff games: Halftimes shall be 24 minutes for post-season games. The intermission between halves for post-season games may be 28 minutes if mutually agreed upon by both schools.
State Championship Games: Halftimes shall be 24 minutes.
Video Trade: Playoff teams are required to exchange all videos leading up to the playoff game to include regular season and post-season games. Upon mutual agreement, teams may agree on trading a specific number of games. (1) All videos must be traded by noon on the day following the last game played by the two teams involved. Example: Team (A) plays on Friday, and Team (B) plays on Saturday; all videos must be traded by noon on Sunday. By mutual agreement, games may be traded earlier.
Officials
Dressing facilities should be available for officials at least 1 1/2 hours prior to the game. Officials should be at the site of the game at least one hour before kickoff.
Timers, statisticians, and the “chain crew” should meet with the officials at least 30 minutes prior to the game. A police escort should meet the officials at the half and after the game at a designated place. They should accompany the officials to the dressing room.
Requesting Officials: The League office may assign officials if the two schools cannot reach a mutual agreement.
Official Evaluations: After your contest, you may fill out the officials’ evaluation form on the UIL website.
Football Credentials at State Championship Games: To help teams prepare for the state championship games, we are providing details on the number of credentials that will be allocated to teams qualifying for the championship games. As you advance through the playoffs, please keep these numbers in mind. Although the UIL does not regulate credentialing for playoff venues prior to the state championship, we recommend that teams aim to follow these guidelines to ensure readiness for the championship event.
2025-2026 Post Season Video Broadcast Information
All live or recorded (tape-delayed) video broadcasts of UIL postseason or playoff contests must be approved by UIL. The UIL retains all broadcast rights to postseason contests and has entered into an agreement with Dave Campbell’s/Sports in Action to manage these rights.
Under this agreement, the UIL’s broadcast partners (NFHS Network and Victory+) have first rights to all UIL postseason contests they choose to cover. Please see below for more information. Any questions should be directed to the UIL Media Department.
Non-Commercial Academic Video Broadcasts Schools interested in doing a non-commercial Academic Video Broadcast must submit this form by noon two days prior to the event (football) and one day prior for all other sports: Playoff Broadcast Request. There are no fees to do an academic broadcast. The UIL defines an Academic Broadcast as a broadcast with an educational purpose that is produced solely by a UIL-member school and/or school district primarily using school facilities, equipment, staff, and students without any commercial relationship for the financial benefit of another party.
Please note: Academic Broadcasts will not be approved for any contest selected by a UIL broadcast partner or media sublicensee. Schools may air postseason broadcasts LIVE if approved by UIL. Additionally, schools may distribute the broadcast via their school or district website or via their official school-affiliated social media or YouTube channels. Other commercial .com websites are prohibited. The web page where the broadcast is to appear should be free of sponsor logos. Failure to comply with the above may result in future prohibition of academic broadcasts. 2. NFHS School Broadcast Program Webcast Schools who are members of the NFHS Network School Broadcast Program (SBP) and wish to broadcast an event on the network must submit this form by noon the business day prior to the event: Playoff Broadcast Request.
There are no fees to do an NFHS School Broadcast Program webcast.
What is the NFHS School Broadcast Program? The School Broadcast Program (or SBP) lets high schools produce and broadcast their own games, pep rallies, news shows, and any other event live on the NFHS Network. The NFHS Network has a dedicated support team and account managers to assist these schools with using the platform to stream their events. Most of these events are done by the actual students, and it is a great way for them to get real world experience and exposure to an always evolving technology platform.
Football postseason FAQs
1. For the first round of the playoffs for 5A & 6A, who gets home-field advantage?
The opponent with the higher district finish will determine whether the game is played on its home field or mutually agree to play the game at a neutral site. This supersedes the “flipping home fields for the past two seasons.” If the opponents have the same district finish, the two teams will flip a coin or agree on a neutral site.
2. If two teams finish tied in their district, can both teams claim the same place finish when determining home-field advantage for the bi-district round of the playoffs? No, each district must certify their district by a 1st through 4th place finish according to district policy. This will be the determining factor for home-field advantage in the first round for 5A & 6A.
3. If two opponents finish with the same 6A district finish and are matched up in the first round, who gets home-field advantage? If the opponents have the same district finish, the two teams will flip a coin or agree on a neutral site. EXCEPTION: If these teams have faced each other in the playoffs in the past two seasons, the team that was the visiting team the last time the two teams met on a home field in a post-district playoff game may require the game to be played at its home field. (For the 2025 playoffs, this would include the 2023 & 2024 Playoffs)
4. Does the team that gets home-field advantage in the first round get to determine the date and time of the contest as well? The Date and Time of the contest are negotiated by both teams unless a multi-school district has multiple teams in the playoffs that earned home-field advantage, which could limit facility availability for a set date. If there are additional questions regarding a specific situation, you can contact AJ Martinez for more direction.
5. Is there a mileage limit for a home-and-home situation? No, football does not have a mileage limit for home-and-home games.
6. Who is required to update the playoff information on MaxPreps following a contest? The winning team must submit playoff game results (scores) and next-round details (location, date, and time) immediately after each game via MaxPreps.
7. If I played at an opponent’s home field in the last two postseasons, can I require them to play at my home field this year? Yes, the team that was the visiting team the last time the two teams met on a home field in a post-district playoff game may require the game to be played at its home field. NOTE: A Home-Neutral (Site) that has been played at in the last two football seasons would not fall under the same guidelines as Home Field.
8. If a team plays a playoff game on Saturday, can the next-round opponent flip for a Thursday night game? No team or student in any conference shall be permitted to take part in more than one playoff game within six calendar days unless mutually agreeable to play within five calendar days.
9. Do I have to flip for officials? A school is not required to flip for officials. If the two schools cannot reach a mutual agreement, the UIL office may assign the officials. This can be done on the UIL Website.
10. During the playoffs, am I required to trade all my game films with the opponent? • Playoff teams are required to exchange all videos leading up to the playoff game to include regular season and post-season games. Upon mutual agreement, teams may agree on trading a specific number of games.
11. Can schools broadcast their playoff game? Live or tape-delayed video broadcasts of a postseason contest require approval from the UIL. The UIL retains all broadcast rights to postseason contests and has granted rights to its broadcast partners, who have first rights to all postseason activities. The UIL’s broadcast partners are the NFHS Network.